14 Fun Camping Activities For Adventurous Adults

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Pitch the tent, gather the kindle, and get the gang round the fire to try out our best camping activities for adults!

From songs to storytelling, sports to charades, there’s fun for every personality around the pit – even the introvert campers will want to join in.

Sections are split into games that involve communication, music, cards, and action.

To accommodate your trip, we’ve featured camping games for adults that require no resources so you can use your luggage allowance for snacks – gotta pack those s’mores.

Some of the following adult campfire games only need two people to play, others are great for entertaining bigger groups.

Also, a few can include alcohol if you like; pack the hip flask if that’s your camping style.

You may also like our camping questions, campfire questions, and spooky campfire stories.

Best Adult Campfire Games and Activities

Charades

Charades is a classic party game, making for great competition and memorable antics.

The goal of this game is to act out words or phrases without speaking while teammates try to guess the answer.

Charades boosts creativity, communication, and laughter, making it a perfect game for campers looking to bond and have a great time.

Charades is a great option for those seeking a hilarious and interactive game; one of the easiest camping ideas for adults that requires little preparation.

Just a list of things to reenact, or a pre-made list like this party charades game, this black-owned charades list, or death charades – all of which are aimed at adults.

Would You Rather

Players ask each other thought-provoking “Would you rather” questions, presenting two challenging scenarios.

This game sparks conversations, reveals insights about fellow campers, and encourages friendly debates.

To make the game more relevant to your experience, give the questions a wilderness theme, such as “would you rather hike up that mountain, or cross the whitewater river?”

This game is great for campers who enjoy engaging discussions and getting to know others on a deeper level, making it one of the best adult bonfire games.

We have heaps of Would You Rather Lists that you can use: clean would you rather, would you rather for best friends, would you rather for friends, and would you rather for couples.

20 Questions

Choose a person, place, or thing, and have others ask up to 20 yes-or-no questions to guess what it is.

20 Questions is a fantastic game for sharpening deductive reasoning skills and providing hours of entertainment around the campfire.

This game is great for campers who love brain-teasers and group problem-solving.

The Alphabet Game

For fun camping activities for adults that don’t need cards, consider The Alphabet Game.

Choose a category (e.g., animals, food, countries and take turns naming items starting with each letter of the alphabet.)

The first person to go through all the letters wins.

The Alphabet Game is a great game for challenging your knowledge and having fun with words.

It can become a great campfire drinking game for adults by incorporating a new rule in which every time someone makes a mistake, they take a shot of a drink of their choice.

Campfire Trivia

Prepare a set of camping or nature-related trivia questions and challenge your fellow campers to test their knowledge.

Campfire Trivia is a fun campfire game for adults, learning interesting facts, sparking conversations, and creating a lively atmosphere around the fire.

This game is great for knowledge-seekers and trivia enthusiasts who enjoy friendly competition.

We have Campfire Trivia already created for you – it includes five rounds with five questions and test themes such as general knowledge, history, and world records!

Word Association

In Word Association, players begin with any word of their choice, then requiring the next player to quickly say an associated word.

The game continues as players build a chain of connected words

Word Association stimulates quick thinking, creativity, and encourages spontaneous connections.

This game is great for campers who enjoy wordplay and creative thinking.

An example of Word Association would be one player starting with the word “ocean” then the next player saying “sand”.

Words Not Associated

This version of the above game is much harder as it requires players to say words not associated with the word before.

What makes it tricky is that the brain wants to say words associated with what it hears, so you really need to break away from that track!

Sticking with the ocean example, the next player could say “coffee” as this word is not associated with the ocean.

It is honestly harder than it seems, especially after a few campfire beers!

Ghost

In the game of Ghost, players are required to take turns, one after another contributing a new letter to a collaboratively-created word.

The objective of Ghost is to not be the player that completes the word.

If the challenged player cannot provide a valid word, they receive a letter.

The player that spells out the word ‘ghost’ loses the game; think of it like the opposite of Scrabble where you don’t want to complete the word!

Ghost is a fantastic campfire activity for adults, blending a love of language with strategic thinking.

Telephone

In the game of Telephone, players organize in a circle with the goal of whispering a sentence down the lane from one person to the next.

The game continues until the last person reveals the phrase.

The hilarity comes from the inevitable distortion of the message along the way, mishearing certain phrases and ending up with a humorously different phrase than the one that started.

Telephone is a fantastic game to test communication skills and witness the power of miscommunication.

This game is great for campers who enjoy laughter, light-hearted fun, and communication challenges.

Categories

Choose a category, such as animals, food, or movies, and take turns naming items within that category.

The catch is that each item named must start with the last letter of the previous item named, for example if the person before you says ‘gelato,’ then you could say ‘onion.’

Categories is an engaging game that tests knowledge, quick thinking, and vocabulary skills.

This game is great for campers who enjoy trivia, wordplay, and friendly competition.

Story Starters

In the game of Story Starters, the first player begins a story with the initial sentence, and every following player continues the storyline with one additional sentence.

The story takes unexpected turns as each player contributes their unique ideas, making for a collaborative and often humorous story by the time the round comes to a close.

Story Starters is a creative and collaborative game that stimulates imagination and storytelling skills, incorporating conversational skills and creativity.

Storytelling Circle

In the Storytelling Circle game, participants gather in a circle, one by one contributing to a collaborative story.

