Great Games to Play When Camping

There are dozens of great games to play when camping. Most of the games below require few or no props. Continue scrolling to find a variety of games to play with family and friends around the campfire or campground. New games will continue to be added. Check back often!

Rumor Has It

All players sit in a circle close enough so they can hear a whisper from the players on either side.

The first player begins by pointing to another player around the circle and whispers to the player next to them, “Did you hear…?” That player affirms and adds to the rumor. Play continues around the circle until the rumor has made it to the player chosen player.

For example, player one points to “Suzy” across the circle, while whispering to the player to their (not Suzy’s) left, “Did you hear…?”, to which the next player nods and turns to the next player and whispers “did you hear Suzy is actually an alien in disguise?”, to which the next player might add ” Did you hear Suzy is actually an alien in disguise that prefers to sleep in the trees?”.

The game ends when the person next to Suzy informs them of the rumor. Suzy shares with the circle the outrageous rumor. Then choose another player to spread a rumor and begin again!

 Pterodactyl

No teeth showing allowed is the only rule of the game.

Players sit in a circle. The first player begins by looking at the player to their left. Without showing their teeth, they say the word “pterodactyl”. That player turns to the next player on their left and again without showing their teeth says “pterodactyl”. Continue around the circle. At any point, a player may respond to “pterodactyl” with a squawky (no teeth) “BAH!”. Play then reverses the other way. Funny faces are both encouraged and allowed. If a player shows their teeth, they are out of the round. Play continues around the circle until only one player is left.

Fortunate & Unfortunate

I first learned to play this game traveling with a group of teens heading to out-of-state competition. My younger children traveled with us and easily learned to play with the teens. We enjoyed hours of amusement concocting silly stories.

The first player begins by stating a fortunate or encouraging sentence such as: ” Today, Tommy purchased a delicious chocolate ice cream cone to enjoy”, to which the next player must respond with an unfortunate statement, which might be: “but unfortunately, Tommy dropped his ice cream”. The 3rd player might say: “but fortunately Tommy caught it with his mouth before it hit the ground”. In the continued pattern of fortunate or unfortunate, each subsequent player adds another sentence, continuing the story. The more absurd, the more fun and possibly more difficult it becomes. The game continues until a player cannot think of another statement to continue the story.

Flashlight Tag

Supplies: A flashlight for each player and a designated play area.

In this nighttime version of the old familiar game hide and seek, the player designated as “it” tries to locate the other players using a flashlight.

All players should know in advance the boundaries of the play area. To begin, “it” closes their eyes and counts to 15 while the other players find a hiding spot. When counting ends, “it” looks around for the other players using the flashlight. The game ends when all players have been found.

Ice Cube

Supplies: 1 ice cube per player. 

Who can melt it first? Each player receives an ice cube. The first person to melt it wins! FYI: When melting, you can’t: put it in your mouth, stomp on it or use equipment to melt it. 

Marshmallow Towers

Supplies: Regular-sized marshmallows and dry spaghetti and something to measure with. We generally figure a bag & 8 oz box of spaghetti per 3 people.

Pass each player their supplies, 25 strands of dry spaghetti, and 20 marshmallows. Players have 10 minutes to build their tower. Towers must be built using only the marshmallows and spaghetti and towers must stand on their own, not using any other props. At the end of the 10 minutes, all players must stop. The highest tower standing when measuring wins!

Paper Plate Pictionary

Supplies: 1 paper plate and a pen or marker per player.

Players draw a scene while the paper plate is on their heads. Players place plate on head then call out in order allowing time to draw. 

Suggested scene:

1. grass on the ground
2. tent on the grass
3. campfire near tent
4. a cloud in the sky
5. bird on the cloud

SCORE:

• 1 point for the grass on ground
• 1 point for tent on the grass
• 1 point for campfire is on grass & not on tent
• 1 point for cloud in sky
• 1 point for bird on the cloud

 Signals

Supplies: A flashlight for each player and a designated area to run and play.

To begin, pair up players. Each pair decide on a flashlight signal (example: 2 long and 1 short flash). All players count to 15 out loud while spreading out in the designated area. When 15 has been reached, players begin searching for their partner by looking for and flashing their pre-determined signal. No talking! The first pair to find each other wins.

Up & Down

Supplies: lots of cups scattered around a designated area, half facing up and half facing down, timer  set to 2 minutes

Divide everyone into two teams: UP team and DOWN team. On “go”, teams race around to flip cups according to their team. When the buzzer sounds, the team with the most cups pointed their way wins. 

Victor O’ Marshmallow

Supplies: A regular or oversized marshmallow and roasting stick for each player. Don’t forget the campfire!

Players each receive a marshmallow and a roasting stick. Players roast, remove the roasted layer and begin again. Rumor on the web says 8 is the max with a traditional-sized marshmallow. Can you do better?

Water Bottle Flip

Supplies: A water bottle per player, timer set to 1 minute

All players stand around a table and when the timer begins, flip their bottle onto the table in front of them. 1 point is given for each time the bottle lands on its base for one minute. 

Spoons

Supplies: one less spoon than players, a deck of cards

To play Spoons, you need one deck of cards and enough spoons for each player, less one, similar to musical chairs, which are placed in the center of the table in reach of all players. 

Beginning with 4 cards in hand, players pick and discard cards quickly around the table until one player has collected a four of a kind, and takes a spoon from the center. Once one spoon has been taken, all other players can grab a spoon. The player left without a spoon gets a letter. If a player spells S-P-O-O-N, they’re out. The last player standing wins! Game instructions and printable rules: Playing Cards: How to Play Spoons

Nertz

Supplies: one deck of cards per player and flat space, a.k.a STURDY table to play on.

Nertz is hands-down, our favorite family group game. It’s considered a group solitaire game. Probably better for ages 10+. Each player will need their own, unique back set of cards.

All players gather around the table ensuring all can reach the center where the communal cards will be played. Begin by placing 12 cards face down in a stack, with a 13th card placed face-up on top.

On go, players simultaneously play as fast as they can, not taking turns. As in solitaire, you move through the cards in your hand 3 at a time. Aces are placed in the center, and all players can play on these cards by following suit and rank. One of each number is played until the pile reaches the king. This pile is complete and is turned over for the remaining game. 

The first person to exhaust their pile of 13 calls Nertz, and the game stops. All other players count up their pile. The number left is times two and counted against them.  All other cards not in the center are set aside. The center cards are sorted and counted. You receive one point for each card played, and deduct the number from your remaining pile. Play continues until one player has reached the pre-designated score (often 100) and wins the game. Game instructions with printable rules: Playing Cards: How to Play Nertz

Do you have a game to add? We’d love to hear from you!