You’ve made it to camp, and you’re all set up. Instead of sitting around waiting for bedtime, bring some fun to your evening! In this ultimate guide, you’ll find the grown-up versions of all your favorite summer camp games and more.
Whether it’s two people or camping with the whole family, there’s something for everyone on our list of campfire games, from card games to drinking games and everything in between.
Table of Contents
1. Name That Song
Even without a guitar, you could still play Name That Song with your vocal cords or a wireless Bluetooth speaker. In this fun camping game, one person plays a few notes of a song, and the rest of the group takes turns guessing the song.
It sounds tricky, but you can narrow it down by choosing a theme like 80s power ballads or Christmas songs. Another variation of this game you could play is Sing That Song. Write song titles onto slips of paper, with each person then randomly choosing a slip and then having to sing that song. The rest of the group then has to guess the song.
You can play in two teams or as individuals for fun or points. Whichever team or person guesses the song first wins one point. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins.
2. Two Truths and a Lie
Two Truths and a Lie is one of our favorite games. In this game, everyone shares three stories or statements about themselves.
Two of the statements should be honest stories about something that has happened, and the other one should be a lie. The rest of the group will try to guess which story is a lie.
This game is most fun when the lie is hard to guess; try to come up with something believable. A believable lie isn’t too far-fetched. Your one lie can be a made-up story about something you want to do but haven’t done yet. It should sound like something you would do.
For example, add an extra peak to your list of summits or tweak the truth about which countries you’ve traveled to. To confuse the other players, choose hard-to-buy truths. Think of the scariest or most extravagant things you’ve ever done or seen. The rest of the group won’t know where to begin!
3. Fruits
Play Fruits all evening long or even throughout the whole camping trip. You can even play Fruits and another game at the same time.
To play, everyone has to choose a fruit name for themselves. Then the “it” player must try to say another person’s fruit name three times before the target can say it once. If they succeed in saying the fruit three times without interruption, the other person is now “it.”
There’s a level of strategy involved in playing Fruits. The goal is to catch another camper unawares, in another conversation, or distracted when it’s your turn to be “it” so you can recite their fruit three times.
You can also choose a multiple-syllable fruit name like “banana” or “dragonfruit.” Longer fruit names will be more difficult to say three times, so you’ll have the advantage.
4. Werewolves
Werewolves may seem complicated at first, but you can learn as you go and the game’s intrigue is part of the enjoyment anyway! Begin playing by gathering everyone in a circle and having them close their eyes.
Then a leader chooses two people to be werewolves by tapping on their shoulders. The werewolves are allowed to open their eyes to identify each other. Once they have, they close their eyes again.
Next, the leader chooses an informant and tells them who the werewolves are, without the wolves knowing. Everyone else in the circle are the villagers. In the last step, the wolves decide which villager to kill.
Now everyone can open their eyes and the leader tells the group who was killed. It’s up to the group to figure out who the wolves are. The informant can help point everyone in the right direction without directly saying names. The informant also wants to keep their identity hidden from the wolves.
When the group reaches a consensus on who a wolf might be, that person “dies” and reveals their identity, werewolf or villager. The goal is not to kill fellow villagers. At this point, the group closes their eyes, and the wolves choose a second victim. Again, the group tries to find the wolves. The game is over when both werewolves are dead.
Werewolves requires at least nine players and gets better the more people you have. You could even invite your camp neighbors to join in the fun!
5. Empire
Empire is a guessing game that you should only play if you’re willing to share funny or embarrassing secrets about yourself. To play Empire, you need a minimum of 8 people and paper and pens.
Everyone writes down a secret about themselves on paper or sticky notes. Put all the secrets in a hat and shuffle them around. Then one person reads through all the secrets. The object of the game is to match a secret to a person and have that person join your empire and get another turn.
Use your empire to help guess more secrets. If you guess incorrectly, someone else gets to go. If you guess someone who already has an empire, you get them and all their people. The game ends when everyone belongs to the same empire.
6. Murder by Winking
Murder by Winking is a game that can be played throughout the evening, with another game, or circled up around the campfire. The game leader chooses one person to be the winking assassin. Do this when everyone in the circle has their eyes closed or secretly while the other campers are distracted.
The assassin “kills” the other players by winking at them. When you get the wink of death, you can be as dramatic as you like, gasping for one last breath or falling on the ground. Whoever the assassin is, has to be sneaky and cunning to avoid being found out.
All the other players try to discover the assassin’s identity before they get the wink. In some versions of the game, you’re out if you wrongly accuse someone of being the assassin.
While avoiding the wink, you aren’t allowed to avoid eye contact. Look around the circle and try to find the assassin before they find you.
7. Geography Game
Get ready to test your geography knowledge! The rules of geography are straightforward, but that doesn’t mean the game is. To get started, the first person says the name of a country. The next person says the name of a country that starts with the last letter of the previously stated country.
Here’s an example,
Player 1: “Cameroon.”
