TL;DR: The best camping games for adults are Would You Rather and Spoons, which are simple with little to no equipment. Would You Rather lets friends come up with funny scenarios while getting to know each other on a deeper level, and it requires no equipment—perfect for camping. Meanwhile, Spoons can be high energy, only uses a deck of cards and a few spoon-sized objects, plus it sets you up for other card games like Bull Sh*t, Crazy 8s, Poker, and 21.
Camping by itself is already a fun activity. Being out in nature with friends sets you up for even more fun.
But I like to make the experience more exciting by playing a fun camping game.
Not all camping games are created equal, though. So, I’ve made a handy guide with everything from camping games without equipment to indoor camping games for adults.
Usually, when I go on a camping trip with adults, the game ideas differ from when the kids are around.
I like playing everything from campfire drinking games to classic games like Truth or Dare.
And when I’m with a group of people I don’t know well, camping games make camping less boring by giving us something to laugh about.
So, if you want to turn the fun up a notch this season, keep reading my article on the best camping games for adults.
Games Without Equipment
#1 Truth or Dare
Great for: Ice Breaker
Items Needed: Nothing
Truth or Dare is one of the best camping games for adults at night that almost everyone has heard of or played once.
This game is great because it requires no items and gives options for what the person can do.
The rules are simple and easy to follow. When it’s your turn, you’ll ask someone, “Truth or dare?” They then have the option to be asked the truth about something or dared to do something.
Keep in mind that while you can ask or instruct them to do anything, they do, of course, have the option to take the loss and refuse to answer the question or do the dare.
Pro Tip: If you’re a fan of DIY camping games, write your own deck of truth-or-dare prompts ahead of time.
#2 Never Have I Ever
Great For: Ice Breaker
Items Needed: Nothing
Never have I ever is a silly game that helps break the ice among fellow campers. It’s a free camping game for adults and helps to tell fun stories or some that might be embarrassing.
Here are the original rules: you say something you’ve never done before when it’s your turn.
Everyone holds three fingers up, and if players have done the thing mentioned, they put a finger down.
Anyone with all fingers down loses.
Try replacing the fingers with taking a drink. Or play with two people as a romantic game.
#3 Would You Rather
Great For: A Conversation Game
Items Needed: Nothing
One of my favorite campfire games is “Would you rather.” This game gets a conversation going and can be interesting (especially if alcohol is involved).
Here’s how to play. Go around in a circle and ask questions like, “Would you rather be able to eat any foods without weight gain or be super fit without working out?”
The game ends whenever you want it to. Along with Truth or Dare and Would You Rather, this is one of the classic camping games that everyone should try.
It works as an indoor camping activity for adults, so you can even play this while trying to fall asleep in your sleeping bags.
#4 Two Truths and a Lie
Great For: Talkative people
Items Needed: Nothing
Conversation starters are needed at the campsite sometimes, and that’s exactly what Two Truths and a Lie helps with.
Everyone forms a circle, and one person starts by saying three statements. Two of them are true, and one is a lie.
It’s the group’s job to figure out which one is the lie. But try to keep a straight face!
I love campfire games like this because spending quality time with family and friends is fun. This game is like a mini scavenger hunt but for clues about the lie.
#5 Twentyone Questions
Great For: Talkative people
Items Needed: Nothing
Twentyone Questions is a great camping game for two adults or more and is a game you can play around the fire.
One person picks a person, place, or thing and keeps it to themselves.
The other people must try to guess what it is by asking 21 or fewer yes/no questions. These types of family-friendly games are some of my favorite camping activities.
#6 The Floor is Lava
Great For: Active People
Items Needed: Nothing
Active games are fun and can keep everyone busy. It’s possible to play the Floor is Lava anytime, even during other games.
Someone can yell at any point at the campsite, “The floor is lava!” Everyone then has five seconds to get their feet off the ground.
Those with their feet on the ground lose and have to drink. This game can make your next camping trip interesting real quick.
If you want to entertain everyone while camping, this is it.
Many of us played this game as kids, making it even more fun. With alcohol involved, it’s better as an outdoor game, than an indoor camping game for adults because drinks are sure to spill.
Active Games
#7 Aerobie
Great for: Active Individuals
Items Needed: Frisbee
If you’re looking for more active camp games, look no further than the best frisbee, Aerobie.
I’m not that good at throwing frisbees. The Aerobie helped me overcome that, and now I enjoy playing with my camping buddies every time we go out.
#8 Bocce Ball
Great for: Any Size Group
Items Needed: Bocce Ball Set
Tired of card games? Well, Bocce Ball is a fun game that is perfect for any size group. Adding drinks to this game or having a normal conversation is also easy.
