17 Fun Adult Camping Games to Keep Entertained Outdoors

In this post, you will learn how to play a variety of fun adult camping games.

When you get tired of the monotony, go camping!

If the morning routine, job, commute, technology or city noise get overwhelming, reinvigorate yourself with a trip into nature.

No work, no errands, no kids….. just nature and your friends. When you leave it all behind, you can have some of the purest fun that you’ve ever had in your life.

Are you worried that there won’t be enough to do out there besides eating, sleeping and hiking?

Well, with this list of adult camping games (including drinking games if that’s what you’re into), you’ll have plenty to keep you laughing and enjoying yourselves.

> > And if you prefer a shortcut, this printable camping bundle allows you to print out 10 different games (many of which are on this list) and just take them with you on the trip! < <

Icebreakers

Break the ice and get to know your fellow campers with these ‘get to know you’ activities. With these icebreakers, you can expect new friendships to blossom and old ones to thrive by the end of the trip.

1. The Voting Game

The game begins with the first player, who asks a question like “who would be the most likely to get in a fistfight?”
Everyone then (silently) writes down who they think is most likely to fit this description, from among the group.

The game continues with each person taking turns to ask a different “most likely” question.
After each question is asked, everyone writes down their own vote.

Once you’ve gone around the campfire, all the votes are announced and counted.

Trust me when I say that this game will lead to some interesting conversations and stories on why each person voted who for what.

Not only is this game easy to understand, it allows your party to get to know each other better (as well as find out what each person thinks about the others)!

2. Two Truths and A Lie

This game is a favorite icebreaker amongst campers, and is perfect if you have different friend groups tagging along.

Each player shares 3 facts about themselves; 2 have to be completely true while the other has to be a total lie.
The other players have to guess which statement is a lie. 

You can play this as a drinking game by making the players who guess wrong take a shot.
If nobody gets it wrong, the player who shared the facts has to take a shot instead. 

related : 239 Deep + Unique “How Well Do You Know Me” Questions

3. Telephone

Players start by sitting in a circle or standing in a straight line.

Player #1 discreetly whispers a phrase into the ear of the person sitting or standing to their right (without anyone else overhearing!)

That player must then whisper the phrase to the next player on their right, and this process is repeated until it reaches the last player in line.

IMPORTANT: The word or phrase can only be whispered once, so players must pay close attention!

The last player must then say the phrase out loud so that everyone can hear how much it changed from the original, which the first player will share.

Conversation Games

Keep it simple with these games that don’t require much physical activity or many supplies. All you need are voices and enthusiasm and you are all good to go!

4. Mafia (aka Werewolf)

Mafia is my favorite party game of all time. It’s also known as Werewolf or the Winking Murder Game.

Players take turns discreetly picking from a selection of papers with different roles written on them. These are handed out by the moderator.

The available roles are: townspeople, a sheriff, a killer (mafia) and a doctor. Depending on how many people you have, you can even have multiple of each role.

To begin, everyone sits in a circle and closes their eyes. The moderator takes turns calling for different roles to open their eyes and do their respective job.

The killer’s objective is to kill every townsperson until no one is left. The goal of the townspeople, most specifically the sheriff, is to catch the mafia before they kill everyone.

The complete rules can be found here.

5. Twenty Questions

In this camping game, you start by choosing one player to be the designated answerer.
The purpose of the game is to figure out what object or person is on that player’s mind. The catch is that the entire group only gets 20 questions to figure it out!

Players take turns asking ‘yes‘ or ‘no‘ questions until they figure out the object or until the group exhausts their 20 opportunities. 

6. Fruits 

The fun thing about this game is that the group can play it while doing other activities and anyone can join or stop whenever they feel like it.

The game begins with each player selecting one fruit to represent. The group then has to pick one player to start.

The aim of the game is for the chosen player to say the name of another player’s fruit three times before the player who represents that fruit can interrupt them by saying it once.

For example- while hiking, the chosen person tries to shout “kiwi, kiwi, kiwi” before the person representing kiwi shouts “kiwi” once.

If the chosen player succeeds, the player whose fruit was called three times now has the task of calling another player’s fruit three times. However, if the chosen player is interrupted before they can say it three times, they will have to try again later.

7. Categories

Begin this game by splitting into two teams of 2 or more people.

Next, come up with categories like countries, animals, names, musicians, songs, famous people, etc.
Each team gets one sheet of paper and writes the categories at the top with plenty of space underneath for answers.

Begin each round by selecting a letter and then give each team around 2 minutes to fill each category with a word that begins with the letter chosen for that round.

For example, if you choose K and the categories chosen are country, animal, and musician. Possible answers coule be Kenya, kingfisher, and Kendrick, respectively.

For each correct answer, each team gets a point. However, if another team has the same answer, neither team gets a point. (This encourages everyone to aim for unique answers).

At the end of the game, the team with the highest points wins.

8. Geography Game

This game is similar to categories in that you’ll be thinking up words that start with a specific letter. However, the process is very different.

