I'm talking about games that the driver can do by theirself while on a road trip.
My favorite is logging what license plates I see throughout the day. This is a better 2-player game since you can just have the passenger do the logging. I should compile some stats and assign points to rare states like seeing a Delaware plate in an Arizona parking lot. I also like playing a modified version of I Spy where I look for a word (usually on semi trailers) starting with the next letter of the alphabet.
What other solo games do you play to keep yourself attentive?
I like to do the mental math of milepost - exit number = distance if I know the milepost. I suck at mental math so it can take me a good minute or so to work it out in my head.
One game I played for years: I started by trying to find the number 1, then 2, and so on. When I got to three digits, it took an average of four days to find each number. I stopped when I reached 1000, which was maybe 5-6 years ago or so.
I did one a while ago going to Myrtle Beach where I logged the amount of time between each stop and then calculated the average length of time spent driving in between stops.
We used to play "The Alphabet Game", trying to find words on billboards starting with A, B, C ... (Quaker State ads were a favorite. We usually let any X-shape that we could find, like something on a structure.)
My dad used to find a truck or other prominent vehicle ahead of him and try to estimate how many miles it would take to pass it.
I always hunt for license plates on road trips. I travel to Pennsylvania numerous times a year and have seen every state including Alaska and Hawaii. It's a great way to pass time.
-License plate spotting
-Alphabet game (find A, then B, then C, etc.; letters must be outside the vehicle)
Quote from: BlueOutback7 on February 07, 2023, 09:59:13 AM
I always hunt for license plates on road trips. I travel to Pennsylvania numerous times a year and have seen every state including Alaska and Hawaii. It's a great way to pass time.
I seem to have seen more Alaska plates in my life than plates from other contiguous states. I've seen more Alaska plates than the Dakotas and Vermont, for one. I have never seen a Hawaii plate, though.
Quote from: 1 on February 07, 2023, 06:57:19 AM
One game I played for years: I started by trying to find the number 1, then 2, and so on. When I got to three digits, it took an average of four days to find each number. I stopped when I reached 1000, which was maybe 5-6 years ago or so.
I don't think I could remember what number I was on for long enough to play that.
The license plate game
I don't play solo games when I'm driving. Just not something I've ever done. When I was a kid, on road trips our family often played that geography game where one person says a place name and someone else then has to give a place name that starts with its last letter (e.g., I say "Cochrane," you might respond with "Estonia," my brother might then say "Annapolis," etc.). That game would sometimes go on for over an hour.
Another great game is counting vehicles of the same make and model as your own. Unless I'm mistaken, the Equinox is the best-selling Chevy model today, so I'm basically guaranteed to see quite a lot of them.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 08, 2023, 09:41:36 AM
I don't play solo games when I'm driving. Just not something I've ever done. When I was a kid, on road trips our family often played that geography game where one person says a place name and someone else then has to give a place name that starts with its last letter (e.g., I say "Cochrane," you might respond with "Estonia," my brother might then say "Annapolis," etc.). That game would sometimes go on for over an hour.
We actually tried a variation with fantasy place names last year, but it only lasted about 30 minutes.
The other variation we tried was that you couldn't use a place name with the same ending letter as the initial one.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 08, 2023, 09:41:36 AM
I don't play solo games when I'm driving. Just not something I've ever done. When I was a kid, on road trips our family often played that geography game where one person says a place name and someone else then has to give a place name that starts with its last letter (e.g., I say "Cochrane," you might respond with "Estonia," my brother might then say "Annapolis," etc.). That game would sometimes go on for over an hour.
Sounds fun!
Quote from: kirbykart on February 08, 2023, 12:02:17 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 08, 2023, 09:41:36 AM
I don't play solo games when I'm driving. Just not something I've ever done. When I was a kid, on road trips our family often played that geography game where one person says a place name and someone else then has to give a place name that starts with its last letter (e.g., I say "Cochrane," you might respond with "Estonia," my brother might then say "Annapolis," etc.). That game would sometimes go on for over an hour.
Sounds fun!
My brother and I enjoyed it when we were kids. I think I'd find it boring now. But then, we played that game quite a few times as kids, so it's understandable why my interest waned.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 08, 2023, 09:41:36 AM
I don't play solo games when I'm driving. Just not something I've ever done. When I was a kid, on road trips our family often played that geography game where one person says a place name and someone else then has to give a place name that starts with its last letter (e.g., I say "Cochrane," you might respond with "Estonia," my brother might then say "Annapolis," etc.). That game would sometimes go on for over an hour.
