A White Elephant gift exchange will bring extra fun to your Christmas functions and can be an entertaining alternative to the classic Secret Santa game.
White Elephant, also known as Yankee Swap or Dirty Santa, is a popular Christmas game where everyone tries to leave with the best gift, whether they pick it or steal it from someone else.
How to play:
1. Each player brings one wrapped gift to add to the pile.
The night’s organiser should decide the type of gifts allowed. Whether that be sentimental, gag gifts, regifting, or weird, the choices are endless, and it’s up to you as the host to decide what your group would have the most fun with.
2. Players draw numbers to decide what order they will open their gift in.
3. Players should sit in a circle around the gifts.
To make things run smoother, it’s best to have people sit in the order they will pick their gift.
4. The first player will select their gift and open it. Make sure everyone can see what they get.
5. The following players can choose to take a wrapped gift from the pile or steal another player’s gift. Anyone who gets their gift stolen this way can do the same — choose a new gift or steal someone else’s.
To keep things moving, there are some limits on the gift stealing.
- A gift can only be stolen once per turn, so players who have their gift stolen will have to wait to get it back.
- After three swaps, the turn automatically comes to an end.
6. After all players have had their turn, the first player gets a chance to swap their gift for any other opened gift. Anyone whose gift is stolen may steal from someone else. The game ends when someone declines to steal a gift.
For this last turn, the three-swap rule doesn’t apply. You can keep stealing and swapping until someone doesn’t want to.
You can easily customise the game rules to suit you and your group and make the game your own.
This works best when you’re with a group of people who like to get in on the joke, that way you can all have a bit of fun with it and fight for some wacky gifts.
Have fun and may you leave the party with the best gift.
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