License plate game tracker: free, no sign-up
The license plate game is a road trip spotting game: passengers hunt for plates from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and check them off. This free tracker needs no account. Tap a state when you spot it, score up to 4 players by how far each plate is from home, or print the list.
The tracker
No email, no sign-up. One page, all 51.
Far-off plates score more. Until you pick a home state, every plate is 1 point. Your game saves in this browser, on this device only. Your list, names and scores aren’t sent anywhere.
License plate game: 50 states and D.C.
Mark a state when you spot its plate. Each state counts once.
Free from tumbly.ai/license-plate-game
How to play
- Set up. Pick your home state and how many are playing. Names are optional.
- Spot a plate. Tap the name of whoever saw it, then tap the state. Playing alone? Just tap the state. Tap again to clear a mistake.
- Agree on the rules before you leave. Does a parked car count? Does a plate count if only one person saw it? A state counts once, so the first to call it gets it.
- Add it up at the end of the trip. The score keeps itself. Most points wins.
What a plate is worth
- Under 500 miles from home: 1 point
- 500 to 999 miles: 2 points
- 1,000 to 1,999 miles: 3 points
- 2,000 miles or more: 5 points
From Ohio, a Michigan plate is 1 point, Colorado is 3 and Hawaii is 5. Distances are rough: a straight line between each state’s center of population, the balance point of where its people live, from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 figures. Real road miles run longer. Your own state’s plates are 1 point.
Four ways to play
- First to 25 points. A short game for a short drive. With a home state picked, one plate from far away can swing it.
- The whole-trip game. Keep one list from the driveway to the hotel and back. The game stays saved on this device, so you can close the page tonight and pick up tomorrow.
- Alphabet by state. Find a state for every letter, in order. Alabama or Arizona for A, then on to C, since seven letters have no state: B, E, J, Q, X, Y and Z.
- Plate words. Take the letters on any plate and make them the first letters of a sentence. KRT could be “Kangaroos ride trains.” Silliest one wins.
Take the stories on the road.
Tumbly Drive tells the true story of what’s outside the window, read aloud through the car speakers, then quizzes the back seat. Free to start.
Scan with your iPhone cameraor open it in your browser
Questions parents ask
How do you play the license plate game?
Passengers watch the other cars. When you spot a plate from a state nobody has found yet, mark it. Each state counts once, for whoever calls it first, and the list grows for the whole trip. Most points at the end wins.
How does the scoring work?
The farther a plate is from your home state, the more it’s worth: 1 point under 500 miles, 2 under 1,000, 3 under 2,000, and 5 for 2,000 or more. Distances are rough, a straight line between each state’s center of population, from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 figures. Until you pick a home state, every plate is 1 point.
Do I need an account?
No account, no email and nothing to download. Your game saves in this browser, on this device, and it isn’t sent anywhere. Clear your browser’s data and the game goes with it.
Is there a license plate game app?
You don’t need one. This page is the whole game: open it on a phone and tap the states. If you’d like something else for the car, Tumbly Drive is our app that tells kids the true story of what’s outside the window, read aloud through the car speakers. Free to start.
Is there a printable license plate game?
Yes. Press Print the checklist and you get one page with all 51 and a box to tick for each, with no email and no sign-up. Pick a home state first and each state’s points print too.
Does it work without a signal?
The tracker does, once the page has opened. You need a connection to open it, and then it keeps working as long as the tab stays open. Heading somewhere with no bars? Open it before you leave, or print the checklist. Tumbly Drive is different: it streams, so it needs a signal.
Do Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Canada count?
D.C. is on the list, which makes 51. Puerto Rico, the other U.S. territories and Canadian provinces aren’t. Spot one anyway? Call it a bonus: no points, all the bragging rights.
What was the first state to issue license plates?
Massachusetts, in 1903, with blue and white porcelain enamel plates. Other states soon required plates but left drivers to provide their own, according to The Henry Ford museum.
Can the driver play?
Not with the phone or the list. Games are for passengers, and the driver’s eyes stay on the road. The driver can still call out a plate they happen to notice, as long as someone else does the marking.