Going camping is already a fun activity, but adding games to the evening makes it even better. There are so many exciting and entertaining games adults everywhere love to play to make a camping trip a fun and bonding experience. While children play camping games all the time, are there any games that adults can play while camping?
Here are nine enjoyable camping games for adults at night:
- Murder in the dark
- Flashlight tag
- Night frisbee
- Sardines
- Capture the flag
- Manhunt
- Telephone
- Never have I ever
- The voting game
Going on a camping trip with your friends or family is fun, especially if you can play exciting camping games together to bond and make unforgettable memories. Let’s dive into the rules of each game, discuss why they make for great camping games, and tips on how to make the games even more fun.
1. Murder in the Dark
Murder in the Dark has many different names and variants, including Wink Murder, Lonely Ghost, and Detective. However, the overall purpose of the game stays the same.
During this game, someone is assigned the role of the “murderer” and has the ability to kill other players by winking at them. This game requires a lot of bluffing because as the other players accuse everyone around them, the murderer must be ready to defend themself and bluff their way out of the situation.
To win the game, the murderer “kills” everyone or the rest of the players figure out who the murderer is.
This can be an exciting game between friends around a campfire, as it doesn’t require much physical activity and relies solely on your creativity and ability to lie.
Who doesn’t love a murder mystery game at night around a campfire?
2. Flashlight Tag
Flashlight tag is just like the regular game of tag, except it’s used with flashlights and played in the dark. The game is a childhood favorite of many, as I’m sure most people have played tag at some point in their lives. However, adding flashlights at night makes it even more exciting.
To play, you pick one person to be “it,” and that person has to shine a flashlight at every other person to win.
There are many variations to tag as well. For example, your group could play freeze tag, which means that when you’re “tagged,” you freeze and wait for another team member to unfreeze you.
This makes the game last a little longer, as you can continue playing instead of being out.
Using flashlights makes the game less about running away from the other team and more about being stealthy and hiding from opponents.
This game is a great choice when camping with a big group of people. However, it’s essential to take precautions when running around while camping. You’ll want to steer clear of any campfires or camping equipment.
3. Night Frisbee
Frisbee isn’t always the best group activity, but if there are only a few adults on your camping trip, throwing around a Frisbee can be both fun and relaxing, and it’s easy to make a game of it.
Amazon.com has the Nite Ize Flashflight LED Light Up Flying Disk that would be excellent for night frisbee. This Frisbee comes in various colors, works on two lithium batteries that give up to a 20-hour battery charge, and contains bright LED lights, making for the perfect Frisbee to use when it’s dark.
4. Sardines
If you’ve never heard of Sardines, don’t worry! Sardines is the same concept as the popular game Hide-and-seek. However, it’s reversed. Instead of one person being the seeker while everyone else hides, Sardines has one person hiding while the rest seek.
As the seekers find the person hiding, the fun twist is that they begin to hide with them. Eventually, once everyone finds the person hiding, the game ends.
While this game is usually a child’s favorite, it makes for excellent bonding time with friends and is fun to play at night, especially in a campground.
5. Capture the Flag
Capture the Flag is an exciting game to play with a big group of people. Playing this game at night is preferred simply because it makes the game even more challenging. It is all about teamwork and strategy, so it’s a great way to bond with friends.
To play, you find a designated area (preferably with markers), and you split the group into two teams.
Each team gets a brightly-colored “flag” to hide on their side. The game’s point is to find and steal the other team’s flag and bring it back to your side without getting tagged by the other team.
6. Manhunt
Manhunt is a bit of a mix between Hide-and-seek and Capture the Flag. Before playing this game, you’ll want to set up boundaries of the area and split your group into two teams. One team will be the hunters, while the other team will be the people hiding.
The game ends once the hunters have found all of the other teams.
This game is ideal for playing in the dark and outside in wooded areas because it makes hiding easy, and like capturing the flag, there is teamwork and communication involved. However, always take precautions when running, especially near a campfire or in a heavily wooded area. Playing at night can hinder your vision, and you could injure yourself if you’re not careful.
7. Telephone
Telephone is a fun game to play while sitting around a campfire. It’s not a physically demanding game like some, and it makes for a great way to spend time with family or friends and laugh while doing so.
It is an easy game to play.
As the group sits in a big circle, one person comes up with a sentence or phrase and whispers it to the person next to them. It then goes around the circle, and the last person says what they heard aloud.
The last phrase or sentence is usually far from what the sentence initially was, which makes for some good laughs.
8. Never Have I Ever
Never Have I Ever is a famous party game. While there are many variations, most adults play the game as a drinking game.
To play the game, everyone goes around saying, “Never Have I Ever…” followed by something they haven’t done. Then, everyone who has done this thing takes a drink.
Another fun variation of this game is to make it a bit like musical chairs. One person stands in the middle of the group announcing something they’ve never done while everyone else is sitting in a circle around them.
Everyone who has done this thing has to get up and run to another chair. Someone is out every round until there is only one person left.
Never Have I Ever is a fun adult game on a camping trip because not only is it exciting, but you get to learn about other people and their experiences as you play.
9. The Voting Game
Player Ten The Voting Game (available on Amazon.com) is a fun adult party game that consists of a group of people voting on who would be most likely to do certain things.
For example, one card reads, “Who would be most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse?” The group would vote for someone, and the person with the most votes wins the card.
This game is fun to play while camping with friends because it’s funny, easygoing, and a great way to learn more about your friends and what they think of you.
Wrapping It Up
Kids aren’t the only ones who should get to have fun playing games at night. Whether you and your adult friends want to play outside (provided you don’t totally disturb other campers) or sit around the campfire, in your tent, trailer, or RV, these games will add to the overall enjoyment of your camping experience.