This activity stimulates imagination, encourages creativity, and keeps everyone entertained while fostering a sense of camaraderie.

Originally designed for acting improvisation classes, Storytelling Circle is a great way to incorporate creativity and engaging communication over a shared goal.

This game makes for a great camping game for adults, sharing a love of storytelling and cooperative group activities.

If you love word play games, check out our guide to car games for adults too.

Name That Song

Players take turns humming or singing a snippet of a song while others guess the title and artist, making for a game that is both musical and humorous.

It’s a fantastic game for music lovers and adds a touch of friendly competition to the campfire circle, and can be even better for those that are not musical at all.

If someone is musically talented, why not get them to play the songs on their guitar?!

Intros Only

Another music-based campfire game option is Intros Only.

This requires a bit more work than Name That Song as one music fan will need to prepare a playlist.

The game host then plays seconds from the intro of the song and the players have to guess what it is.

Make the game more challenging by giving less time, or easier by letting the song play on for longer.

For mega music super fans, you can speed up or slow down the intro using apps.

Why not add a theme such as theme tunes, songs from movies, or covers?

You can probably tell that we love crazy quiz rounds at Games & Trivia Quizzes, so much so we have outlined over 50 in our quiz round ideas list here.

Name that Animal Sound

One player imitates the sound of an animal while others try to guess the animal species.

It’s a fun and interactive game that combines your natural space with themes of nature.

Name That Animal Sound is a great game after you’ve had more than a few drinks and are sitting around the campfire, and nothing is funnier than your friends trying to imitate cows after one too many drinks.

Uno

Uno is a great card game for big groups, as the rules are relatively quick to grasp and all you need is a small pack of cards like these ones.

The cards range in color and number, ranging from 0 to 9 and featuring red, green, blue and yellow.

There are also cards like Skip, Reverse, Draw and Wild that all serve unique purposes to help mix up the game.

Each round begins with seven cards for each person, and each player has a turn contributing to the pile with a card of the same color or number, or one of the variable card types mentioned.

The objective of the game is to be the first person to run out of cards, making for a rapid-paced and energetic race to the finish.

This is one of the best campfire games for adults the need something to focus on as the cards lead the game.

Uno also features in our guide to the best beach games for adults.

Mafia

In this social deduction game, players are assigned roles of either “mafia” or “townspeople.”

The mafia members try to eliminate the townspeople, who must deduce the mafia’s identities and vote them out.

Mafia is a thrilling game of deception, deduction, and teamwork that keeps campers engaged and on the edge of their seats.

This game makes for one of the best bonfire games for adults, incorporating groups of friends or families who enjoy strategic and interactive games.

Mafia also features in our cocktail party games for adults.

Go Fish

A classic card game that anyone can learn quickly, Go Fish is a great way to get a whole group together with a simple premise.

The objective of the game is to get four of a kind, with a set number of cards in your set and a pile of cards sitting in the middle like a pond to go fishing in.

Go Fish is a great game for casual gamers or anyone looking for a simple game to play together around the campfire.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament

Hold a friendly tournament to determine the ultimate Rock, Paper, Scissors champion.

While originally a game meant for children to pass the time, Rock, Paper, Scissors can be made more exciting and engaging by turning it into a high-paced and/or high-stakes tournament.

This game is great for campers of all ages looking for a quick and easy game that can be played anywhere.

Rock-Paper-Scissors Relay Race

Divide into teams and have players race to a designated point, playing rock-paper-scissors against each member of the opposing team they encounter along the way.

The winner continues racing, while the loser joins the winning team.

The first team to have all members reach the finish line wins.

This game combines the classic hand game with a thrilling relay race, providing excitement and teamwork.

If you’re looking for more activities that require teamwork, you may also like our list of scavenger hunt ideas for adults with outdoor suggestions.

Rock Skipping Contest

Arguably the oldest outdoor camping game for adults, rock skipping has been around as long as there have been rocks and rivers.

Each participant tries to skip a flat rock across the water, aiming for the highest number of skips.

It’s a simple yet enjoyable game that combines nature, skill, and a touch of friendly competition.

This game is great for campers who appreciate outdoor challenges and natural surroundings.

Thumb Wrestling

A simple yet competitive game, thumb wrestling involves two players linking hands and attempting to pin down the other person’s thumb.

Thumb Wrestling is a fun game involving friendly contests, engaging in physical activity around the campfire.

This game is great for campers looking for a quick and playful game that requires no equipment.

Tic-Tac-Toe: Nature Edition

Draw a tic-tac-toe grid on the ground using sticks or stones, and players take turns placing leaves or pebbles to create their X or O.

Instead of traditional X’s and O’s, players can use different natural elements like acorns and pinecones, to make it more of a nature theme.

Tic-Tac-Toe: Nature Edition adds a creative twist to a classic game and brings a sense of nature to your camping fun.

This game is great for those who appreciate nature-inspired activities and enjoy traditional games with a twist.

Name that Constellation

If the clouds clear out and the stars are shining, it may be the best time to play a game of Name That Constellation.

Using a star chart or a stargazing app to help you navigate, look through the night sky to find the different constellations.

This game is both relaxing and educational, with minimal competition to make for a low-key collaborative activity.

A classic camping idea for adults, this game is great for late-night campers in awe of a sky full of stars.

Did we miss out any of your favorite fun adult camping games? Tell us in the comments!