Open a gift or steal one. Everyone plays on their own phone, and nobody knows who brought what until the end.
Connecting…
Type a gift and a hint, or bring a real one.
On your turn, open a wrapped gift.
Take an opened gift. They go next.
After 3 steals a gift is safe.
A white elephant exchange is the best part of a holiday party: a pile of mystery gifts, a lot of stealing, and somebody going home with something they never wanted. This version runs in the browser, so there is nothing to download and nobody has to keep track of whose turn it is. Create a room, share the link, and play on your phones in the same room or over a video call.
There is no fee per player and no sign-up: a room for up to 20 people is free, and a room-size plan covers an office party of up to 250.
The game applies all of these for you, with a key on screen, so no one needs to read them first. The host can set the steals to 2, 3 or 4 and switch the last swap off. For variations, big groups and a sheet to print, see the full white elephant rules, or try the white elephant dice game.
For a remote team, the hard part of a virtual white elephant is that nobody can see the pile. Here each person types the gift they will send, with a hint if they like, and everyone sees the same wrapped gifts on their own screen. Nobody can see what a gift is until it is opened, and who brought what stays hidden until the end. Share the link on a Microsoft Teams or Zoom call and play it as part of your Christmas party games.
With real gifts on a table, choose Real gifts when you make the room. The phones keep the order, count the steals and say which gifts are frozen, and whoever opens a gift types what was inside. Put it on a TV with Put it on the big screen and the whole room can follow every steal. Playing without phones? Draw the order with our white elephant number generator, and find something worth stealing in our white elephant gift ideas.
They are the same game. Some families say Dirty Santa, New England says Yankee Swap, and most offices say White Elephant. The rules here are the most common ones, and the host's choices cover the usual house rules. Secret Santa is the different one: see white elephant vs Secret Santa.
Keep the night going with Draw and Guess using Christmas words, Bingo, Top Answers or Party Night, or see all our games to play with friends.
Yes. Rooms of up to 20 players are free, in the browser, with no download, no app and no sign-up. Create a room, share the 4-letter code or the link, and everyone joins on their own phone or laptop. Bigger groups can run on a room-size plan.
Everyone joins a room and types a gift, with a hint for the wrapping if they like. The game shuffles the order. On your turn you open a wrapped gift or steal one that is already open. If yours is stolen, it is your go again. When every gift is open, player 1 gets a last swap, and then everyone sees who brought what.
Everyone draws a number. Player 1 opens a gift. Each player after that opens a wrapped gift or steals an opened one, and a player who loses a gift picks again. A gift can be stolen only once a turn, so nobody can take a gift straight back, and it freezes after its third steal. At the end, player 1 can swap with any gift that is not frozen. This game runs those rules for you, and the host can set 2, 3 or 4 steals.
Three is the usual rule, and it is the default here: the third steal freezes the gift and it stays with whoever has it. The host can choose 2 or 4 when making the room. Fewer steals make a shorter game.
Yes. Share the link in the chat and talk on the call while everyone plays on their own screen. Each person types the gift they will send, so a remote team can have the whole exchange online and post the real gifts afterwards.
Yes. Choose Real gifts in the room when you make the room. Bring wrapped gifts as usual, and the phones keep the order, the steals and the freezes. Whoever opens a gift types what was inside so everyone can see it.
They still play. Anyone without a gift when the exchange starts is covered by a surprise gift, so there is always one gift for every player.
This is one: a white elephant website that works like an app in any phone's browser, with nothing to install. The host makes a room, everyone joins with a 4-letter code, and a TV or laptop can show the whole room the pile and every steal.
Yes. White Elephant, Dirty Santa and Yankee Swap are the same game with different names, and house rules vary a little from place to place.
In Secret Santa each person draws one name and buys a gift for that person. In White Elephant gifts go in a shared pile for anyone, and people can steal them, so you never know what you will end up with.
Three is the minimum and 6 to 30 is the sweet spot. A free room holds 20, and a plan takes a room up to 250. For a big group, choose 45 seconds a turn and 2 steals, and put it on a TV with Put it on the big screen so the whole room can watch.
Each turn has a clock of 45 seconds, 90 seconds or 3 minutes, chosen by the host. Ten people usually finish in 15 to 25 minutes, depending on how much stealing goes on.
The game carries on. When the clock runs out it opens a gift for them, and anyone can skip a player who is away, so nobody is left waiting.
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