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From the moment we started traveling in a camper, and even when we tent camped, we have always made sure to pack games. While we love truly experiencing the outdoors and the area in which we are camping, we have found that we almost always find time to play games together. At home, we are somewhat of board game fanatics. We have a basement full of well over 100 board games. We even have a table devoted specifically to gaming. But, when camping, we obviously do not have the luxury of having the space the take all of our games with us.
We have to be thoughtful about packing smaller sized games that appeal to our entire family-or at least most of us since the 4-year-old doesn’t get much a vote on it since, for the most part, she can’t really play any of them. But she loves to “help” with almost all of them, so that works too! We love to try new games, so our rotation of games is ever-changing. But these seem to consistently make it into the camper game basket. They are light, compact, and fun for most ages.
Plus, most of them are between $10 and $20, especially with holiday sales. Hadrian’s Wall is the exception to that. It’s a bit more in depth, so it typically sells for $50. These games can be played in a small area, so they are truly perfect for camping trips. Heck, we sometimes take some of these out to dinner with us to keep the kids entertained while waiting to be served.
Take 5
Number of Players: 2-10 players. However, we have found that 5 players seems to be the real sweet spot in terms of maintaining a good game flow. That works out perfectly for us, because we have five in our family that are able to play.
Age: 8+, which I think is pretty accurate. You have to have a pretty solid understanding and recognition of numbers and their relation to each other.
Cost: $10-15
Description:
Take 5 is an incredibly popular, quick game where you randomly deal 10 cards to each player. Place 4 cards face up, each marking the beginning of what will become a row of cards. Each player looks at his/her hand of cards and chooses one to place face down in front of him/her. Ideally, the card chosen is higher than the last card in any one of the rows of cards.
Once everyone places a card face down, all the cards are flipped over. Players place the cards in the appropriate rows, starting with the lowest card number played. The card is played next to the last card in the given row that is closest to the number shown on the card. If your card is the 6th card played in the row, you must take the row of cards and all the points in it. Then, the card you played moves over and is now the first card in the row.
You continue to play round after round until at least one player reaches a score of 66 points. At that point, the game ends, and the player with the lowest overall score wins. This makes for a pretty fast-paced, quick game. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to hear the disappointment from your spouse or kids if you’re able to play the 5th card in the row forcing them to that 6th position where they have to take all the points! If you want something super easy to pack with your games for your next camping trip, this is a great choice!
Rack-O
Number of Players: 2-4
Age: 8+
Cost: $13-15
An oldie but a goodie! We love to play Rack-O. In this simple but fun game, each player is dealt 10 cards that they arrange in their racks in the order they are dealt. Place the remaining cards in the middle of the table for the draw pile. Flip over the top card to begin the draw pile. The first player either picks up the card from the top of the draw pile or the top of the deck. If the player takes the card from the draw pile, the player must then replace a card in his or rack with that card and discard the replaced card into the draw pile.
If the player draws from the deck, he or she may discard either the card drawn or a card from his or her rack, replacing that card with the card drawn. Play then continues to the next player and so until a player is able to rearrange all the cards in his or her rack in order from lowest to highest. Award points to each player based on their cards. Then, a new round starts. The first player to 500 points wins. This is such a classic, and we love it. For some reason, we don’t usually play this one when we play games at home, but when we’re camping, it’s often a must have.
Catan Dice Game
Number of Players: 1-4 players
Ages: 7+
Cost: $13-15
Description:
We love Catan, but it’s a little big to lug around camping. Plus, there are a lot of pieces to it, and it can take a while to play. Cue the Catan Dice Game! It generally takes us about 1/2 hour or so to play it. If you love Catan, this is a pretty good substitute when you’re on the road! You still build roads, settlements, cities and knights. You still have to use resources to build them. But, instead of collecting over multiple turns and placing them on the board, you roll six dice up to three times on your turn. Each side of the die shows a different resource.
After each roll, you keep the dice you want and re-roll the remainder. After the third roll, you mark on your individual player sheet, which demonstrates a similar, smaller version of the Catan board, how you want to use your resources. You then earn points immediately depending on what what you are able to build and mark them in the corresponding box. If you don’t have enough resources after your third roll to build anything, you mark the corresponding box with an “X.” At the end of 15 rounds, you add up your points, then deduct 2 points for every X. The player with the most points wins. There’s not nearly as much strategy in this abbreviated version of Catan, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Zombie Dice
Number of Players: 2 or more
Ages: 10+, but our daughter has been playing it since she was 5 and absolutely loves it
Cost: $17
Description:
Zombie Dice is another incredibly lightweight, quick game. In this simple dice game, you are a zombie. Each die is either red, yellow or green and, on its sides, depicts either brains, footsteps or a blast. The object is to gain as many brains as possible while avoiding the blasts. Red dice have the fewest brains on them and the most blasts. Green dice have the most brains and the fewest brains.
