Made-Up Car Games

Travelling back and forth to a recent conference, I realized just how many made up car games we, in my family, have made up. These pass the time enjoyably, are often educational and may give you insight on your fellow travelers. Here are a few of our favorites:

1. Superpowers: We go around the car in a clockwise pattern and tell the types of superpowers that we would like to have. Then, the next person will put some sort of a limit on it. For instance, person #1 may say, "Superstrength", and person #2 may say, "Only once a day, at noon, for ten minutes." Then #2 will give their desired superpower such as "flight" or "invisibility" or "mindreading", then person #3 may limit their power by saying, "Only when you hold a live mouse in your mouth" or "...When you are asleep." This game can last for a long time and hijinx and hilarity often ensue.

2. Three Lines (aka, the Story Game): The whole car load contributes to telling a story... Three lines at a time. Depending on your riders bent toward creative storytelling, you could have a pretty great story on your hands, and often hilarious, as the participants will often intentionally sabotage the direction that the story will take. Disclaimer: Don't try too hard to control it, just flow with it to ease frustration and encourage others to do the same.

3. The Four-Letter-Word Game: This isn't what you think. The first person picks a word with four letters such as 'sail'. The next must offer another four letter word beginning with the last letter of this word. S-A-I-L ends in 'L', so the next word could be 'lent', L-E-N-T. Then, the next player, using the letter 'T', may say, 'took', T-O-O-K. No word can be offered twice, or the person is out. Also, the person is out if they cannot think of another word to continue. I would encourage everyone to spell the word after you say it to prevent confusion and to add to the education of any newer readers. The strategy comes in when you keep giving the person that follows you in rotation the same letter over and over. After a while, they will run out. The last person left is the winner.