Gift Exchange Games for Christmas: Secret Santa, White Elephant and the Danish Dice Game

Every December, someone in the group chat asks the same question: are we doing a gift exchange this year, and how? There are three classic answers, and they feel very different at a party. Here's how each one works, who it suits, and how to run it from one phone without anyone keeping notes.

The quick answer

• Secret Santa: you're secretly assigned one person to buy for. Best for families, small offices and anyone who wants thoughtful gifts. Handing out takes 10–15 minutes.
• White Elephant: pick a wrapped gift from the pile, or steal one that's already been opened. Best for friends and coworkers who like a bit of chaos. Plan on 30–60 minutes.
• Dice gift game (pakkeleg): roll a six to grab a gift, then steal before a secret timer runs out. Best for any group that wants a fast, loud, lucky game. Takes 15–30 minutes.

If you want the gift to feel personal, pick Secret Santa. If you want the swapping to be the entertainment, pick White Elephant or the dice game.

Secret Santa: one person, one gift

Everyone's name goes into a hat. Each person draws one name and buys a gift for that person only, in secret. At the party, gifts are handed out and the givers can stay anonymous or reveal themselves.

Why people love it: the gifts are usually better, because each one is chosen for someone specific. It works for families, small teams and long-distance groups who mail their gifts.

What can go wrong: someone draws their own name, two people swap draws behind the scenes, or the organizer has to keep a secret list. A Secret Santa generator fixes all three: it draws the names, can keep partners from drawing each other, and gives you a private link for each person, which you send yourself, so the organizer gets to play too.

Tips that help:

• Set a budget and a date in the same message as the draw, so nobody has to ask twice.
• Add a short wish list or "three things I like" to each name.
• For a remote team, agree on a mailing deadline at least ten days before the party.

White Elephant: pick, open, steal

White Elephant, also called Yankee Swap or a gift steal, is a party game more than a gift exchange. Everyone brings one wrapped gift to a shared pile. Players draw numbers for the order. On your turn, you either unwrap a new gift from the pile or steal an already-opened gift from someone else. If your gift is stolen, you pick again.

Why people love it: the stealing. A good White Elephant has a gift everyone wants, a gift nobody wants, and at least one person who loses the same candle three times.

The rules that keep it fun:

• A gift can only be stolen two or three times, then it's "frozen" with its owner.
• No stealing back the gift that was just taken from you.
• The first player gets one last chance to swap at the end, since they never got to steal.

Keeping track of turns, steals and frozen gifts is the hard part. The White Elephant gift exchange tracker draws the order, counts the steals and tells everyone whose turn it is.

The dice gift game: Denmark's pakkeleg

In Denmark, many families and offices play pakkeleg, "the present game", at Christmas. It's faster and luckier than White Elephant, and it needs nothing but a pile of small wrapped gifts and a die.

Round 1, the pile. Everyone sits in a circle around the gifts and takes turns rolling a die. Roll a six and you take a gift from the pile. Keep going until the pile is empty. Some people end up holding three gifts, some none.

Round 2, the stealing. Now a timer starts, and nobody knows how long it will run. Keep rolling in turn. A six lets you take a gift from anyone. When the timer rings, the game stops instantly, and everyone keeps what they're holding. Then you open them.

The secret timer is what makes it work. Nobody knows when the game will end, so every six is a big deal right up to the last second.

You don't need real dice or a kitchen timer. The Dice Gift Game rolls the die, keeps the turns, and runs the secret timer on one phone. It uses "Lucky" rules by default, where a one or a six takes a gift, which keeps round one moving with a big group. "Classic" is the traditional six-only version, and "Chaos" adds extra moves for round two. A "Nobody leaves empty-handed" switch, on by default, makes sure everyone goes home with something.

How to choose

• Small family, thoughtful gifts: Secret Santa.
• Office party, mixed group: White Elephant with a strict budget, or the dice game if you have less time.
• Big group, short on time: the dice game with Lucky rules. It handles twenty people in about half an hour.
• Kids at the party: the dice game with the Lucky rules. Everyone gets to roll, and nobody waits long.
• Remote team: Secret Santa with mailed gifts, then open them together on a video call.

Budget and gift ideas that work for any exchange

Agree on a price cap before anything else. For Secret Santa, $20–30 is a common range. For White Elephant and the dice game, where gifts get stolen, $10–20 works better. The number matters less than everyone sticking to it.

Gifts that almost always land: a nice mug with cocoa, a card or party game, fuzzy socks, a plant, a good notebook, local snacks, a cozy blanket, a book you loved. Gifts to skip: anything personal like perfume, anything that needs a size, and gag gifts at a work party.

For White Elephant and the dice game, wrap well. Gifts get grabbed, passed and stolen many times.

More for the holidays

Once the gifts are open, keep the party going with Christmas games that run on one phone, or plan something for the team with office holiday party games.