Camping can be fun for all ages. There are games for kids and adults to play in and around the campsite. If there are no kids on the outing, then fun camping games for adults would be preferable to games designed for younger adventurers.
Besides common games like poker, volleyball, horseshoes, or board games, there are fun games for adults on an outdoor weekend. These mature games usually involve a higher degree of skill or concentration that make them more enjoyable for adults. Depending on the participants in the games, alcohol or certain actions may be added to the games as well.
Glow-in-the-Dark Ring Toss
This game is super easy to assemble and bring, because every piece is detachable or collapsible in some way. Consisting primarily of glow-in-the-dark necklaces or bracelets with joiners for the rings, the ring toss peg is simply a paper plate or sheet of newspaper, a cylinder of some sort (a paper towel roll core would be perfect, but even a stick would do), modeling clay or play dough to support the cylinder, and Scotch tape to secure some glow sticks around the peg so you can see what you’re aiming for. This game is surprisingly popular once you get a match going, because who wouldn’t love a game that glows in the dark?
Beersbee
A fun camping game for adults that has grown in popularity with campers and travelers is called Beersbee, a sort of fusion of Frisbee golf and horseshoes. It uses two poles, two empty beer bottles, and a Frisbee. This one is a bit more work to set up, since you need to bring (and possibly make) some kind of poles with small platforms on one end to hammer into the ground.
Place the poles about 40 feet apart with a beer bottle or aluminum can on top of each one. Players stand behind one pole and fling the Frisbee in an attempt to knock the bottle off the opposite pole.
Opposing players then try to catch the Frisbee or bottle before either hits the ground. You score a point if the Frisbee lands. The bottle reaching the ground scores two points. In the event you miss both the bottle and Frisbee, three points go to the team that tossed the Frisbee.
Adding to the difficulty of the game is the rule that all players must have a drink in one hand at all times. This game will probably make you kind of a big deal at summer festivals.
Viking Chess (Kubb)
Yet another horseshoe fusion game, this one also draws on the elements of bowling. Played in Sweden since the early 20th century, Viking Chess, or Kubb as it is called in Swedish, is played by tossing a baton to knock over your opponent’s pieces, typically wooden blocks. The object is to knock over all your opponent’s kubbs and the king piece before they get yours. You can play it on nearly any surface. The level of strategy involved is how it came to be known as Viking Chess. Games can last just minutes to over an hour.
Each team or player receives 10 kubbs, one king, 6 batons, and 6 field marking pins that will create the boundaries for the game. The pieces are all made of wood, and the approximate measurements are:
- Kubbs: 6 x 2.75-inch post (sometimes marked by a cut wooden crown or other indicator)
- King: 12 x 3.5-inch post
- Batons: 11.75 x 2-inch diameter
Set up four of your pins in a 16 x 26-foot rectangle, with the remaining two bisecting the rectangle to form 2 sides. Place the king directly in the center of each team’s half, and the kubbs around it along the baselines, or the short edges of the rectangle. From there it gets a little complicated, but all in all it’s a great strategy game that would be a hit in the outdoors. An online search would likely yield a complete Kubb set, ready to play.
Photo from Matheus Ferrero/Unsplash