A bocce ball set comes with nine balls in three colors. There are four in one color for team A and four in another color for team B.
Someone throws the white ball in a random direction and each team competes to toss their balls closest to the white one.
After everyone’s turn, it’s time to count the points: one point per ball closer than the other team’s balls. The team with the closest ball to the white one is the only one who can score, and the other team can’t.
#9 Can Jam
Great For: Active People
Items Needed: Can Jam
Can Jam has blown up recently and is a good game for those who love showing off their skills.
Find other players who are good at throwing a frisbee. Pick a partner and be on the opposite side as them.
First to 21 is the winning team. The point system is as follows:
- 1 point: your teammate deflects the frisbee, and it hits the goal
- 2 points: the frisbee hits the goal unassisted
- 3 points: teammate deflects frisbee inside the goal
- 21 points: the frisbee goes into the front slot unassisted
Can Jam gets intense, and you’ll be ready to get in your sleeping bag afterward.
#10 Yard Pong
Great For: Competitive people
Items Needed: Yard Pong Set
Yard Pong is the bigger version of everyone’s favorite camping game, beer pong. This is one of the more competitive outdoor camping games for adults and is always a hit.
I prefer Yard Pong to normal beer pong when camping because it’s made for setting up outdoors. The cups are larger, and it doesn’t take up a table.
Try to shoot the large ping pong balls into the cups to win. Rules about re-racking vary from group to group. It’s an easy, portable camping game with a carrying case.
#11 Cornhole
Great For: Competitive People
Items Needed: Cornhole board and bean bags
Cornhole is one of the most fun camping activities and goes well with a beer in one hand. It’s one of those camp games perfect for anyone with a competitive side.
Grab your cornhole set and pick a partner! Two teams of two play, and your partner is across from you. Each turn, you’ll be competing against the person next to you.
The goal is to make the bean bag into the hole or on the board. You earn three points for making it in the hole and one for on the board.
The points cancel out when your opponent scores. Begin counting points after throwing all eight bean bags. First to 21 wins!
Card Games
#12 Taboo
Great for: Medium to Large Groups
Items Needed: Board Game
Taboo is an older game, but so much fun. It works well as a camping board game for adults because it’s easy to pack and it’s suitable for family or friend gatherings.
You’ll use a timer, a buzzer, and a deck of special cards.
The rules of Taboo are straightforward. First, split into two teams amongst your group of friends. One person from the group will start the timer and pick a card.
The objective of this game is to get your group to guess the word at the top of this card without saying any taboo words listed on the card below the main word.
The other group hits the buzzer if one of those words is said.
At the end of the timer, your points are the number of cards guessed correctly.
#13 Rummy 500
Great for: Small Groups
Items Needed: A Deck of Cards
Rummy 500 has become my favorite card game over the past few years. It’s a great game that never gets old.
Everyone should travel with cards in their camping gear. Card games are the easiest to play while on the go, and it’s always good to have some games to play while camping.
You can play this game with 2+ people and normally with a 52-card deck. The main objective of Rummy 500 is to lay down pairs of three/four cards or a sequence of three plus cards of the same suit.
Start with seven cards in hand. Begin your turn by drawing from the deck of cards or the discard pile.
If you choose from the discard pile, you have to take the card you want plus every card after it and immediately use the card you want.
After you take a card, place any pairs you have before ending your turn. The round is over when someone runs out of cards in their hand.
The card points are as follows: cards 2 to 9 = 5 points, cards 10 to King = 10 points, and Ace = 15 points. Any pairs are positive points, and any cards left in your hands are negative.
Add up your score, and the first one to hit 500+ points wins.
#14 UNO
Great For: Easy to Learn Game
Items Needed: UNO Cards
UNO is one of the most fun camping activities that everyone knows and loves. This game can go by fast and is easy for newcomers to learn.
Every player starts with seven cards. To begin, flip a card from the deck. You have to match the card’s color or the same number.
But there are special cards, like Skip a Turn, Draw 2/4 cards, Reverse, and Change Color. All of these have to match the color except the Change Color card, which you can set down on top of any card.
When a player gets down to one card, they must yell UNO before the next person goes or draw two cards. The person who gets rid of all of their cards first wins.
#15 Spoons
Great For: Those Who Love Fast-Paced Games
Items Needed: Spoons & a deck of cards
You can begin playing spoons with 3 – 13 players. Lay out the spoons for the group on the table. The dealer shuffles the deck and hands every player four cards.
The objective of the game is to get four of a kind. The dealer starts by taking a card from the pile and discarding one to their left.
The last person discards their card into a discard pile. The first person to get four of a kind grabs a spoon. Then, it’s a mad dash for everyone else to take a spoon.
