White elephant game
Draw who goes next on the TV, with the house rules for a white elephant, dirty Santa or Yankee swap exchange written underneath. Click, tap or press Space for each turn.
How a white elephant exchange works
A white elephant exchange, also called dirty Santa or a Yankee swap, is a party game played with wrapped gifts. Everyone brings one wrapped gift inside an agreed budget, and the room draws the order before the first gift is opened.
The first player opens a wrapped gift and shows it to the room. Each next player then either opens another gift or steals one that is already open. Someone whose gift is stolen takes another turn: open a new gift or steal, though not straight back the gift just taken. Many groups freeze a gift once it has been stolen three times, so it can no longer be taken.
The game ends when the last wrapped gift is opened, and many groups give the first player one last swap at the end. This page draws the turn order and shows who has already gone. It does not count steals or keep track of the gifts.
Put it on a TV
- Make it above. The preview is exactly what the screen shows.
- Open it on the screen. Press Open fullscreen on that device, or send yourself the link. For a TV with an account, open ownscreen.com/tv and enter its code on your phone.
- Leave it running. It fits any screen size and asks the screen to stay on.
Questions
- How many players can I add?
- A range of up to 10,000 numbers, such as 1-20 or 1-200, or up to 500 names, one per line.
- Can I use names instead of numbers?
- Yes. Type or paste the names one per line, then draw. Names show on the TV in the order they are drawn, and the board underneath lists everyone who has already gone.
- Can the same player be drawn twice?
- No. Everyone is drawn once before anyone comes round again. Reloading the page starts a new order, and drawing again after the last turn starts a fresh round.