We also played that game growing up, and I played it with my kids when they were growing up.
Not to brag but I saw a Maine plate that wasn't on a semi trailer today. That's a rare one one central Iowa.
Risk. Sure the pieces move around, but you can just consider that the fog of war. :-D
Quote from: Henry on February 08, 2023, 10:17:10 AM
Another great game is counting vehicles of the same make and model as your own. Unless I'm mistaken, the Equinox is the best-selling Chevy model today, so I'm basically guaranteed to see quite a lot of them.
Bonus for the same color. Someone with a clone of my car almost crashed into me the other day.
Quote from: CtrlAltDel on February 08, 2023, 03:21:58 PM
Risk. Sure the pieces move around, but you can just consider that the fog of war. :-D
Twister is better for the car :bigass: :bigass: :bigass:
Not even on a road trip, I love playing the license plate game. When I'm walking through my college parking lot to class, I can usually count at least 15 different states that I see.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 08, 2023, 09:41:36 AM
When I was a kid, on road trips our family often played that geography game where one person says a place name and someone else then has to give a place name that starts with its last letter (e.g., I say "Cochrane," you might respond with "Estonia," my brother might then say "Annapolis," etc.). That game would sometimes go on for over an hour.
I've heard there's a group of people who have been playing that game nonstop since 2016 and show no intention of stopping anytime soon.
My family would always play the Alphabet Game too, using road signs or billboards. The sign either had to be facing us directly or on an intersecting road either side of us, but not a sign facing backwards. Also, if someone grabbed a letter they needed off a sign, no one else could also grab from that same sign. So, if you were stuck on Q and we passed a liquor store, you'd better hope someone else who needed L or I or U or O or R at that moment didn't see it first.
What type of road we were on would always play a factor. On a 2-lane highway, you were never far from a J on "JCT' signs or a "Z" on "No Passing Zone," but good luck finding an X. On a freeway, the X was no problem because it's in "exit" but you'd more rarely see anything with a J in it.
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 11, 2023, 02:43:16 AM
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 08, 2023, 09:41:36 AM
When I was a kid, on road trips our family often played that geography game where one person says a place name and someone else then has to give a place name that starts with its last letter (e.g., I say "Cochrane," you might respond with "Estonia," my brother might then say "Annapolis," etc.). That game would sometimes go on for over an hour.
I've heard there's a group of people who have been playing that game nonstop since 2016 and show no intention of stopping anytime soon.
We could have played it for longer than we did except we eventually got bored.
I guess I'm young enough that by the time I came along these road trip games have been replaced by smartphones and game consoles.
Quote from: invincor on February 14, 2023, 01:50:52 PM
What type of road we were on would always play a factor. On a 2-lane highway, you were never far from a J on "JCT' signs or a "Z" on "No Passing Zone," but good luck finding an X. On a freeway, the X was no problem because it's in "exit" but you'd more rarely see anything with a J in it.
Heh, even the state would play a factor. In Oklahoma, they screw up and put "JCT" on freeway signs enough.
That was the version we played on Scout trips sometimes. I remember one time getting stuck on J and then realizing that our mirror had the standard "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR" and trying to claim to J in OBJECTS, which caused a huge argument as to whether that was a valid play or not.
Even back then I was a budding roadgeek. I was too busy with my nose pressed against the window, following our travels on my (hand-me-down) maps. I didn't want to risk missing anything by playing some sort of game.
Not a one-person game, but another one we learned from our mother (who had spent a lot of time travelling through Wisconsin), was "Cow Poker". I 'm curious if anyone else played this, and if the rules were the same.
It worked on 2-lane roads, but was more difficult once we started using the interstate system. One person takes the left side of the road, and the other the right.
The rules are as follows:
Establish an end point for the game (a certain time, a certain landmark, or when you make a stop).
You get 1 point for each cow you see.
if you pass a school, add 20 points.
If you pass a church, double your current score.
If you pass a cemetery, go back to 0 (all your cows died).
Whoever has the most points at the end wins.
This kept me and my sister occupied on many a road trip.
Geez, around here you'd probably get to five digits pretty quickly.
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 14, 2023, 09:22:09 PM
Quote from: invincor on February 14, 2023, 01:50:52 PM
What type of road we were on would always play a factor. On a 2-lane highway, you were never far from a J on "JCT' signs or a "Z" on "No Passing Zone," but good luck finding an X. On a freeway, the X was no problem because it's in "exit" but you'd more rarely see anything with a J in it.
