Christmas Gift Exchange Games: Dice, Swap and Steal, With Printable Rules

The Christmas gift exchange games that work are White Elephant (open or steal), Secret Santa (draw a name), a dice game where doubles take a gift, and a left-right swap. For a group of five to fifteen who want laughs without a long rules talk, the dice game is the easiest to teach: one roll per turn, and its full rules are below and print on one page.

Which Christmas gift exchange games are there?

Group sizes and times are our rule of thumb from how each game plays out, not a published standard. Whatever you play, set a budget as a number in the invitation and keep to one gift per person.

How do you play the dice gift exchange game?

Doubles take a gift. Everyone brings one wrapped gift, the gifts sit in a pile, and a pair of dice goes round the circle. Roll doubles and you take a gift; when the pile is empty a 10-minute timer starts, and from then on doubles steal. When the timer ends, everyone opens.

Setup

1. Everyone brings one wrapped gift at the agreed budget. Put them in a pile in the middle.
2. Sit in a circle. Give one player two dice and set a 10-minute timer ready on a phone.
3. A tie-break for the first roller is one die each: highest goes first, then play clockwise.

Phase 1: take from the pile

1. On your turn, roll both dice once. Doubles: take any wrapped gift from the pile. Anything else: pass the dice left.
2. You may take a gift on doubles even if you already hold one.
3. Phase 1 ends when the pile is empty. Some players will hold two gifts and some none, and that is the point.

Phase 2: steal against the clock

1. Start the timer. Keep passing the dice and rolling.
2. On doubles, steal one wrapped gift from any other player. A player who holds no gift cannot be stolen from.
3. On a double six, the whole circle passes its gifts one seat to the left.
4. When the timer ends, play stops mid-turn. Anyone holding two or more gifts hands the extras to players with none, choosing which to give.
5. Everyone opens at once.

Chance does the work that a turn order does in other games, so nobody can be seated in the worst spot. One die per person is enough for a small group; a double six is the one result that moves every gift at once.

How do you play the roll-and-swap version?

Roll-and-swap is the same idea with no pile and nobody left empty-handed, so it suits a group that includes children or a gift too good to risk. Every player holds a wrapped gift from the start, and the die decides who swaps with whom.

1. Everyone holds one wrapped gift. Nobody opens anything until the end.
2. Pass one die round the circle. On your turn, roll once and do what it says, then pass the die on.
3. 1 keeps your gift. 2 swaps with the player on your left. 3 swaps with the player on your right.
4. 4 swaps with any player you choose. 5 makes the whole circle pass its gifts one seat left. 6 locks your gift: nobody may swap with you for the rest of the game.
5. Play two full rounds. Then everyone opens at once.

The blind swaps are what makes it work: nobody knows what they are trading until the wrapping comes off. If you would rather read the swaps out of a story than roll for them, that is the Christmas left right game, which has an original story to read aloud.

How does White Elephant work?

In White Elephant, players take turns in a random order, and each turn you open a new gift or steal one that is already open. A gift usually freezes after two or three steals, and the first player gets a final swap. It needs more time than the dice game and more people than roll-and-swap, and it is the game for a group where some gifts are funny and some are wanted. The White Elephant rules and helper draw the turn order, count the steals and explain how Dirty Santa and Yankee Swap differ.

When is Secret Santa the better exchange game?

Secret Santa is better when the group knows each other and you want gifts chosen for a person, because each player buys for one named person and nothing is stolen. Draw the names with the Secret Santa generator, which lets you exclude pairs such as couples and gives each person a private link that shows only who they are buying for.

How do you run a gift exchange over a video call?

Draw names beforehand and have everyone post a gift to their recipient, then open them on camera together. For a stealing game, play it on the call and post each gift to its final owner afterwards, with the posting date agreed up front. A digital gift sends instantly, so nothing waits on the post. More ways to fill a remote evening are in virtual Christmas games.

How do you choose a budget and gifts for a gift exchange?

State one budget as a number in the invitation and make it low enough that nobody minds losing the gift to a steal. Gifts that are fought over are the ones two people would want: good chocolate, a game, a warm blanket, a small gadget. Skip anything that needs someone's size, taste or diet, and anything that could embarrass a colleague. For a mixed group, a second set of tags marked "kids" and "adults" keeps the right gift in the right hands. More formats for a full evening are in Christmas party games for adults.

Can you run a gift exchange inside Telegram?

Yes. Gift Club runs Secret Santa in a Telegram Mini App: start a group, share it to your chat, draw names, and send a wrapped box or a Telegram gift. Everyone opens theirs on 24 December and sees who sent it, with no email addresses and nothing to install.

FAQ

What are the best Christmas gift exchange games?

White Elephant for a mixed group with time to spare, Secret Santa when everyone knows each other, and a dice game where doubles take a gift for a quick, noisy round. The dice rules are on this page and print on one sheet.

How do you play a dice gift exchange?

Everyone brings a wrapped gift and the gifts go in a pile. Players take turns rolling two dice. Doubles take a gift from the pile. When the pile is empty, start a 10-minute timer and doubles steal instead. When the timer ends, everyone opens.

What is the easiest Christmas gift exchange game to explain?

Roll-and-swap. One die, six outcomes, and nobody opens anything until the end. A child can follow it, and nobody finishes empty-handed.

How many people do you need for a gift exchange game?

Four is the minimum for any of them. White Elephant starts to work at about six, the dice game at five, and all of them can go to fifteen or more if the turns are kept short.

How do you do a gift exchange online?

Draw names with a generator, post the gifts, and open them together on a video call. Or play a stealing game on camera and post each gift to its final owner afterwards.

Keep reading

• White Elephant rules and helper — steals, turn order, Dirty Santa and Yankee Swap.
• Secret Santa generator — draw names, no sign-up.
• The Christmas left right game — a story that passes the gifts.