Player 2: “Nepal”
Player 3: “Luxembourg”
And so on…
You can also use people’s names or animals or turn the Geography Game into a drinking game. If a player can’t think of a country within a specified time limit, they must take a sip of their drink.
8. Charades
Campfire light makes this classic game even more fun. Write charade ideas on slips of paper, choose a theme, or let each person randomly decide what to act out for the group.
Play in teams or as individuals. You can do the just-for-fun version or keep score. To keep score, award points to the first team or individual to correctly guess the act. To bring your game to the next level, use a watch or phone timer and set a time limit for the actor.
When it’s your turn to act, remember: no talking allowed!
9. Who Am I?
Prep ‘Who Am I?’ in advance for a great adult campfire game. First, consult the other campers and decide on a category like singers, athletes, historical figures, or animals. Write each name or animal on post-it notes.
To start, give everyone a sticky note and have them stick it to their foreheads without looking. Asking only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions, figure out who or what is on your sticky note. The fewer questions you have to ask, the better.
Questions like “Do I have fur?”, “Am I an actor?” and “Do I fly?” can help get you closer to the answer.
Start Who Am I? before it gets too dark out. Otherwise, no one will be able to read the sticky notes!
10. Would You Rather…?
Use ‘Would You Rather’ as an ice-breaker with a group you want to learn more about. This game can work with one other person or in larger groups.
Have fun, and don’t be afraid to get creative. The sky’s the limit for ‘Would You Rather’ Questions. Start with a theme to get the ball rolling. Use a theme, like outdoor adventure, relationships, or travel-related questions. Try one of the following if you’re struggling to come up with questions.
Would you rather live on a beach or in a cabin in the woods?
Would you rather never get angry or never get jealous?
Would you rather visit every country in the world or go to space?
A quick internet search will give you hundreds of potential questions. Write a few down before your camping trip.
11. The Voting Game
Get ready to laugh while you vote on which of your friends gives the most awkward hugs or has the lowest standards. The Voting Game comes with question and number cards. Start by choosing a question card and reading it to the group. The group then votes with their number cards as to who fits the question best.
If one player gets more than half the votes, they get to keep the black question card. Whoever collects the most black cards wins. You can also play a scoreless version that ends when you’re tired of laughing.
12. Twenty Questions
Play Twenty questions anywhere and with any size group of people. You can enjoy this game on a hike out or around the campfire. To play, someone thinks of a person, place, or thing. The other players guess what the person is thinking. You can ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions to get to the answer. The person who gets the answer first is the next one to pick something.
You only get twenty questions, so be thoughtful. Make the game a bit easier by choosing a theme. Here are some theme suggestions:
- Things you can find at the campground
- Things you need to go hiking
- Native animals
13. Sevens
Sevens is the only card game on this list, its fun, and the rules are straightforward. All you need is a deck of cards and three to eight people.
The dealer splits the deck among the players. Whoever ends up with the seven of diamonds starts a “layout” and the game. Throughout the game, create new layouts with a seven card.
The next player places one card in the current layout(s). The card they put down must match the suit and sequence of the cards already on the table. If the first card is a seven of diamonds, the next card has to be a six or eight of diamonds. Or the player can start a new layout with a seven.
You have to play if you can, but sometimes there are no cards in suit or sequence in your hand. In this case, you can “knock” or pass your turn. The first person to get rid of all their cards wins the game.
There is a strategy for Sevens. For starters, hold onto your sixes, sevens, and eights as long as possible. This prevents other players from getting rid of their cards and gives you an advantage. You can play multiple Sevens and keep score by tallying up each player’s remaining cards after each round.
Dust off your old deck and make sure you have 52 cards before your next camping trip.
14. 15/20
All you need for 15/20 are your hands and some quick math skills. At the same time, every player throws out their hands and call out how many fingers they think will be out in total. A closed hand is 0, and an open hand is 5.
Here’s an example, player 1 puts out two open hands and says, “Fifteen.” At the same time, player 2 puts up one open hand and one closed hand and says, “Ten.” Player 1 guessed correctly how many fingers would be up. Player two loses and has to drink.
You can play 15/20 with any number of people, but it works best with just a few.
15. I’m Going to the Bar
I’m Going to the Bar is a hilarious drinking game that will test your memory. One person says, “I’m going to the bar and ordering an Old Fashioned (or the name of any alcoholic beverage).” The following players repeat the drink orders of the players before them and add their own to the list.
By the fifth person, the list might go something like this, “I’m going to the bar and ordering an old fashioned, a whiskey sour, an Irish Car Bomb, a mojito, and a gin and tonic. Keep going around the campfire correctly, repeating the names of the drinks and adding to the list until someone makes a mistake. If players forget a drink or mess up the sequence they take a sip of their drink and start a new list.
Camping Games for Adults: have fun!
Camping is one of the best ways to connect with friends and family, and what better way to have some fun than playing camping games for adults?
We hope our ultimate guide to camp games has inspired you to gather around the campfire and play until your face hurts from laughing.
Did we miss one of your favorite camp games? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to share with your camping group.
