We all dream of perfect empty, winding roads, but the reality of driving is clogged, endless highways. Here's how to make them tolerable with nothing that you don't already have in your car.
10.) Dance or Die
Okay, so this is a game that you should not play, ever. It could get you and everyone riding with you killed dead. Amazingly, reader Jonee (who is known for driving dangerous cars) lived to tell the rules of the game.
At random times during the drive, the driver shouts "dance or die!" and takes his hands off the wheel and cannot put them back on until everyone in the car is dancing in their seat. It's especially thrilling when you do it when some or all of the passengers are asleep. I'm proud to say I co-invented this one and am still alive.
Suggested By: Jonee, Photo Credit: Edwin and Kelly Tofslie (no one was injured in the pictured flip)
9.) Beat the GPS
Speeding is illegal and can get you in serious trouble with the law. But SuperFluke knows that everyone who's ever even looked at their GPS has played this.
Google Maps - "6 hours 32 minutes to destination."
Me- "We'll be there in 4 hours."
Suggested By: SuperFluke, Photo Credit: Alex Lines
8.) Soft Drink Challenge
Everyone has played the game of 'who has to pee first,' but McLarry has a superior variation.
Buy a big pack of your preferred soft drink. You and your opponent(s) have to match each other can for can. First one to cave for a bathroom break loses.
I won, but I don't think I'll ever play again...
Also, neither of us was driving.
Suggested By: McLarry, Photo Credit: Gabriel Saldana
7.) Padiddle
This one is best played when you're driving your grandparents to the senior center. The rules are simple: whenever you spot a car with a headlight out, you shout 'Padiddle.' Everyone then has to shout it, too. The last one to shout it has to remove an item of clothing. RacerFree explains why it's approved by lecherous fathers everywhere.
And there's so many ways to play and variations.... My dad and I would play for points; once I had my own car in high school and beyond I'd get girls to lose an article of clothing for each time I called Padiddle first.... Needless to say, with years of practice with the points version, I had many a naked chick in my car by the end of a ride.... Thanks Dad, looking back I think you knew what you were helping me train for; you rule!
Suggested By: RacerFree, Photo Credit: Bryce Womeldurf
6.) The Anal Game
There are lots of variations to this one, but maximum_sarge might have found the best.
The Anal RV game. Adding the word 'anal' before the name of every RV you pass. Now that you know, you will do it for life... You're welcome.
Suggested By: maximum_sarge, Photo Credit: dave_7
5.) Seat Heater
This might be the most malicious game on the list, as Fish explains.
When the whole family went on road trips, my brother and I would try to turn on each other's seat heater when we weren't looking. Sounds stupidly simple, but you'd end up with toasted buns if you failed to keep a look out. This game could last us for hours when getting out of the massive expanse of land that is Texas.
Suggested By: Fish, Photo Credit: Michael Gil
4.) Carspotting
This might be the simplest game on this list — you try and identify every car on the road with you. The trick is to be the first person to ID a car from the farthest away. Very useful when you can make out the front lights of a Crown Vic at a half a mile.
Suggested By: RazoE, Photo Credit: Paul Aloe
3.) Contact
From the simplest to the most complicated. It's a tough one to learn, but great once you have it down. Here's Streetlight's primer.
The game is called CONTACT (could be PG, more fun if R-rated):
1. One person (the host) thinks of a word (it should be fairly long - like "boomerang")
2. The host gives out the first letter (in this case "B")
3. Everyone else in the car tries to think of a word that starts with B
4. Someone will then say: "Is it the part of the human body that I love the most?"
5. The host can now rebut: "No, it is not the Back" - thus negating this question, and everyone goes to step 3
6. If the host cannot right away guess the body part that starts with B, but one other person in the car can - that person will say "Contact!" and the original asker and this person will simultaneously and count to 10 (seconds) and then yell out the word they are thinking.
7. If they both yelled "Back" - they had successful contact, and the host now has to open the next letter (like "O"), and the game continues, but all the words now have to start with "BO" (like book, boat, Bohemia, etc.)
8. If, however, they both yell back different things - they did not, in fact, have contact, everyone moves to step 3 and hilarity ensues as one of your friends yells "BOOBS", while the other is going "BALLS"
9. The game ends when the word is guessed (either by uncovering all the letters or actually thinking of the word that was originally thought of - like if "boom" is uncovered and someone says "Isn't it that Australian hunting weapon" - the host has to reveal that it is boomerang)
The point is to come up with a set of clues that everyone (or at least one other person) in the car would understand, but the host would not. Bonus points are awarded for creating a possibility for a double-entendre.
Suggested By: Streetlight, Photo Credit: brightroyalty
2.) The Alphabet Game
Everyone knows how to play — you go up and down the alphabet picking letters out of words you see from the car. Some people play where you can use license plate letters, which is total bullcrap.
The double alphabet game is a great variation. Only words that have at least two instances of one letter can count. 'Alligator' - A, 'Blueberry' - B, and so on. No one in recorded history has ever finished a round of the double alphabet game.
Suggested By: ncasolowork2, Photo Credit: Mike Knell
1.) Slug Bug
Still the best, because it gives you an excuse to punch your siblings. Some people play where New Bugs count for one and Old Bugs count for two. That's okay. Some people call this game Punch Buggy, and that's not okay. It's called slug bug, yo. (It's called Punch Buggy, but Raph won't listen to reason. - Ed.)
Suggested By: philaDLJ, Photo Credit: Raphael Orlove
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Photo Credit: Adventures of Pam & Frank