How Do You Play White Elephant? Gift Exchange Rules Explained
Chapters (9)
Here's how to play white elephant: bring a wrapped gift and draw a number. Then open a gift or steal one. A gift freezes after three steals. GiftList (giftlist.com) has a free printable rules card and white elephant gift ideas.
Make a free white elephant rules cardTranscript
0:00How do you play white elephant?
How do you play white elephant? Bring a wrapped gift and draw a number. Then open a gift or steal one. A gift freezes after three steals.
0:11What do you need to play white elephant?
To play white elephant, each person brings one wrapped gift. Many groups set a budget of about twenty-five dollars. Put all the gifts in one pile. Then everyone draws a number. That's the turn order.
0:27How do turns work in white elephant?
Player one picks a gift from the pile and opens it for everyone to see. On every turn after that, you have two choices: open a new gift from the pile, or steal a gift that's already open.
0:43What happens when your gift gets stolen?
If your gift gets stolen, you go again right away. Steal a different gift, or open a new one. You can't steal back the gift that was just taken from you. Once someone opens a new gift, the next number goes.
1:00What is the 3-steal rule in white elephant?
Once a gift has been stolen three times, it's frozen. No one can steal it again, so whoever has it keeps it. Some smaller groups freeze a gift after two steals instead. Agree on it before you start.
1:17How does white elephant end?
When the last number is done, player one gets one final turn: keep their gift, or swap it for any gift that isn't frozen. Then the game is over, and everyone keeps the gift they're holding.
1:32How do you print white elephant rules?
To print the rules for your group, open the free Gift Exchange Rules Generator on giftlist.com, and pick White Elephant. Add your group name and budget, and switch on any house rules you like. Click Generate Rules Card. Then print it, or copy it to share with your group. You don't need an account.
1:58What's a good white elephant gift?
A good white elephant gift is something almost anyone would be happy to take home. GiftList has ideas under twenty-five dollars, under fifty dollars, and funny gifts that still get stolen.
2:12Recap: how to play white elephant
That's white elephant: bring a wrapped gift, draw numbers, open or steal on your turn, and a gift is frozen after three steals. Get the free rules card and gift ideas on giftlist.com.