How do you play white elephant? Gift Exchange Rules Explained

As the holiday season gets underway, there may be many parties and gatherings. Include a gift exchangeAlong with Secret Santa and a cookie swap, guests can be invited to participate in a white elephant gift exchange.

White elephants are a little different from other gift exchanges. Participants can steal gifts from other players, and more customized versions of the game can include cards and dice to really mix things up.

Here's what to know about the rules of White Elephant and how to best play the game.

What are the basic rules of White Elephant?

To begin with, anyone who wants to participate in White Elephant want to bring a giftOften, those gifts will be silly or impractical. Players will select from the gift pool in a set order: guests can draw straws to see who goes when, or the host can set an order before the event. Anything works, as long as people know when they will get up.

When it's time to start the game, the first player will select a gift. For most variations of the game, it's important to make sure everyone knows what the player has chosen – this will be important later!

When the second player goes, they will have two options: they can open a new gift, or steal the previous player's gift. If a gift is stolen from a player, they get a chance to choose a gift again before the game passes to the next participant. The game continues like this until each participant has received a gift. After the last player chooses a gift, the first player gets a chance to steal it if they wish.

To keep the game going, there are some limits on stealing. Typically, a gift can only be stolen once per turn, so if the second player steals the gift from the first, the first player cannot immediately take the gift back. But if the first player's gift is stolen a second time, they can reclaim their gift from the second player. It is also common for the turn to end automatically after three swaps, so that the game does not stall.

How can you customize White Elephant rules?

The rules of White Elephant can be adapted in various ways. To start, you can remove limits on steals or swaps per turn, but be aware that this will slow down the game.

Players may take those limitations even more seriously. In some versions of the game, if a gift is swapped three times, it is considered out of the game and cannot be stolen again, meaning that after the third theft the person holding it must return it. Keeps it with himself. In other versions, a player may be considered out of the game if he steals three times. This means they can no longer be stolen, and they can keep whatever gifts they have.

White Elephant organizers may also set a theme for the gifts, or keep them under wraps until the game ends to add an element of mystery.

There are also ways to make white elephants more complex. White Elephant organizers can play the “Dice Game” version, which includes a pair of dice and a rule sheet created by the gift organizer. In this variation, players can choose their order of play based on the dice roll. When time to choose a gift begins, the first player will roll the dice, and then do whatever corresponding item is on the rule sheet. Some versions do not allow players to open their gifts unless told to do so by the rule sheet. In those cases, play may continue until all players have opened their gifts.

There is also a card game version with rules similar to the dice game. In this variation, players use cards to determine what order they will play and what actions they will take.

Do you do white elephant gift wrapping?

White Elephant gifts should be wrapped, especially if you are playing a version with a rule sheet or playing cards that dictate certain actions. Players generally open the gifts when the gift is first chosen, unless the gift exchange is using a variation where the gifts are not opened until the end.

What is the typical budget for White Elephant Gift Exchange?

Budget For a white elephant it is usually on the downside. WhiteElephantRules.com Recommends a budget limit of $20 for most meetings.

Another variation of White Elephant might be having a zero dollar budget – asking players to repurpose items or bring homemade gifts.

Why is it called white elephant?

A “white elephant” is usually something that is expensive to maintain and hard to sell or get rid of – in other words, it's more trouble than it's worth. The phrase is widely believed to come from a legend about a king of Siam. In myth, which new York Times Said to be “almost certainly apocryphal”, the king of Siam, who ruled the area now known as Thailand, would give a white elephant as a gift to anyone who had grieved him, known as That person had to be taken care of despite not being there. Use it for. So while the gifts at a Christmas White Elephant exchange are generally not expensive, they are often silly or impractical.