White Elephant online

The gift swap, refereed: open or steal, no stealing straight back, and a gift is safe after three steals.

Players: 4–30 players
Length: 20–60 min
Difficulty: Easy
Energy: Loud, in the room
On a video call: Better in a room
Type: Occasion · Gift swap

About White Elephant

Play White Elephant online for free with 4–30 players. The gift swap, refereed: open or steal, no stealing straight back, and a gift is safe after three steals. 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.
Loud: people talk, act, sing or shout, and the app keeps the secrets and the score.
Needs everyone in the same room.
Nothing to explain. Start it and go.

Good for

Groups of 4 to 30
Big groups, where most games run out of seats
A proper evening rather than a filler

Maybe skip when

There are fewer than 4 of you
You are on a video call — it needs one room
You only have ten minutes

White Elephant — Yankee Swap, Dirty Santa, the gift swap with stealing — is the most fun and the most argued-over game of every December. Everyone brings one wrapped present. In a random order, each person either opens a new gift from the pile or steals one somebody has already opened, and whoever is stolen from goes again.

The arguments are always about the rules: can you steal back the gift that was just taken from you? How many times can one gift be stolen? Does the first person get a last chance? PartyDen holds the room to them. The order is drawn on screen, the gift you just lost is marked as off-limits, every gift shows how many times it has been stolen, and after the host’s limit it is frozen with whoever has it.

The people hold the gifts; the phones hold the rules. Each opened gift gets a few words typed by whoever unwrapped it, so the whole room can see what is out there to steal. When everyone has a gift, the first player gets one last swap, and the game ends with every gift in a home.

How to play White Elephant

1Create a room and share the code. Everyone who brought a wrapped gift joins; the app draws the order at random.
2On your turn, open a wrapped gift from the pile — and type what it is so everyone can see — or steal a gift somebody has already opened.
3If your gift is stolen, you go next: open a new gift or steal a different one. You may not steal straight back the gift just taken from you.
4A gift stolen the host’s number of times (two, three or four) is frozen and stays where it is.
5When everyone holds a gift, the first player may swap theirs for any gift that is not frozen. Then the swap is over.

White Elephant FAQ

What are the rules of White Elephant?

Everyone brings a wrapped gift and takes turns in a random order. On your turn you open a new gift or steal an opened one. Whoever is stolen from goes next, and cannot steal straight back what they just lost. A gift is frozen after a set number of steals. The first player gets a final swap at the end.

How many times can a gift be stolen?

The host chooses two, three or four. After that the gift is frozen and its holder keeps it — the board marks it with a snowflake.

Does the app handle the gifts?

No — you bring and hold real gifts. The app runs the order, the turns, the steal limits and the "not straight back" rule, and shows every opened gift so the room can choose what to steal.

Is White Elephant the same as Yankee Swap or Dirty Santa?

Yes, they are names for the same steal-and-swap gift exchange. Local rules differ on steal limits and the final swap, so both are host settings.

Does it work for an office party?

Yes. It seats up to 30, works in one room with gifts on a table, and nobody needs to know the rules beforehand because the board says whose turn it is and what they may do.