Long drives are part of the charm of travelling around Chile: the Carretera Austral, the road to Pucón or a long weekend in the south can mean several hours behind the wheel. With a good set of games those hours fly by, and since many stretches have no phone signal, it pays to bring games that don't depend on the internet.
Here are road trip games with friends organised by moment: for the highway, for stretches with no signal and for the night at the cabin or campsite.
Road trip games with friends at a glance
| Game | When | What you need | Needs signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| I spy | On the road | Nothing | No |
| Word chain | On the road | Nothing | No |
| Guess the song | On the road | Downloaded music | No, if downloaded beforehand |
| 20 questions | On the road | Nothing | No |
| Number plates | On the road | Nothing | No |
| Cards (UNO, carioca, truco) | Cabin or campsite | A deck | No |
| Question games | Cabin or campsite | Nothing | No |
Games for the highway
I spy
The classic: someone picks something visible from the car and says the letter it starts with; the rest guess. On routes like the Carretera Austral, with more than 1,200 kilometres of scenery according to Wikipedia, there is always something to look at: volcanoes, lakes, glaciers and waterfalls.
Word chain
Each player says a word that starts with the last syllable of the previous one. Whoever takes more than five seconds or repeats a word loses. To make it harder, limit it to one category: places in Chile, foods or songs.
Guess the song
Whoever controls the music plays the first few seconds of a song and the rest guess the title or artist. Download your playlists before leaving: in many stretches of the south the signal disappears for hours.
20 questions and number plates
In 20 questions, one person thinks of a character, place or object and the others have 20 yes-or-no questions to guess it. With number plates, each player makes up a phrase using the letters on the plate of the car in front: the cleverest one wins.
Road trip games with no signal
The golden rule for trips in southern Chile is not to rely on your phone. Before leaving, it's a good idea to:
- Download music playlists, podcasts and offline maps.
- Bring a deck of cards and a notebook to keep score.
- Keep a list of questions for conversation games saved on your phone, without relying on the internet.
Games for the night at the cabin or campsite
At the end of the day, at the cabin or around the fire, it's time for group games: cards such as UNO, carioca or truco, charades or conversation games. For groups who know each other well, spicier question games are a classic, as long as anyone can pass.
If the trip includes a rest day, games go perfectly with an afternoon at hot springs in the south or a stroll around Puerto Varas.
Road trip bingo
Before setting off, each passenger writes a list of things you might see along the way: a cow, a bridge, a volcano, an intercity bus, a toll sign, a fruit truck, a roadside shrine, a police officer. Whoever crosses off their whole list first wins. In the south you can adapt it with local sights, such as a lake, a shingled house or an araucaria forest.
Question games for the car: 10 ideas to get started
"Would you rather" questions work really well in the car because they need nothing and spark long conversations. Some travel-themed ones to start with:
- Would you rather have a beach in the north or a lake in the south?
- Would you rather camp for a week or spend one night in a five-star hotel?
- Would you rather always travel by car or always by plane?
- Would you rather climb a volcano or sail a fjord?
- Would you rather take a trip with no phone or a trip with no music?
- What's the best trip you've ever taken, and why?
- Which place in Chile haven't you visited yet?
- What's the worst food you've tried on a trip?
- If you could live in any city in Chile, which would you choose?
- Which song is a must on a road trip?
How to put together music and podcasts for the trip
Music is half the trip. To keep it from turning into a fight over the speaker, build a collaborative playlist a few days before, where each passenger adds their songs. That way the turns are fair and everyone hears something they like.
On long stretches, a podcast or audiobook can be a good break between songs. Download everything before leaving and keep the phone charging while you drive: on southern routes it's common to go hours without signal.
Games for the cabin by group size
| Group size | Games that work best | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 3 people | Two-player card games, "would you rather" questions | They let you talk without losing the pace |
| 4 to 6 people | UNO, carioca, charades in pairs | Everyone plays at once and nobody is left waiting |
| 7 or more people | Charades in teams, question games in a circle | They work with lots of players and lots of laughs |
Tips for the trip
- The driver doesn't play anything distracting: spotting games are for passengers.
- Take turns with the music and the front seat: so no one person controls the whole trip.
- Plan your stops: on long routes it's best to stop every two hours; it's a good moment to switch games.
- Check the route beforehand: for the south, see our Carretera Austral guide or things to do in Pucón.
Frequently asked questions
What games work for a long car trip?
I spy, word chain, guess the song, 20 questions and the number plate game, because they need nothing and don't depend on the internet.
What games work with no signal?
All word and guessing games, cards and music downloaded before leaving.
What games work for the night at the cabin?
Card games such as UNO, carioca or truco, charades and question games.
