Tally & Table

White Elephant rules (also called Dirty Santa)

The gift swap where you can open a mystery present or steal one somebody else already opened. Here are the rules most groups play, the choices to agree on before the first steal, and a tracker that draws the order and counts steals so nobody argues about whether the blanket is frozen yet.

How to play White Elephant

  1. Agree on a price limit. Everyone spends about the same, so a $20 swap stays a $20 swap.
  2. Everyone brings one wrapped gift with no name on it, and puts it in the pile.
  3. Draw numbers for the turn order (the tracker below does it, or use our printable number cards).
  4. Player 1 opens a gift. That is the end of their turn.
  5. Every later player chooses: open a wrapped gift, or steal any opened gift that is not frozen.
  6. Lose your gift and you go again: open a wrapped one or steal a different gift (not the one just taken from you).
  7. Frozen gifts are safe. After the agreed number of steals (usually two or three), a gift stays with whoever holds it.
  8. Player 1's last chance: when every gift is open, player 1 may swap for any gift that is not frozen. Whoever they swap with may swap too, until someone keeps what they have.

That is the common core of the rules on Wikipedia's article on the gift exchange, Elfster and Drawnames (the freeze rule comes from the first two; Drawnames caps steals per turn instead). Where they differ is the steal rules, so settle those out loud before anyone touches a bow.

White Elephant swap tracker

Type the players (or just how many), choose your steal rules, and it draws the turn order. Then tap what happens: each opened gift shows how many times it has been stolen and when it is frozen. Undo fixes a mis-tap. Saved in this browser only.

Who is playing?

No names? Leave this empty and set how many players instead.

Steal rules

Steal rules: agree on these before you start

Almost every gift-swap argument comes from one of these five choices. The tracker has a setting for the first four; keeping gifts wrapped needs no setting, because nothing is opened until the end.

RuleWhat it doesWhat the sources say
Steal limit (frozen gifts)After a set number of steals the gift is safe with its holder.Wikipedia: commonly two. Elfster: three.
Once per turnA gift stolen this turn cannot move again until someone opens a new gift. This is what stops an instant steal-back.Elfster: each gift can be stolen once per turn.
Steals per turnCaps the chain of steals in one turn, so a turn cannot go round the room forever.Drawnames: three swaps in a turn.
Player 1's final swapGives the first player, who had nothing to steal, a last choice.Elfster and Drawnames both use it; Wikipedia lists it as a variation.
Opened or wrappedUsually gifts are opened as they are chosen. Some groups keep everything wrapped until the end, so people steal by the shape of the box.Elfster and Drawnames list keeping gifts wrapped as a variation.

Our suggestion for a first-time group: three steals to freeze, once per turn, no cap on steals per turn, and a final swap for player 1. It keeps the game lively without letting one popular gift change hands ten times.

Dirty Santa and Yankee swap rules

Dirty Santa, Yankee swap and White Elephant are the same game under different names; Wikipedia lists those three and a long tail of others (Thieving Elves and Cutthroat Christmas among them). The name tends to follow the region or the family rather than the rules. If your group calls it Dirty Santa and has always allowed unlimited steals, set the tracker's freeze rule to "Never" and keep the once-per-turn rule on, or the last few turns can stall.

Variations worth trying

  • Keep it wrapped

    Nobody opens anything until the last turn. People steal by size, weight and the quality of the wrapping, and the big reveal happens all at once. It is the fairest version when a few gifts are clearly better than the rest.

  • Secret Santa and steal

    Draw names first and buy for one person, then play the stealing game with the gifts anyway. People get a gift chosen for them and still get the fun. Use our Secret Santa generator to draw the names.

  • Turn timer

    Give each player 30 seconds to choose. It stops the long "let me think" pauses at a big office party.

  • Dice swap (our house version)

    For a fast game with a big group: everyone opens a gift in turn, then the host sets a three-minute timer. Players take turns rolling one die: 1 swap with the person on your left, 2 swap right, 3 swap with anyone, 4 keep, 5 everyone passes their gift one seat left, 6 roll again. When the timer ends, you keep what you hold.