There are 13 dice in the game. You place all 13 in the cup, shake it up, and randomly choose three dice. Roll the dice. Brains equal points. You can reroll footsteps if you choose to continue. Blasts are bad. If you accumulate 3 blasts in any turn, you lose all points you have collected. Once you have rolled the three dice, you set aside the brains and blasts. As long as you don’t have 3 total blasts, you can choose to either roll again or take the points. If you roll again, you must roll any footsteps you previously rolled. In addition, you randomly take as many dice out of the cup necessary to roll 3 dice total.
You keep doing this until you either get 3 blasts or decide to take the points. Then, it goes to the next player. You continue playing until a player has accumulated 13 points. Easy peasy! Again, this one also plays easily in less than a 1/2 hour. It’s a really fun, push-your-luck game that we all love! We almost always include this with our camping games. We play it pretty often at home. Heck, we even take it out to dinner sometimes.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf
Number of Players: 3-10 player
Ages: 8+, but I will tell you that one of our daughters started playing during kindergarten. She couldn’t even read, so the moderator would tell her who she was, and she would do the rest. It was actually pretty scary how easily she could fool everyone in this game at such a young game!
Cost: $12-20
Description:
One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a really fun game that we can play with just our family, but we play it more often when we’re camping with a group and looking for something that more people can play together. There are a lot of variations of this out there.
Essentially, in this game, each player is randomly and secretly a role in the game. Each role has a particular ability that assists that player in obtaining information. One or two players will be assigned the role of Werewolf. All of the other roles make up the Village. The Village wants to discover the Werewolf while the Werewolf is trying to throw the Village off his or her scent. Players ask each other questions about their roles. The Werewolf will try to deceive the other players in answering these questions. After five minutes, the players vote on who they think is the Werewolf.
There is an app that corresponds to this game that walks you through it entirely, including explaining what each role does. This is such a fun game with a group of people trying to figure out who is lying and who is telling the truth. It’s all fun and games until you realize how great your kids are at fooling you! This is one of our kids’ favorite camping games. It is especially fun if you are camping with multiple families. The kids really like rounding up all the kids to play it together.
Not It! The Cryptic Hunters Edition
Number of Players: 3-6 players
Ages: 8+
Cost: $24
Description:
Not It! The Cryptic Hunters Edition is the newest game to our collection. We actually bought it from a campground store in Mackinaw City. It comes with a dice tower, three dice and a deck of cards. Each card has three attributes: a color, a background design and a type of monster. Each die represents one of these attributes, and each side of the die depicts a different variation of that attribute.
Players take turns being the “scout” and throw the three dice into the tower. The other players must look at the cards in their hand and quickly choose one that does NOT match the face of any of the rolled dice. The last player to throw a card must put the card back in his or her hand. If the scout notices any cards that match any of the dice rolled, the scout gets to claim that card, which then becomes a “trophy.” The player that played the card must take a penalty card. The round ends once a player has played all of the cards in his or her hand. Then, you add up each player’s points for that round. A trophy counts as 1 point. Each card left in a player’s hand counts negative points.
Once each player has had a chance to be the scout, the game ends. The player with the most points wins. This is a fast-paced, chaotic, spastic, super fun game. There are several variations of it on the market, and I think they all pretty much play the same or similarly.
Taco Goat Cheese Pizza On the Flip Side
Number of Players: 3-8 players
Ages: 8+, but I think kids younger could play. As long as they can recognize the pictures, they can play.
Cost: $10-12
Description:
Taco Goat Cheese Pizza On the Flip Side is a slightly more difficult version of the Taco Goat Cheese Pizza card game. Either provide hilarious fun for the whole family. It’s a super popular, modern version of the classic Slap Jack card game.
Each player takes a turn saying one of the following: “taco”, “cat”, “goat”, “cheese” and “pizza” – in that order while also turning over a card from the deck. If the word they say matches the match, then everyone must slam their card on the deck. If the card is facing backward, everyone has to slap the cards with the back of their hand. Whoever slaps the card last has to take the stack of cards. There are also some additional “special” cards, like the moose, the panda and the flapjack that require you do another action. Whoever gets rid of all their cards first, wins.