A player is selected to start and begins by naming a country. The next player then has to mention a country starting with the last letter of the country named by the previous player. 

For example, if the first player mentions Canada, the second player can mention America, and the third player Albania, It’s quite an easy game and can be fun to play on a lazy evening while camping.

You can also switch from countries to animals or something else.

Classic Campfire Games

There are a set of games that are just synonymous with campfires and bonfires. Pick one of these to play and it’s very likely that your group will already know how to play!

9. Who Am I

‘Who am I‘ works great around a campfire. It’s very easy to understand; in fact it’s very similar to Game #5 (Twenty Questions).

The name of a famous person or place is written on a sticky note and stuck onto a player’s forehead. The person with the sticky note on their forehead has to find out what is written on the note using only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions.

Another version of the game has everyone playing at once (imagine everyone mingling with a sticky note on their foreheads asking each other questions).

The game goes on until all of the players or the selected player guesses the word on their sticky note correctly. 

10. Charades

Players are split into teams of two and a representative from each team takes a turn picking a camping-themed charade card at random.
(You can also play with a smartphone by installing a charades app- hopefully you have reception at your camping site!)

The other players on the team have to guess the word on the card based on the clues that the representative gives them. However, they can only describe the word using actions, movements, and gestures. No sounds or writing!

Just imagine you and your friends mooing, neighing, or on all fours trying to describe an animal- hilarious!

Each team scores one point for each correct guess, and the team with the highest number of points at the end wins. 

related : 29 Unforgettable Tea Party Ideas for Adults

11. Truth Or Dare

It’s likely that everyone in your group is already familiar with the game, Truth or Dare.

Simply put- each player picks between doing a dare (chosen by the group) or answering truthfully to a question that the group comes up with. Players can either spin a bottle to pick whose turn it is, or just go around the circle from person to person.

Easily turn this into a drinking game by giving participants the option to drink if they don’t want to do a dare or answer a question.

12. Name That Song

If your friend group is musically inclined (and even if they are not), this is an entertaining game to play on a camping trip. It’s really simple!

Players gather around and take turns playing music from their smartphone or portable music player.

The other players then have to guess which song it is. Whoever guesses the song first wins that round.

Active Camping Games

These games are for the friends that like to run, hide, jump and laugh.
They also tend to require a little bit more equipment but that’s okay because they will be well worth it!

13. Scavenger Hunt

Everyone gets a list of objects to find around the campsite and the first one to find and present all of the objects on their list wins.

14. Flashlight Tag

Flashlight tag is not only a great game to play while camping, it’s also perfect as a party game for BBQs and other outdoor shindigs.

A single player (or more) is selected to be the seeker, while the other participants are allowed about 30 seconds to hide. The seeker then begins the hunt for the other players, and you are caught once the seeker tags you with his or her flashlight. 

Yes- it sounds similar to hide and seek, however in this game, those hiding are allowed to change their hiding locations as they wish.

It is most fun to play this game after dark since it makes the glow of the flashlights much more pronounced.

15. Towerball

To set the game up, create a tower by stacking 3 cans on top of each other.

One person needs to be the tower guardian, while all the other players form a circle with the tower and its guardian at the center.

The players in the circle throw the ball at the tower, trying to knock it over, while the guardian’s job, as implied by the name, is to guard the tower. The players in the circle are allowed to pass the ball to each other before attempting throws.

The guardian is allowed to defend the tower using their body parts, while the other players are allowed underarm throws (only) at the tower.

Whenever the tower is toppled, the thrower who knocks it over becomes the new guardian. Bear in mind that the game does not stop during the guardian switch. The new guardian has to immediately be alert.

Also, if someone succeeds in making the guardian topple their own tower, the player who caused it or the last player to touch the ball becomes the new guardian.

16. Boat Race

If you go camping with a large group of people, the boat race should be a game that’s at the top of your list.

As implied by the name, boat race is a racing game, and the objective is to reach the endpoint before the other teams.

Each team forms a crew by standing in a line and facing backward with their hands on each other’s shoulders.

A team member is assigned to be the leader (or cox) and is the only one allowed to face forward at the back of the crew. The cox is allowed to shout directions to their crew for navigation, and crew members are not allowed to move their heads or look back. When someone says “Go!”, the race begins and the crews rush to reach the endpoint first.

Throughout the race, all members of the crew must remain linked with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. Members of a crew must also remain facing backward and must not look behind them. Breaking any of these rules means that team has to go back to the starting line and begin the race again.

The game is made more challenging by choosing longer paths, meandering paths or by setting obstacles.

17. Glow in the Dark Frisbee

Frisbee is just like any other catch and throw game.

Using a light-up flying disc makes it special for camping because it allows you to play under the open night sky. You won’t believe how magical it will be, with the stars shining down on you.

related : 40 Dress Up Party Theme Ideas for Adults [For the Best Party Ever!]

That’s the list!

Are you looking forward to playing any of these adult camping games? If you do, you are guaranteed to have so much fun on your trip!