Sitting around a campfire at night is the quintessential camping activity — and, perhaps, one of the things you’re most looking forward to as you plan your next adventure. Once you’ve grilled some fish and made some s’mores, however, the odds are decent that some people in your party will start to get bored.
If you were having a dinner party at home, that would be about the time someone might suggest a board game or card game. Unfortunately, the messy campfire setup doesn’t combine well with any of your favorite games. (Bridge is not practical, there’s nowhere to set up Settlers of Catan, and Jenga sounds like quite the fire-starter, right?)
You could devolve into boredom or start arguing about politics, but where’s the fun in that?
Try these camping games, suitable for adult-only and family camping trips alike, instead — and discover that you don’t always need props to have a great time! None of these familiar games require any specialized equipment or even a WiFi connection!
1. Charades
Everyone is familiar with this popular game, which is fun for the whole family! We won’t bother explaining the rules for that reason, but it’s good to keep in mind that you can always set a particular theme for your game of charades. You could act out characters from movies, celebrities, or activities — but you could also make a rule that all the topics must be related to camping.
Games of Charades get ridiculously silly at a significant fraction of the speed of light, ensuring that everyone will have a great time!
2. 20 Questions
You’ll know this one, too. One player thinks of an object, and everyone else takes turns asking a yes or no question to try to guess what it is. If no answer is found, the player who thought of the object wins. If you manage to guess it, you win. While 20 Questions is a childhood favorite, it can be fun for an adult-only group, too.
3. Storytelling
This lesser-known game can be a lot of fun, too, and it’s simple to play. One person kicks the story off with an opening sentence, and everyone else takes turns adding another sentence to the tale. Spooky!
4. Two Truths and a Lie (or Never Have I Ever)
You know this one, too, right? Someone tells two truths and a lie about something they’ve done, and it’s up to the rest of the camping party to guess which statement was a lie.
A related game, “Never Have I Ever,” is arguably a variation of this one. One person makes a statement about something they believe some people in the group might have done, and everyone who’s done it takes a drink. Non-alcoholic (and child-friendly) variations can simply involve putting your hands up or eating a s’more.
These two games are a great way to get to know each other better!
5. Guess the Song
You can play this one in several ways. Either hum a tune or take an obscure line from a popular song and have the other campers guess what it is. (For example, if you’re thinking of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” you might say, “Gotta make you understand” — because basically all the other lyrics immediately reveal the song.)
6. What’s in the Bag?
This game, which is great for camping, has several names, including Mystery Bag. Here’s how it works. You take a bag (a reusable shopping bag will do) or a blanket and hide an object in or under it. You then make people guess what it is.
The great thing about this game? You can collect things like pebbles, pine cones, flashlights, toilet paper rolls, or multi-tools, creating a nice mix of objects found in nature and the things you’ve brought with you.
7. Just a Minute
Just a Minute is a less popular verbal game we thought we’d include because you probably haven’t heard of it before. Here, you give one of the campers a random topic that they don’t know anything about — for example, fishing, long-haul trucking, chihuahua care, the lifespan of box fans, or the mechanics of Minecraft. They have to talk about it for a full minute to get a point. Everyone around the campfire takes several turns, and the camper with the highest number of points wins.
8. I Spy with My Little Eye
You definitely know this game, so not much needs to be said about it. Maybe one thing — I Spy with My Little Eye is actually quite hard to play in the dark, making it slightly more interesting.
9. Red Light, Green Light
This classic game goes by many different names, including Grandmother, and it’s definitely a children’s game. One person (usually called “It” or “Grandmother”) faces a tree. The others try to reach “It,” but they can’t be seen moving. When “It” turns around or yells out “red light,” everyone else has to freeze. If they’re seen moving, they either go back to the start or become the new “It.”
It’s a fun outdoor game that’s great for when some campers are bored of sitting around the campfire, but others want to continue roasting food or warming their hands.
10. Bonus Game if You Have WiFi: Spyfall
OK, we know we promised you WiFi-free games, but this one is too good to miss out on. If you do have 5G at your campground, definitely consider giving the (free) online version of Spyfall a go.
In case you haven’t heard of it, here’s a quick breakdown of how Spyfall works:
- You’re all at a location (including a crusader army, ocean liner, cathedral, space station, or corporate party) and are assigned roles. One person is the spy and doesn’t know the location.
- The spy needs to find out what the location is. Everyone else needs to discover who the spy is.
- You take turns asking questions, like “What’s the food like down here?” or “Someone committed a crime. What was it?” to get the answers you need.
- The spy wins if they guess the location before they’re found out. Everyone else wins by correctly identifying the spy, which is done by voting.
Spyfall is hilarious and definitely a great camping game for around the campfire, but you do need an app or website (there are several, all free) to randomly assign roles and locations, so not everyone will be able to play it.
You can find the free game right here: https://www.spyfall.app
A Final Word
Even though you probably know most of these games, we hope you found some fresh inspiration here. Should you get bored and be after more camping games to play, remember that any verbal game can add fun to your campfire experience, starting with games you typically play in the car.