This game is simple in terms of rules, but the fast pace makes it goofy and super fun, especially for families. We love playing this game and definitely recommend it for your collection of camping games.
Trails
Number of Players: 2-4 players
Ages: 10+ but probably more like 8+. As long as they can understand a certain amount of strategy, they should be able to play
Cost: $20
Description:
Could there be a more appropriate camping game than one called Trails? This game takes players for a hike exploring iconic sites plus national parks across the country. Along the way, players must gather certain resources, watch wildlife, and take pictures. At the end of the trail, the player can turn in resources to earn wilderness badges. As the sun sets over the trail, players can take advantage of more powerful actions. Once night sets in, the players take their final turns. At the end, whoever has the most points wins.
This is an adorable game with fun artwork and game pieces. It doesn’t take long to play – usually no more than 20 to 40 minutes. We really enjoy this camping game. And the kids get a kick out of seeing cards that represent places we’ve traveled. We think it’s worth adding to your collection.
Trash Pandas
Number of Players: 2-4 players
Ages: 8+, but really early elementary school aged kids can likely play as well
Cost: $8-13
Description:
When you play Trash Pandas, you magically transform into a racoon stashing food away. This is a push your luck type of game. It is a super fast game, so it doesn’t take long.
On each player’s turn, he or she rolls a die. Each side of the die allows the player to gain a certain benefit. The player can then decide to roll again to earn more or stop to activate the benefits. If a player keeps rolling and duplicates a previous result, then the player busts and gets nothing for that round. As long as the player doesn’t bust, he or she can activate the benefits earned by drawing cards, stashing cards and even stealing cards from other players. Each card has a listed ability which can be used when it’s in the players hand. Or the player can stash the card to earn points. But, stashed cards cannot perform actions. Once the deck runs out the game ends, and the player with the most points wins.
We really enjoy this super cute, quick game. Most of the our kids can play it. Even the 4-year-old tries to play along. She generally has no clue how to actually strategize, but she enjoys rolling the dice and taking actions. This is a super fast, easy, cheap, small and fun game to keep in your rotation of camping games.
Zingo!
Number of Players: 2-8 players
Ages:
Cost: $22
Description: 4+
Zingo! is definitely a game for families with younger children. It is our 4-year-old’s absolute, hands down, favorite game. You can play with 2 to 8 players. It’s essentially a bingo style game. Each player gets a Zingo card that has a series of words and pictures. The Zingo dispenser has two sides that are filled with tiles displaying various words and pictures, like apple, clock, house, ball, and so on. Players slide the Zingo dispenser to dispense two tiles. If the player sees a tile that matches a space on his or her board, he or she calls out the tile and places it on the board. The first player to cover all the spaces on his or her board declares “Zingo!” and wins the game.
Zingo is not a game for serious gamers, but it is a fun family game that takes less than 10 minutes to play. Our youngest takes the game very seriously, which makes it even more hilarious and fun for the rest of us. No, this is not a traditional board game in any sense, but we always include it in our camping games. To be honest, there aren’t a ton of games that our 4-year-old can play with us. We always include this one so that there’s at least one game in our collection that she can play and truly enjoy.
Exit: The Game Series
Number of Players: 1-6
Ages: 12+
Cost: $10-20
Description:
There are over 20 versions of the Exit games. Loosely based on the Escape Room concepts that have taken the world by storm in recent years, Exit games are played collectively by all players. Each is based on a different thrilling scenario. Players work together to solve riddles and crack hidden codes using various clues provided in the game. Nothing is off limits. You may find a clue on the box itself. You may have to cut or fold the cards to solve a puzzle. Each of these games impresses me with the level of detail and thought that went into creating it. Each version is rated on a scale of 1 to 5 stars to demonstrate how difficult it is to solve.
If I’m being honest, our kids have not gotten into these nearly as much as my husband and me. We love playing them and have completed several at this point. They do take quite a bit of problem solving and creative thinking and probably are not that great for kids under age 10. Some also lean more into a “horror” theme although we have not had any yet that seem like they would scare kids. Usually, they have involved a storyline that you’ve been locked in some haunted house, castle, or cabin. We also had one where you end up on an island and have to escape. Perhaps there are scarier versions, but we haven’t come across them yet. But we love the concept and love throwing one in with our camping games for those evenings where the kids don’t feel like playing a game with us.
