The white elephant gift exchange is a popular party game played during the winter holiday season in the United States. The objective of the game is for guests of a party to each contribute one gift to the game, and ultimately each guest walks away with one gift from the game. Along the way is a random drawing to determine the order in which players get to unwrap gifts or "steal" previously opened gifts.

The game is also known as Yankee Swap (New England), Dirty Santa, Grinch Exchange, Rob Your Neighbor, Nasty Christmas, Chinese Gift Exchange, and Thieving Secret Santa.

"White elephant" gifts

The term "white elephant" loosely refers to an old tradition of giving gift items consisting of old trinkets, knicknacks, or unwanted gifts from previous years (also known as "regifting"). The origin of the term is unclear. One possibility is that it originated when the King of France, in observance of an onerous tradition of lavish gift-giving, unloaded a rather inconvenient, ailing pet (a white elephant) on the King of England. Another possibility is that it originated in Thailand, where elephants are highly revered and white elephants are virtually sacred, the King of Thailand had the right to take any white elephant from anyone and replace it with a gray elephant. The dilemma this gift imposed is that the recipient had to fulfill tradition and honor the gift (keeping it alive) despite the tremendous inconvenience and expense it caused. Therefore, a traditional white elephant gift exchange involves ridiculous, often inconvenient gifts that nobody really wants.

According to the Facts & Records Book of Animals - on page 63, "Our expression 'white elephant' for an expensive and useless possession comes from the story of an American showman who spent a great deal of time and money trying to get one of these beasts on display. When he finally found one, the public was not interested."

Game overview

The game is frequently played among family, friends, and/or work colleagues. A minimum of 6 to 8 players helps by giving sufficient opportunities for players to steal gifts from one another, which is a key component of the game's enjoyment.

Although frequently popular, some participants may find the game unenjoyable, or a session of the game may not go over successfully. A clearly communicated set of game rules helps avoid misunderstandings about the nature of the game; a confident and tactful game moderator often helps as well.

Unlike other kinds of group gift exchanges, it does not require the gift-givers to concern themselves with selecting appropriate items for a particular person, which makes it popular among groups that may contain only casual acquaintances. In fact, the inappropriateness of gifts - planned or not - is often a source of entertainment. However, an exchange in which none of the participants find any of the gifts appealing may fail to elicit stealing, which can result in less dynamic game play. On the other hand, gifts that are widely appealing may introduce fierce competition for them, which can take the fun out of the game for some people.

Rules

There are many versions of the game, but the basic rules tend to be fairly consistent. Rule variations typically involve limiting how many times a single gift can be stolen throughout the game or during a particular turn, and/or limiting how many steals can happen during a turn. Other variations include the suggested monetary value of the gifts, as well as a suggested theme for the gifts.

What follows is the most common variant of the rules:

The gifts

1. The party's gift theme can be anything you want, and should be determined beforehand.
2. The value of the gifts to be purchased should also be determined beforehand. Typical monetary values include $10, $15, and $20.
3. The gift should be wrapped or sealed in a gift bag before arriving to the party. If a gift bag is used, the gift should be wrapped inside if possible. This ensures each player has something to unwrap or open.
4. Gift cards/certificates are normally not acceptable, but in some variations they are allowed only if it is accompanied by some other item as part of the gift. For instance, a Starbucks gift card, by itself, might not be acceptable, whereas a Starbucks gift card together with a coffee mug would be.
5. As guests arrive to the party, the gifts should be placed in an area where few people can see who brought which gift. All efforts should be made to hide who brought which gift.

Game play

1. Each guest (or couple, if appropriate) who wishes to participate must contribute a gift.
2. The organizer prepares slips of paper equal to the number of gifts with clearly written numbers - underlining 6 and 9 is suggested. Each participating guest blindly draws a slip of paper to determine their position in the turn-taking order.
3. On the first turn, the guest with paper slip #1 chooses a gift, opens it, and reveals it to all the other players.
4. On the second turn, the guest with paper slip #2 gets the choice of "stealing" #1’s unwrapped gift or choosing a wrapped one. If #2 steals #1's gift, then #1 must choose and open a wrapped gift.
5. On the third turn, the guest with paper slip #3 gets the choice of "stealing" either #1’s or #2’s unwrapped gifts, or choosing a wrapped one.

Turns

1. The turn proceeds until a wrapped gift is chosen and opened. If your gift is stolen you may steal from someone else that has a "live" gift.
2. Once a gift is stolen, it can not be stolen again until the next turn. (This rule prevents the stealing and re-stealing of a gift from creating an infinite loop.)
3. A gift is "dead" once a gift has been stolen 3 times.
4. "Owners" of "live" gifts must keep them visible and hold them up when requested by a potential thief.

Conclusion

1. The gift exchange typically ends when the last wrapped gift is chosen and opened.
2. However, if the first player has not had a chance to steal a gift, they may be permitted to do so at this time:
   1. The first player's gift is then returned to the center area, and subsequent players can either choose it or steal another "live" gift.
   2. At this point, the gift stealing continues until there are no more "live" gifts or until the current player decides not to steal.
   3. If another player decides to take the first player's gift from the center, the game ends immediately.

References in popular culture

• It was played on the December 6, 2005 episode of The Office (US), titled "Christmas Party".

External links

• PartyGameCentral.com listing for "White Elephant Gift Exchange"

Party games