Fun for All Ages with Our Family's Favorite Travel Games

One of my favorite things about traveling with my family is all of the extra time we get to spend together. Almost every vacation has some downtime and it’s fun to gather together to play games. We are always on the lookout for a new, fun game to play together and I love learning about new games. If you have a favorite, let me know in the comments because I’d love to hear about it!

Today I’d love to share a few of our current favorite games that we love to play when we travel.

Codenames: This game now has a lot of versions and we have played the original, Disney, and pictures. All of them are really fun. The basics of this game are that you lay cards out on a grid on a table. There are two teams and each team has one person designated to give clues to their teammates. Each card has a different word (or picture if playing the picture version) and the clue giver says one word that will hopefully get the team to guess cards that both tie to the clue.

For example, if there are the words igloo and Alaska on two different cards, the clue giver could say “Eskimo” and hope they guess the two related words. You can even get fancy and give a clue that ties to more than two of the cards. The age on the box says 14+ because it does take a little brainpower to come up with connections for the words. I think younger kids would have fun playing along on a team but they would be challenged to be the clue giver.

We love the thinking involved in this game. The most challenging job is the clue giver so if you have some that would be reluctant to do that, they can easily just be guessers the whole time you play.

Skyjo: We were introduced to this game last summer when we visited some friends in Nashville. This game is numbers based so if you happen to be hosting a foreign exchange student with limited English this could be the perfect game to play with them.

The age recommendation for this game is 8+ but I think if you have younger kids who want to play then they could easily be on someone’s team.

Each player is dealt 12 cards and they are placed spread out on the table in front of them. The object is to exchange cards to have the lowest number at the end when you add up the value on each card. It’s a basic game with some luck and strategy mixed together and the game usually takes around 30 minutes.

This is a game that is quickly learned and can be played over and over.

Name Game: This one only requires a piece of paper and a pen. Cut or tear the paper into little strips and ask each person playing to write the name of one person everyone in the room knows. If can be a real person or fictional. A few of our favorites have been Papa Smurf, Brittany Spears, Rick Steves, Scooby Doo, Elton John, Tom Cruise, etc.

Put all of the papers into a bowl and have one person slowly ready each name only one time. No one can make comments. Do your best to remember as many of the names as you can.

Then the fun begins! One person starts and asks someone in the room if they wrote Scooby Doo (or any other name that was read.) If the person says yes, then those people become a team and get to ask someone else if they were____ (name from the bowl.) If they say yes, then they join the team.

If the person says no, then that person then gets to ask someone else in the room if they are _____ (name from the bowl.)

In the end, there will only be two teams. You need to remember the names plus who hasn’t been guessed yet. You work with your team and it’s a lot of fun watching everyone work together.

The winning team is the one who is last to have the last person’s name guesses from their team.

Cover Your Assets: We’ve played this on a bunch for trips with a lot of different people and it’s always a lot of fun. The game is just a deck of cards which makes it a great travel game since it’s compact. Basically you have a few cards in your hand and try to get matches. As you get matches, you start a stack of cards in front of you. Others can steal them from you if they have the same card but you can also save your cards with a wild or the same card.

It’s really simple plus so much fun!

Five Crowns: We were introduced to this when we went on a cruise with friends a few years ago. RIght after that trip, we had to buy it for ourselves. Again, it’s another card game that makes it perfectly compact for traveling.

There are five suits and wild cards. Each round you try to make runs or sets. In the first round, you get three cards and add one card each round until you are up to 13 cards. It’s a fun game that I’d say ages 7+ could play. Younger kids could join a parent’s team and help them lay down and draw cards.

Secret Hitler: I will admit that I don’t love the name of this game and I’ve only played it once but my kids love it and have played it many times with their friends. There are two teams where some strategy and trickery come into play. If you are looking for a great game for teens, I’d recommend checking this one out!

Of course, a deck of regular playing cards is always a good idea too. We have a lot of favorite games that we enjoy playing like Oh Heck, James Bond, Nerts, and Speed.

I’ve linked up more of my travel favorites over on our Amazon Shop. Stop by and see what you may need for your next travel adventure!