Hadrian’s Wall
Number of Players: 1-6 players. Eric loves this as a solo game.
Ages: 12+
Cost: $48-60
Description:
The vast majority of the games in this post are considered lightweight games, meaning they are relatively easy to learn and play and can be played fairly quickly. Hadrian’s Wall tends to be a bit more heavy in those senses. But even my 15-year-old, who rarely likes playing games with us, really enjoys this one. We haven’t tried playing with our 10-year-old, but I think it could be a bit difficult for her. Typically, it takes between 30 and 60 minutes to play a game.
As I mentioned previously, this is the by far the most expensive game on the list. However, it’s also the most detailed in terms of its play and game pieces. It’s set in the North of Britannia in 122 A.D. when Roman Emperor Hadrian Augustus visited. To show the Roman’s strength in the wake of a war between his armies and the Picts, he ordered a wall built to cut off the Picts from the rest of England. In the game, players play one of six Roman Generals charged with constructing a milecastle along the wall. Over the course of six rounds, players construct their fort and wall, defend it, provide services and entertainment to attract citizens.
Initially, this game seems very overwhelming. But once you break it down and play it a few times, it’s actually not terribly difficult. I think the biggest challenge is that you have so many choices as far as what you can do each turn, so you have to decide what your best strategy is. You can follow Eric’s lead and watch a bunch of YouTube videos to quickly learn how to play and to get tips on the best strategies. This may actually be his favorite game of the 100+ games we own. It is a must have for him when we pack our camping games.
Just One
Number of Players: 3-7 players
Ages: 8+
Cost: $20-22
Description:
Just One is an awesome party game. But we also really enjoy it in our collection of camping games, especially if we are camping with other families. Each game takes about 20 minutes to play. In this game, players work together to try to get as high of a score as possible.
On each player’s turn, the player must try to guess a word from a stack of 13 cards. The player chooses a card without looking at it, which is shown to rest of the players. The other players each write down a one-word clue related to the word. However, if any two players write the same clue, their clues are eliminated completely. If the player guesses correctly, the players score 1 point. If he or she guesses incorrectly, then they lose that potential point plus they must remove the next card from the deck (effectively losing another potential point as well). The player can choose to pass, in which case, the players just lose 1 point.
Simple in concept, but harder in play, this game makes you choose a direction. You can write an obvious clue in hopes that no one else does since it is so obvious, but if they do, you effectively lose to potential clues. Or, you could go outside the box but if you go too far outside the player may not be able to guess the mystery word. It’s a lot of fun on both sides – whether you’re the playing guessing or giving the clues.
Qwirkle
Number of Players: 2-4 players
Ages: 6+
Cost: $25
Description:
I think Qwirkle is best described as a goofy, fun combination of Dominoes and Scrabble. The game pieces come in a bag where you store the 108 wooden pieces. Each piece has one of six shapes in one of six colors. To play, each player randomly choose six pieces from the bag. Players do not show their pieces to the other players. The starting player places pieces flat on the playing surface (as there is no board). The player can play either pieces that are each different colors but match the same shape OR pieces that are the same color but each a different shape.
The next player then adds at least one piece to the previously placed pieces using the same placement rules. Each player can only build onto one line and cannot duplicate either the color or shape of the other pieces in that particular line. After each turn, the player replenishes his or her hand to six blocks. On a turn, the player could also choose not to place a piece but instead replace up to six of his or her pieces from the bag.
During each turn, a player scores 1 point for each piece in the line in which he or she played an additional piece. For example, if you add one piece to a line that already has 4 pieces, you get 5 points. Sometimes, you can play a piece that actually plays horizontally and vertically, so you would get points for both lines. If the player completes a line, meaning either the line has all six colors or shapes, then the player receives an additional 6 points. Once all the pieces have been taken from the bag and a player uses all his or her pieces, the game ends, and the person with the most points wins.
Again, this is an easy, small game that can be played by most ages. Our kids often request that we include this one when we’re packing our camping games!
Sushi Go!
Number of Players: 2-5 players
Ages: 8+, but this probably could skew younger. Our 4-year-old is starting to somewhat understand the concept, so I think you could easily play this with a 5 or 6-year-old.
