Steal or OpenHow to play white elephant, step by step
Set a price limit, have everyone bring one wrapped gift, and draw a random turn order. Each turn, a player opens a gift or steals an opened one; a player who loses a gift goes again. When every gift is open, player 1 may make one last swap, and everyone keeps what they hold.
Who's playing?
Type each name and press Add. You can fix names at any turn.
No players yet. You need at least 3.
House rules
Turn 1 of 8
Name
Open a gift or steal one.
Tap the gift to steal.
Turn order and names
That's a wrap
Who went home with what:
The game stays on this phone. Close the page and it picks up where you left off.
The steps
- Set the price and the steal limit. Before anyone shops, agree on the price limit, usually $20 to $30, and how many steals freeze a gift.
- Collect the gifts. Everyone brings one wrapped gift and puts it in the pile.
- Draw the order. Add each player's name and draw a random order, or pull numbers from a hat.
- Play the turns. Each player opens a gift or steals an opened one. A player who loses a gift opens or steals again right away.
- Make the last swap. When every gift is open, player 1 may swap once for any gift that isn't frozen. Then everyone keeps what they hold.
A full game with five players, worked turn by turn
Ana, Ben, Cy, Dee and Eli play with a gift freezing after 2 steals, the setting the host page starts with here.
| Turn | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ana opens a mug. |
| 2 | Ben steals the mug (steal 1). Ana can't take it straight back, so she opens a blanket. |
| 3 | Cy steals the mug (steal 2): it's frozen, and Cy keeps it. Ben opens a speaker. |
| 4 | Dee opens fuzzy socks. |
| 5 | Eli steals the blanket from Ana. Ana steals the speaker from Ben. Ben opens the last gift, a waffle maker. |
| Last swap | Ana, player 1, swaps her speaker for Ben's waffle maker. |
Five gifts, five openings, four steals and one swap: ten moves. Everyone goes home with one gift: Ana the waffle maker, Ben the speaker, Cy the mug, Dee the socks and Eli the blanket.
Questions people ask next
How long does a white elephant game take?
With a two-steal limit, a dozen players take up to about 20 minutes: 12 openings and at most 24 steals. Times assume about a minute per opening and 20 seconds per steal, our rough guess; a chatty group is slower.
How many people do you need?
Three is the least that works, and the game is most fun from about 6 to 20 players.
Who goes first in white elephant?
Whoever draws number 1. They open a gift first and get the last swap at the end.