Bring a wrapped gift, draw a number, and steal the one you want. Here is how Dirty Santa works, the house rules people argue about, and how to play it on phones.
Want it on paper? Press Print the Dirty Santa rules above for a one-page sheet. For variations, see the full white elephant rules; the game is the same.
Three steals and the gift is frozen is the usual rule. Some families allow unlimited steals, which can make the game run long; two steals keeps a big group moving.
In some Dirty Santa games you may steal a wrapped gift in someone's hands before they open it. Decide before you start, because it changes the whole game.
Agree on what kind of game it is. A gag-gift game is about the laugh; a real-gift game is about stealing the good stuff. Mixing the two leaves someone with a whoopee cushion while everyone else has a blanket. Need ideas? Try our gift ideas.
Play White Elephant online, free
Dirty Santa on phones: everyone sees the pile, every steal and whose turn it is. Free for up to 20 people.
Start a gift exchangeSame game, three names: Dirty Santa in the South, Yankee Swap in New England, white elephant almost everywhere else. It is a different thing from Secret Santa, where each person buys for one person: see white elephant vs Secret Santa.
Slips of paper in a bowl work fine. With no pen to hand, our number generator draws numbers from a hat on one phone. For a version with dice instead of choices, see the white elephant dice game.
Everyone brings a wrapped gift and draws a number. Player 1 opens a gift. Each player after that opens a wrapped gift or steals an opened one, and anyone who loses a gift picks again. A gift is usually frozen after three steals, and player 1 may swap at the end.
Yes. Dirty Santa is the name used across much of the South for the white elephant gift exchange. It is also called Yankee Swap in New England.
Because Santa steals: the game is about taking gifts from each other, so the "dirty" is the stealing, not the gifts.
Yes. Our free online version runs the order, the steals and the freezes on everyone's phone, for parties in the same room or on a video call.
At least 3, and it is best with 6 to 30. Bigger groups do better with two steals per gift and a timer on each turn.
Questions or stuck? support@herdgamesonline.com