Cost: $6
Description:
Sushi Go! is a really easy, super fast playing card game. Depending of the number of players, a set number of cards are dealt to each player. The player chooses a card and lays it down face down. Once all players have chosen their cards, every one turns them over and then passes their hand to the next player. Continue to repeat this play until all the cards have been played. Players earn points by collecting certain combinations of cards. You play three rounds. At the end of the three rounds, whoever has the most points wins.
This game is really fun. I think it helps younger kids start to understand and learn how to strategize and prioritize. You have to decide what types of combinations you want to try to attain while also reducing how much you’re helping other players by giving them certain cards. Given how fast, small and easy this game is and the fact that our whole family can play, we almost always include this with our camping games.
Long Shot: The Dice Game
Number of Players: 1-8 players
Ages: 14+, but our 10-year-old plays it just fine, so I think you can play with kids a bit younger than 14
Cost: $30
Description:
We got Long Shot: The Dice Game through a 2022 Kickstarter campaign. I think it is currently difficult to get unless you go directly through the game publisher. Hopefully, once it scales a bit more, it’ll be easier to get and perhaps the price will come down a little. Even still, it’s a fun game that anyone who likes horse racing will really enjoy.
In this game, you can buy horses, bet on horses, and use special abilities. Players roll the dice to determine which numbered horse moves, but they also activate certain additional abilities by players. After the first three horses cross the finish line, the players determine how much they have won based on their bets, ownership, and other ways they are able to earn money during the race. The player who earned the most wins.
We enjoy this game, but it does admittedly seem to appeal more to adults. The kids like it, but I can’t say that they love it. However, when we know we are camping with other families, we throw it in with our games.
So Clover
Number of Players: 3-6 players
Ages: 10+
Cost: $16-25
Description:
In So Clover, players work together to accomplish as high of a score as possible. Each player gets a clover board and four cards. Each square card has a word on each of the four sides. Players blindly place the cards on the clover without letting the other players see them. Once the cards are placed, each of the four leaves of the clover will have two random keywords sitting next to each other. The player must come up with a single word clue to associate those two keywords and then write the clue on that clover leaf. Once the player has a clue for each leaf, he or she removes all of the cards from the board. The players then go around and try to determine the keywords using the clues for each player’s board.
The players get points based on how many keywords they guess correctly and in how few turns it takes them to do it. At the end of the game, the players add up all the points and add them to the Record of Legends. It’s fun trying to beat the Record’s high score each game. We really enjoy this game. It plays very quickly. There are a few variations you can play with it to change it up when you play. We really love this as a party game, but we have also taken it with us camping as well. It’s great for a quick, end of the day game. Especially after the littles have gone to bed, we sometimes play it with the teens.
The Mind
Number of Players: 2-4 players
Ages: 8+
Cost: $10-15
Description:
The Mind may be the easiest game on this list to learn to play but perhaps the hardest to win. I’m actually not sure that we have ever won. The goal is to complete a certain number of levels depending on how many players there are. During each level, each player is dealt the same number of cards as the number of level it is. So, on level 1, each player gets 1 card. On level 2, they get 2 cards and so on. The players must all try to discard their cards in overall ascending order without communicating. If a player holds card #1, he or she wants to quickly throw it down before someone with perhaps #2 plays his or her card. If the players successfully play all the cards in their hands in order, they move to the next level.
The players lose a life if they play a card out of order. Collectively, you have the same number of lives as there are players in the game. Once you lose all your lives, you lose the game. As you progress through the levels, you can earn additional lives. Complete all levels, and you win. Eric and Sophia are the best at this game, and I’m still not sure that they’ve ever actually won it. It’s a super compact game with an easy concept and fast play, so it really checks all the boxes for including it in your camping games.
We strongly recommend having a few games on hand when you’re camping. They are great if it’s raining. They also come in handy on those days where you may need a breather after going strong for several days in a row. Games are essential for our travels.
Though I’ve included links to order games online, if you’re local to the Cincinnati area, I highly recommend getting them from Play It Today Games. This is an awesome local game store. You can even pay $5 to open and try a game before you buy it. If you want to buy it after trying it, your $5 goes toward the game. They have a really great, large selection of games that you won’t find in most stores. Not to mention, if they don’t have what you’re looking for, they’ll order it for you (if they’re able to get it). We buy most of our games from Play It Today Games. As I’m typing this, I realize that I probably don’t want to know how much Eric has spent in that store over the last year! We really do love this store, and you’d be supporting a great local shop.
Do you pack games when you go camping? Leave us a comment and tell us your favorite camping games! To read about our other camping essentials, click here. Or to follow our travel adventures, click here.