There’s one less spoon than people playing, so the person who didn’t get a spoon gets the letter S. Once someone earns the letters of S-P-O-O-N, they lose.
#16 Top Card
Great For: Those who love to drink
Items Needed: Deck of cards
Top Card is an interesting game that has multiple approaches to it. Pass out eight cards to everyone and put the rest in the middle. You can play with as many decks as you want.
Start by flipping the first card up and into the center. The first player begins by trying to match the card. You can use as many or as few cards as you want. Then, place the cards on the deck.
The next player will try to match the same card, and if they do it with fewer cards, they can make someone drink. If you can’t match the top card, then take two cards.
The goal is to get rid of all your cards.
The card values are:
- All numerical cards are that number
- Ace is 1
- Jacks are 11
- Queens are 12
- Kings are wild! (your choice)
Drinking Games
#17 Kings
Great For: Those who love group games
Items Needed: Beer & a deck of cards
Kings is an easy game I grew up playing that gets people drinking. You can drink anything but need at least one beer for the center of the game.
Start by putting a beer in the middle and making a circle around it with the cards. Each player takes a turn grabbing a card, and each card has a rule.
Kings is a game of rules. The rules of each card:
- Ace: Waterfall (everyone drinks, starting with you)
- Two: You (pick a partner to drink with)
- Three: Me (take a drink)
- Four: Floor (everyone must touch the floor; last person drinks)
- Five: Guys (all the guys drink)
- Six: Chicks (all the girls drink)
- Seven: Heaven (everyone must reach for the sky; last person drinks)
- Eight: Mate (pick a drinking buddy. This will be the same person the entire game.)
- Nine: Rhyme (pick a word; everyone must rhyme or they drink.)
- Ten: Categories (say a word in the category or drink)
- Jack: Never have I ever (loser drinks)
- Queen: Ask Question (if you can’t, drink)
- King: Make a rule (if someone breaks it, they drink)
Fit the card under the beer cap when done. Whoever breaks the seal must drink. It doesn’t need to be said, but this isn’t a camping game for kids.
#18 Flip Cup
Great For: Competitive people
Items Needed: Red solo cups and a lot of beer
Flip Cup is a classic camping activity and is everyone’s favorite drinking game. It’s the most competitive and easy-to-learn drinking game on this list.
Find a good-sized table and have the opposing team on the other side. Pour a little beer into your cup.
The game begins with opposing players tapping cups, drinking, and then flipping the cup over.
Once your teammate to the left has flipped their cup, you drink and flip—the first team to finish wins.
#19 Drunk or Child
Great For: Sitting around the campfire
Items Needed: Drinks
Drunk or Child is one of those campfire games that helps you get to know everyone. It’s a style of voting game, and the losing team has to drink.
Everyone takes turns telling a story from their past, and the other players have to decide whether it happened while drunk or as a child.
#20 Medusa
Great For: Medium-sized groups
Items Needed: Alcohol
Medusa is a fast-paced campfire drinking game that will have you opening up to new people in a jiffy. Start by placing 20 or more shots in the center of the group.
Everyone then puts their heads down over the shots and looks up at someone after counting to three. If two people look at the same person, they both take a shot.
The last to take a shot has to take two. Play until all drinks are gone. There’s not much skill involved in this game, but try it out if you can’t think of other camping activities.
#21 Cheers to the Governor
Great For: A Large Group
Items Needed: Drinks
Cheers to the Governor keeps you on your toes and gets more difficult the longer the game goes on. It’s an excellent game, great for large groups of up to 21 people.
Everyone starts out counting up to 21. After you say 21, everyone says, “Cheers to the governor,” and drinks. The person who said 21 then makes up a rule for any number.
When starting the count again, you must do that rule for that number, or you drink. The person who says 21 adds a new rule.
If someone messes up, they drink, and the count begins at one with them. Your survival skills rely on your memory for this one.
Cheers is a classic adult camping game that’s most fun to play after a couple of drinks.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phillip Anderson
Phillip Anderson is a freelance travel writer, personal trainer, and adventure enthusiast. He has traveled to 32 countries and embarked on various challenging multi-day treks in diverse terrains worldwide—most notably in Peru, Ecuador, and the US. These adventures took him through some of the most pristine landscapes in the world. Over time, Phillip learned how to do things the right way, emphasizing safety and the best gear for camping, hiking, mountaineering, and travel.
Whether finding the perfect view, cooking tasty food outdoors, or knowing what to bring, Phillip has you covered. He loves helping others prepare for camping trips and ensuring they have a great time. For more from Phillip, check out his website, JaywalkTheWorld.com.
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