White Elephant gift exchange: rules and turn order picker

What is a White Elephant gift exchange?

A party game for groups where nobody knows who brought which present. Everyone brings one wrapped gift within an agreed budget, and players take turns either opening a new gift or stealing one that has already been opened. It is a fixture of US office and family Christmas parties. The same game is often called a Yankee Swap (mainly in New England) or Dirty Santa (mainly in the US South). Unlike Secret Santa, there is no draw of who gives to whom: the fun is in the stealing.

What you need

• One wrapped gift per player, all within the same budget (for example $20 or £15). Gifts should not show who brought them.
• A list of the players' names for the wheel above.
• A room where everyone can see the gift pile, or a video call for the online version.

Standard rules, step by step

1. Set the order. Paste the names into the wheel above (“Bulk edit”, one per line) and spin once per person. Each picked name leaves the wheel and goes into the numbered picking order under the wheel; when one name is left, it is added as the last player. Press Copy order to paste the list into the group chat. (Need the order without spinning? Pick names on the team generator gives it in one go.)
2. Player 1 opens a gift from the pile and shows it to everyone.
3. Each next player chooses: open a new wrapped gift or steal an opened gift from someone else.
4. When your gift is stolen, you choose again: open a new gift or steal a different one. You can't steal back the gift that was just taken from you, at least not in the same turn.
5. A gift is frozen after its third steal. The third person to steal it keeps it for the rest of the game.
6. A turn ends when someone opens a new gift. Then the next person in the order goes.
7. Final swap for player 1. Player 1 never had a chance to steal, so after the last player has gone, player 1 may swap their gift for any gift that isn't frozen. That swap ends the game.

Popular variants

• Steal limits: freeze after 2 steals for a quick game, or allow unlimited steals for chaos (it can go on a long time).
• Final chain: the player whose gift player 1 takes at the end may steal again, and so on, until someone keeps what they have.
• Three strikes: a player who has been stolen from three times keeps what they hold and is out of the game.
• Wrapped steals: gifts stay wrapped until the end, so you steal by shape and weight only.
• Themes: regifts, “something you'd actually use”, books, mugs, local food, or “under $10”.
• Joke-gift edition: everyone brings something silly; the goal is to end up with the least useless gift.
• Secret Santa mix: draw names with the Secret Santa generator for one real gift each, and play White Elephant with a second, cheaper gift.

Playing White Elephant online

• Everyone buys a gift that can be posted (or an e-gift card) and either sends it to the host in advance or keeps it wrapped at home.
• On the video call, the host shares the screen with the wheel in Fullscreen, spins the order live and posts it with Copy order.
• On your turn, you either “open” (you unwrap the gift you brought, or the host reveals one) or “steal” by naming the gift. Keep a shared list of who holds what, for example in the call chat.
• At the end, gifts are posted to their final owners. Agree on a postage limit and a send-by date first.

Tips for a smooth game

• Read the rules out loud before you start, especially the steal limit and the final-swap rule.
• With more than 15 players, use a steal limit of 2 or split into two groups (the team generator can split the names).
• Put the wheel on a TV in fullscreen so everyone sees the order being picked.
• Keep track of steals with a sticky note on each gift.