As you begin to venture back home for the holidays, you quickly realize it often takes forever to get anywhere in this humongous country called America. We got Jalopnik readers to share the ten best games you can play to keep your sanity while you're eating up the interstate.
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: National Lampoon's Vacation, Warner Bros.
10.) Connect
Suggested By: Nlwhitson
How to Play: Reader Nlwhitson explains how this word game works:
It consists of you melding two (or more) media titles together to form a new title, as well as a plot. Your comrades try and guess the title after you describe this new puzzling plot to them.
*Example*
A world of apocalyptic appeal is created after creatures begin wreaking havoc on the world's major cities, though one man gets away from it all by building past times in his very own back yard.
DUH- Clover Field of Dreams…
Photo Credit: cloverfieldofdreams.tumblr.com
9.) Holding your breath for tunnels/bridges
Suggested By: mboris
How to Play: When you go onto a bridge or into a tunnel, you hold your breath. This game works best for passengers, is particularly challenging for driving in and out of San Francisco, and should generally be avoided by motorcyclists.
Photo Credit: j Gregory Barton
8.) License plate bingo
Suggested By: Ravey Mayvey Slurpee Man
How to Play: See as many states as possible and the farther away the state, the better. It's like old-school Pokemon; gotta catch ‘em all!
Photo Credit: Josh Kellogg
7.) Horses and graveyards
Suggested By: BlueSoap
How to Play: Reader BlueSoap explains:
Everyone playing keeps his/her eyes peeled for horses, they can be real horses, or pictures, sculptures, etc. and they need to be outside of the car. When you see a horse you yell 'My horse(s)' each horse is 1 point. Everyone is also on the hunt for graveyards. When a graveyard is seen you yell 'Graveyard', the person who yells graveyard keeps his/her horse tally, all others lose their hose tally. Person with the highest horse tally at the end of the trip wins.
Reader buckeyoffers up the urban edition:
In the city it's called "my prostitutes," except when you pass the policeman the same thing happens when you pass a graveyard. The prostitutes can be interchanged with drug dealers. Depends on what city you're in.
Photo Credit: kman999
6.) Name those headlights/taillights
Suggested By: cobrajoe
How to Play: Try and identify a car up ahead only by its headlights or taillights depending on what side of the road the other car is on. The first person to identify the car wins. Can be played day or night and is particularly useful in training yourself to spot cop cars from half a mile away.
Photo Credit: Jim Culp
5.) Beat the GPS
Suggested By: ncasolo
How to Play: Your GPS will tell you at the start of a trip how long it will take to get there. Your goal is to beat that time by at least an hour. You get demerit points for every speeding ticket you get. Also known as the "It says it should take 14 hours to get there but let's try to get there in 10 with food and fuel stops" game.
Photo Credit: Trey Ratcliff
4.) Pididdle
Suggested By: 87CE 95PV Type Я says Merry Christmas
How to Play: Reader Omophorus explains how to play the highway stripping game:
Any time someone see a car with a headlight out, everyone punches the roof. The last person to do so has to strip off a piece of clothing.
If you were the first person to hit the roof, you can put a piece of clothing back on, or have someone else put a piece of clothing back on.
The game is best played without your grandma in the car.
Photo Credit: Bryce Womeldurf
3.) The alphabet game
Suggested By: mboris
How to Play: You have to spot the whole alphabet, in order, using only signage that is outside the car. First to finish wins. Writing on other vehicles is not allowed.
Reader Fordboy357 explains the gearhead version of the game:
You start with the letter A and you try to spot a make or model that begins with it (ex. Acura), then you move on the next letter. (Bronco, Colorado, Dodge...) So on, and so forth. Whoever gets to Z first, wins.
Photo Credit: Davie Dunn
2.) Slug Bug
Suggested By: Spiegel just won Calvinball
How to Play: Every time you see a VW Beetle, you yell "Slug Bug" (or "Punch Buggy"). Then you punch somebody. You have to call out the color of the Volkswagen or else people will say it didn't count. If you call "no punch backs," you will get indignant when you get punched anyway.
Photo Credit: Ran Zxzzy
1.) Legs
Suggested By: ShirtBloke
How to Play: Reader ShirtBloke explains the rules of this UK classic:
Split into two teams.
One side takes the left hand side of the road, the other the right.
You get points for spotting the number of legs in a pub name.
For instance: a pub called The George would be worth 2 points (legs),
The Dog And Duck would be worth 6 points,
The Coach And Horses would be worth 10 (2 horses + driver)
The Royal Oak is worth 2 (an oak is only royal if there's a king hiding it)
The Kings Head or The Duchesses Arms are worth nothing (for the reason there's no legs)
The big score for any seasoned Legs players is a pub in Stalybridge called The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn - officially adjudicated to be worth a hundred.
It's been known for serious players to make a detour of fifty miles to bag it for their team.
Photo Credit: Adam B.