Planning a White Elephant gift exchange? Rules, how to play the holiday mischief game
White Elephant. Yankee Swap. Dirty Santa. The name differs from party to party, but the object of the game is the same: Give, swap and try to end the night with the best present.
If you’re looking for a way to spice up your gift exchanges with some laughter and healthy competition, try out White Elephant. Instead of ensuring a gift for every guest, you can host swap games to help make your holiday party entertaining and cost-effective.
How to play White Elephant
Every player brings a wrapped gift to the game. It helps to establish a price limit on gifts, say $25.
There are typically some unusually desirable gifts in a game of White Elephant and a joke gift or two that players cannot wait to get rid of.
Count how many players with gifts there are. Have each player randomly pick a number, either using numbered pieces of scrap paper in a bowl or an online random number generator. The numbers should correspond with the number of players.
At this point, the group should determine if they want to put a limit on swaps. One option is to say a person can be stolen from only twice, or a gift can be stolen only twice during the course of the game.
Players should sit with all wrapped gifts visible. Whoever draws the number 1 begins, and players continue in ascending order.
The first player picks any one gift from the pile to open in front of the other players. They will take their turn to swap after all the other players have gone.
The second player chooses whether to open a new gift from the pile or steal from the player before them.
The player who drew the 3 chooses whether to steal from the first or second player or open a new gift.
Players continue opening gifts and stealing, with each higher number having a large pool of gifts to steal from if they choose.
If your gift is stolen, you can choose a new gift to open or steal another one from a different player. Players who have already taken their turn should always have a gift in their hands, whether or not it's the one they began with.
When every player has taken their turn, the first player makes the final swap and can either keep the gift they have or swap it for one of the other gifts. That’s what makes this number so lucky: Player 1 gets an extra, final move to end the game.
8. Players keep their final gifts
What you get is what you’ve got – take home the gift that’s in your hands after the final swap.
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White Elephant variations
Are you a gift swap connoisseur looking to switch it up even more? Maybe you’re just looking to give guests a unique experience. Try out any of these White Elephant swap variations:
Give it a theme: Have a room full of Harry Potter fanatics? Having a holiday party with your book club? Make a rule that all gifts – gag or otherwise – must fit on theme. You could even dictate that all gifts must be homemade.
Put a limit on swaps: Every White Elephant game has one desirable gift that makes its way to almost every player. Raise the stakes a little by making a rule that a gift can be swapped only a finite number of times, say three or five.
Extra swapping: Change up the swapping rules. Try forcing players who have been stolen from to pick a new gift instead of stealing from another player. Maybe prohibit the first person from swapping at the end and change 1 from a lucky to an unlucky number. Maybe you allow an extra round of unofficial swapping at the end of the game.
Crown the best gift-giver: You know those gifts that everyone wants to snag? Elect the giver of the best gift and allow them an extra, final swap. This could add a fun incentive to your holiday exchange.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White Elephant rules: How to play the holiday gift exchange game
