Secret Santa online

Everyone joins one room, one tap draws names, and each phone shows only its own giftee. No sign-up.

Players: 3–30 players
Length: 5–10 min
Difficulty: Easy
Energy: Calm, on your own screen
On a video call: Works well
Type: Occasion · Gift draw

About Secret Santa

Play Secret Santa online for free with 3–30 players. Everyone joins one room, one tap draws names, and each phone shows only its own giftee. No sign-up. Create a room, share the code, and play in a browser with no signup or download.

What playing it feels like

Made for an occasion — a holiday table, a shower, a gift swap — and the people at it.
Mostly quiet: the action happens on each player’s own screen.
Plays well on a video call — the talking happens on camera and the app does the rest.
Nothing to explain. Start it and go.

Good for

Groups of 3 to 30
Big groups, where most games run out of seats
A quick round while you wait for everyone to arrive

Secret Santa, drawn in a room. Everyone in the group opens the link on their own phone and joins with the room code; when everyone is in, the host taps Draw. From then on each phone shows one name — the person you are buying for — and nobody else’s.

Before the draw, each person can leave a one-line wish for whoever draws them ("a good book", "anything with chocolate") and can name one person they must not draw — a partner, or last year’s pair. The exclusion works both ways and nobody sees who you picked. The app finds a draw where nobody gets themselves and every exclusion holds.

There are no emails, no accounts and no wish-list server: the draw lives in the room. At the party itself, the host can turn every gift tag over on every phone at once and reveal who had whom. Write your name down — a room closes after a while with nobody in it.

How to play Secret Santa

1Create a room and share the code. Everyone in the exchange joins on their own phone — three people or thirty.
2Before the draw, write a one-line wish if you like (only your Santa will see it) and pick one person you must not be drawn with, if any.
3When everyone is in, the host taps Draw names. Nobody draws themselves, and every exclusion holds both ways.
4Press and hold to see who you are buying for, and their wish. Nobody else can see your name.
5At the party, the host can reveal every Santa on every phone at once.

Secret Santa FAQ

Do people need an email or an account?

No. Everyone joins the room with its code, the way they would join a game. Nothing is sent to an inbox and nobody signs up.

Can couples be kept from drawing each other?

Yes. Before the draw, each person can pick one person they must not draw, and it works both ways. If the exclusions make a draw impossible, the app says so instead of breaking one.

Can the host see who drew whom?

Not until they choose to reveal it to everyone at once. Until then the draw is kept on the server and each phone is told only its own name.

What if someone joins late?

Anyone who joins before the draw is in it. Someone who arrives after it is not, and the host can draw again (everyone gets a new name) to bring them in.

How long does the draw last?

The room stays open while people use it and closes after a spell of inactivity, like every room. Note your name somewhere — the gift-giving may be weeks away.