Steal or Open

White elephant rules for a large group or office party

For 15 or more people, freeze each gift after one or two steals, play one round, and let one person run the turns on a phone. Twenty players with a two-steal limit finish in about 33 minutes; thirty with a one-steal limit, in about 40.

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
    A gift freezes after

    The game stays on this phone. Close the page and it picks up where you left off.

    How long it takes, by group size

    PlayersFreeze after 1 stealFreeze after 2 steals
    8About 11 minutesAbout 13 minutes
    12About 16 minutesAbout 20 minutes
    20About 27 minutesAbout 33 minutes
    30About 40 minutesAbout 50 minutes
    40About 53 minutesAbout 67 minutes

    These are the longest games: every gift stolen up to the limit. Worked for 20 players, 2 steals: 20 openings is 20 minutes, plus 40 steals at 20 seconds is about 13 more. Times assume about a minute per opening and 20 seconds per steal, our rough guess; a chatty group is slower.

    For an office party

    • Fit it to the time you have: a lunch hour with 20 people needs a one- or two-steal limit.
    • Set a low price limit everyone is comfortable with, and announce it with the steal limit.
    • Remote coworkers can watch if the host shares the screen on the call.

    For a small group

    With fewer than 8 players there are fewer gifts to fight over, so a three-steal limit or none at all keeps it lively.

    Questions people ask next

    How do you do white elephant with a lot of people?

    Use a low steal limit, one or two, and have one host run the turns from a phone so nobody loses track.

    Can you split a big group into two games?

    Yes. Two piles and two hosts halve the time; run each game on its own phone.

    How many steals for an office white elephant?

    One or two steals per gift keeps 15 to 30 people inside an hour.

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