The Alphabet Game is a car game

Car game

Car games are games played to pass the time on long car journeys, often started by parents to amuse restless children. They generally require little or no equipment or playing space. Some such games are designed specifically to be played while traveling Car games are games played to pass the time...

 played to amuse travelers on long car rides. Two or more players can compete. The basic rules are:

• Each player attempts to find the letters of the alphabet, in order, on road signs or nearby buildings.
• When a player spots the letter, they must call out the letter and the word that starts with it, such as "B in Bingo!"
• Only one player can use a letter found on a sign, but other players may use other letters on that same sign. (A variation to this is: once a letter has been found on a sign, no player may use that sign for any other letters.)
• Letters on movable vehicles (e.g. trucks or license plates) cannot be used.
• If the driver is playing, signs cannot be used once they have been passed for safety reasons.
• The first player to find all the letters of the alphabet is the winner.

The game is suitable for all ages, and there are two great equalizers: the letters J and Q. More skillful players will often race ahead, but with limited instances of the letters "J" and, particularly "Q", leading players often get stuck, giving others time to catch up. This keeps the game interesting for players of different levels.

On car rides lasting several hours, variations may be introduced, such as playing in reverse (from Z-A), giving slower players a handicap (e.g. starting at "H") or disallowing proper names. Other variations include the Hawaiian Alphabet Game, played using only the 12 letters of the Hawaiian language

Hawaiian language

The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...

.

The Alphabet Game is not easily adapted to other modes of transportation, such as ocean liners, or airplanes because of the lack of surrounding letters.

Game Tips

As mentioned, the letters "J" and "Q" are often the stumbling blocks. The letter J is somewhat more common and random in occurrence. The best places to look for some other letters include:
J
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jamba Juice, JB's, Jim's
Q

Queen, Quality, Quick (convenience stores), La Quinta inns, Quizno's

X

X-Ray (and other businesses that have words in their names that are intentionally misspelled, eg., Xtreme, Xciting, etc.)

Some people use exceptions to X because hardly anything starts with it, eg., eXit or anything that may start with "ex"

Z

There aren't very many businesses that have Z at the beginning of the name, but some streets do. eg., Zion's Bank

External links

• http://www.momsminivan.com/bigkids.html - List of travel games for children.
• http://www.parentsconnect.com/do/play_the_alphabet_game.jhtml - Alphabet Game Information
• http://www.beachnet.com/~jeanettem/car.html#ALPHABET