Over the last decade, so many families have decided to make a massive life change. In droves, they are sticking their home on wheels and letting the wind dictate where they end up. Among the families attempting the RV Lifestyle and hitting the road, a large chunk of them are couples, both young and old.
About six weeks into your RV trip, you might find yourselves staring at each other from across the dinette table. This would be a sweet moment, except for it’s less about staring into their eyes to read their soul or preparing to offer sappy love quips, and the like. Instead, you’re trying to figure out what the heck to talk about, much less what to do.
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, we at the Travel Happy Blog are here to extend a helping hand!
We have compiled an extensive list of games to fit the space in between you two love-birds on that dinette table in hopes to provide entertainment, and maybe more importantly, bring laughter and help to create amazing memories from your journey with your significant other.
Each game comes with a special “SPICE IT UP” option to make sure you’re making the most of each game! These will get subsequently SPICIER as we near #1.
I’ve taken a series of polls and time and time again, there are 15 GAMES that consistently top the list. Below are top finishers, number 15-11. Check back for the next two entries to find out which game was voted #1!
15. Trekking the National Parks Board Game
Although they only got 3% of the votes, those who suggested it were VERY ADAMANT that this was the game to play for those who love the great outdoor spaces we have at our disposal in this amazing country.
This best-seller by Underdog Games was created by the most passionate among us in regards to the 60 state parks represented.
The game play is similar to Risk in many ways, but certainly has its own flair and is not just a rebranded knock-off by any means. You’ll learn about the dozens of state parks, while attempting to “camp” at as many of them as possible. You’ll win by collecting the most “Victory Points”. They are discovered along your journey through the different parks.
It’s a fantastic game for any age and is ideal for between 2-5 players.
Spice it up: Winner decides if the loser has to make the reservations for the next 3 stops OR if they have to relinquish the authority to make the next 3 reservations!
14. 5 Crowns
If you enjoy a great card game, you may just head over to Amazon to pick up a set of 5 Crowns playing cards. These differ from standard playing cards in that there are five suits and three jokers for a total of 58 cards per deck. Each suit has eleven cards in ranging from 3-10, Jack, Queen and King.
The game play consists of collecting certain groupings of cards with rotating “wild” cards to keep it fresh, which is an important aspect of living together as a couple. As you collect these sets, you lay them down in front of you and can continue to play on your collections until the deck runs out.
Each remaining card is given a value and tallied up. In the end, the player with the LOWEST score wins the game!
This game is in the same vein as Phase10 (another popular option that we’ll see in future installments) and is great for 2 players.
Spice it up: Loser has to clean the black tank for the next 3 cleanings! (Link to 3 Simple Steps to cleaning out your black tank if the loser needs some help)
13. Mexican Train
Dominoes or “bones” will not only keep you entertained, but may be just as effective as a cup of coffee to wake you up each time their shaken up to start over in this fantastic, low-key game.
In Mexican Train, players war to match domino-ends by value. Each player has a designated, personal train and a community train that are available to play on. Draw bones from the boneyard and aim to attach your 3|6 to the 6|6 on the table, for example.
All leftover bones at the end will be tallied up based on the number of “pips” you are holding (little black dots) and the winner is the one holding the lowest number of pips!
This is not a fast-paced game, but you may find yourself trying to distract your partner by any means necessary so they don’t play their 5|5 and block your move. Let your imaginations run wild.
Spice it up: Loser has to get out of the car and dance next time you’re stuck waiting on a train until it passes!
12. Scrabble
There may not be any better therapy than playing your “OXYPHENBUTAZONE” on a triple word for 1459-points while your partner enjoys a good cry.
Game play consists of drawing letter tiles from a face-down pile and spelling words (dictionary words only) on the board while trying to occupy bonus-point spaces. Play across yours and your opponent’s words cross-word style to use up all your tiles while drawing from the middle to keep seven tiles in your hand at all times.
Game play ends when all the tiles have been drawn and neither player can make another play on the board.
As soon as one person ends the game by running out of tiles, total up their number of points acquired and add double the point value of the letters remaining in your opponent’s hand to see if you’re the winner!
Two-players are plenty to enjoy a 30- to 45-minute game.
Spice it up: Loser has to use the labeler (or buy one if they don’t have one) and re-label everything in the RV with fresh clean, easy-to-read labels.
11. Gin Rummy
There has to be room for a few classic card games in the top 15 best games for the traveling duo. Gin Rummy seems to be a staple two-player card game for many of those who contributed to the polls.
You’re aiming for suited straights in three-plus runs (Jc-Qc-Kc) or sets of three of the same number card (3c, 3d, 3h). Lay down your “melds” or collections of cards when the timing is right. You can play your “deadwood” or leftover cards on both your melds AND your opponent’s melds, but don’t get caught with a full hand of cards when your opponent declared Gin, or you’ll be sorry!
The leftover cards in your hand must be discarded until you have a total value of less the 10-points. Number cards have face value while Aces are 1-point and face cards are 10-points. Once you have declared “GIN!”, you receive 25-points plus the value of all the deadwood cards in your opponent’s hand.
This is traditionally played with 2 players, but can be played with up to 4.
Spice it up: Winner gets FIRST SHOWER privileges for a week with no time limits (good luck to those losers with 6-gallon hot water heaters)
See?! It’s not that hard to keep things fresh while you’re on the road. All it takes is reading this blog and picking up a few of our favorite games!
But in all seriousness, as we get nearer to Valentine’s day, remember chocolates and flowers only last a short while, but your significant other is there for the long haul. Cherish your time together, laugh together when you could get mad, strive to out-serve each other, and ALWAYS bring walkie-talkies when you’re backing in your RV.
Travel Happy
Travel Happy