Heh, even the state would play a factor. In Oklahoma, they screw up and put "JCT" on freeway signs enough.
That was the version we played on Scout trips sometimes. I remember one time getting stuck on J and then realizing that our mirror had the standard "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR" and trying to claim to J in OBJECTS, which caused a huge argument as to whether that was a valid play or not.
When I was a kid, road signs didn't count. I distinctly remember getting the letter 'X' and then being passed by a vehicle with a Sears X-Cargo box on top shortly after my turn started.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 08, 2023, 09:41:36 AM
When I was a kid, on road trips our family often played that geography game where one person says a place name and someone else then has to give a place name that starts with its last letter (e.g., I say "Cochrane," you might respond with "Estonia," my brother might then say "Annapolis," etc.). That game would sometimes go on for over an hour.
Another spelling game:
Start with a four- or five-letter word. The next person comes up with a new word by changing only one of the letters. And so on.
For example...
bike
bake
bale
bile
bill
till
toll
tall
tail
rail
bail
ball
wall
will
sill
soil
boil
bill * NOPE, that one was already used! *
Quote from: kphoger on February 17, 2023, 10:27:23 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 14, 2023, 09:22:09 PM
Quote from: invincor on February 14, 2023, 01:50:52 PM
What type of road we were on would always play a factor. On a 2-lane highway, you were never far from a J on "JCT' signs or a "Z" on "No Passing Zone," but good luck finding an X. On a freeway, the X was no problem because it's in "exit" but you'd more rarely see anything with a J in it.
Heh, even the state would play a factor. In Oklahoma, they screw up and put "JCT" on freeway signs enough.
That was the version we played on Scout trips sometimes. I remember one time getting stuck on J and then realizing that our mirror had the standard "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR" and trying to claim to J in OBJECTS, which caused a huge argument as to whether that was a valid play or not.
When I was a kid, road signs didn't count. I distinctly remember getting the letter 'X' and then being passed by a vehicle with a Sears X-Cargo box on top shortly after my turn started.
Oh that's too bad. The pennant shaped "No Passing Zones" often came in with clutch Ps and Zs.
Quote from: kphoger on February 17, 2023, 10:27:23 PM
When I was a kid, road signs didn't count. I distinctly remember getting the letter 'X' and then being passed by a vehicle with a Sears X-Cargo box on top shortly after my turn started.
You guys had turns? How civilized. Ours was a free-for-all, where everyone started on A, whoever claimed a letter first got it, and it was first-to-find-a-Z-wins. I think once someone claimed a letter that whole word (or maybe even the whole sign!) was out of play.
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 19, 2023, 06:24:27 PM
Quote from: kphoger on February 17, 2023, 10:27:23 PM
When I was a kid, road signs didn't count. I distinctly remember getting the letter 'X' and then being passed by a vehicle with a Sears X-Cargo box on top shortly after my turn started.
You guys had turns? How civilized. Ours was a free-for-all, where everyone started on A, whoever claimed a letter first got it, and it was first-to-find-a-Z-wins. I think once someone claimed a letter that whole word (or maybe even the whole sign!) was out of play.
With my brother and I, we always work together so there was no ultimate winner or loser. Present tense because we still play the license plate game and the logo game at sporting events. That's when you go to a baseball game and try to find every MLB team's logo in the crowd. Scoreboards don't count. The best we ever did was in 2020 the day before the panorama shut everything down. Every MLB team except for Miami, plus Brooklyn, NY Giants, and Montreal.
Quote from: Fredddie on February 19, 2023, 08:55:45 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 19, 2023, 06:24:27 PM
Quote from: kphoger on February 17, 2023, 10:27:23 PM
When I was a kid, road signs didn't count. I distinctly remember getting the letter 'X' and then being passed by a vehicle with a Sears X-Cargo box on top shortly after my turn started.
You guys had turns? How civilized. Ours was a free-for-all, where everyone started on A, whoever claimed a letter first got it, and it was first-to-find-a-Z-wins. I think once someone claimed a letter that whole word (or maybe even the whole sign!) was out of play.
With my brother and I, we always work together so there was no ultimate winner or loser. Present tense because we still play the license plate game and the logo game at sporting events. That's when you go to a baseball game and try to find every MLB team's logo in the crowd. Scoreboards don't count. The best we ever did was in 2020 the day before the panorama shut everything down. Every MLB team except for Miami, plus Brooklyn, NY Giants, and Montreal.
How could a panorama shut the world down? Did it reveal the existence of aliens causing humans to freak out?