White Elephant Game

You have been hearing about the White Elephant game and if you have never played it before, you might have some questions on your mind, like: What is White Elephant game? How do you play it? What are the rules?

What Is It?

White Elephant Game is a gift exchange game played on Christmas parties where everyone brings a gift to be exchanged and walks away with a gift that they were able to snatch from someone else. The game consists of player anywhere from 6 (recommended minimum) up to 50 or even more.

White Elephant game has roots in ancient tradition of gifting rare white elephants but it’s nothing like it today. The tradition has evolved significantly and it’s all about having fun and exchanging funny gifts nowadays. If you are interested in the origins of this yearly tradition, have a look at the history of white elephant tradition.

The Rules

At it’s core there are three major rules:

1. One Gift Per Player
2. Gifts must be well concealed.
3. Don’t immediately steal a gift that was stolen from you.

There are many other optional rules and variations that can be applied to the game, and you can read about the most popular ones on our rules section. Don’t forget to contact us and let us know if you have been using a particular fun rule that we dont have listed on our site, we’d be glad to add it.

Game Play

The best way to learn to play the White Elephant gift exchange game is to actually participate in one. The second best way is to watch others play, so we have cerated a page that details a sample scenarios where the game takes place and you can observe the rules and game progression on our “how to play” page.