  • Left-right story swap

    Everyone holds a wrapped gift while someone reads a story out loud, and the gifts pass left or right every time those words come up. Our left-right Christmas story is written for it.

  • Bunco gift swap

    Dice groups can fold the swap into the game: each bunco lets you steal an opened gift, and gifts are opened between sets. See Christmas Bunco.

How to run White Elephant on Zoom (or any video call)

A remote swap works if one person runs the board and everyone can see it.

  1. Pick a way to handle the gifts. Either each player wraps the gift they bought and keeps it at home (it is shipped later to whoever ends up with it), or everyone uses e-gift cards and describes what is on offer. The first is more fun; the second costs nothing to ship.
  2. Collect photos in advance. For wrapped-at-home gifts, ask each player to send the host a photo of the wrapped box. The host shares them on screen as "the pile".
  3. The host runs the tracker and shares the screen. Type the names, draw the order on screen so everyone sees it is fair, and keep the opened-gift list visible.
  4. Open on camera. When a gift is picked, the person who brought it opens it on their camera (they are the only one holding it). Type what it was into the tracker.
  5. Steals happen by voice. The tracker shows who holds what, the steal count and which gifts are frozen, so nobody has to remember.
  6. Ship it after. When the game ends, each person sends the gift they brought to its final holder. Agree a ship-by date and keep gifts small and unbreakable.

For a hybrid party (some in the room, some on screen), let the people at home pick by number and have someone in the room open their pick on camera for them.

Printable number cards for the draw

Print, cut and fold the numbers, then pull them from a bowl. Twelve fit on a page.

This is what prints: the number cards, sized for US Letter. Use your browser's Print (Ctrl+P, Cmd+P on a Mac, or Share then Print on a phone).Another sheet on this page is set to print.

1Your turn number
2Your turn number
3Your turn number
4Your turn number
5Your turn number
6Your turn number
7Your turn number
8Your turn number
9Your turn number
10Your turn number
11Your turn number
12Your turn number

Hosting tips

  • Size the group. With more than about 20 people, split into two circles (the team generator can split the room) or use the per-turn steal cap so the game ends before dessert goes cold.
  • Put the gifts where everyone can see them. A coffee table in the middle of a circle of chairs works best; people steal more when they can see what is on offer.
  • Say the rules once, out loud, before player 1 opens anything, and leave the printed card on the table.
  • Need gift ideas? Our gift ideas are sorted by budget, with filters for office-safe and family swaps.

White Elephant questions

How many times can a gift be stolen?

Your group decides before the first gift is opened. Elfster's rules freeze a gift after three steals; Wikipedia says two is common. On the third steal the gift is "frozen" and stays with whoever took it. Our tracker counts the steals and freezes gifts for you.

Can you steal a gift right back?

Not in the usual rules: a gift can be stolen only once per turn, so the person who just lost it has to open a new gift or steal a different one. Once a new gift is opened, the next turn starts and the old gift is fair game again.

Does player number 1 get another turn?

In most groups, yes. Player 1 had no choice on the first turn, so when every gift is open they may swap for any gift that is not frozen. The person they swap with may then swap too, and it continues until someone keeps what they have.

What is the difference between White Elephant and Dirty Santa?

Nothing that matters at the table. White Elephant, Dirty Santa and Yankee swap are regional names for the same steal-or-open gift game. Whatever you call it, agree on the steal limit before the first gift is opened.

What if someone does not bring a gift?

They can still play if the host keeps a spare wrapped gift or two. Add the host as a player in the tracker if the host supplies the spare. Otherwise they sit out and help run the tracker. With an odd number of people nothing changes; every player opens or steals once.

How do you play White Elephant on Zoom?

Each player keeps the gift they bought, wrapped, at home. When a gift is picked, the person who brought it opens it on camera, and the host shares the tracker on screen so everyone sees who holds what. At the end, each person ships the gift they brought to whoever ended up with it.

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