Secret Santa, White Elephant or Yankee Swap: which one to choose

Secret Santa

Everyone draws the name of one person, in secret, and buys a gift for that person within an agreed budget. At the party the gifts are handed over, and the Santas are revealed or guessed. The gift is chosen for someone, which makes it personal.

White Elephant

Everyone brings one wrapped gift without knowing who will end up with it. People draw numbers for the order. On your turn you either open a new gift from the pile or take one that somebody has already opened; a person who loses their gift then chooses again. Many groups limit how often a gift can be taken.

The gifts are often funny or odd on purpose, and the game is about the swapping, not the present.

Yankee Swap and other names

Yankee Swap and Dirty Santa are names for the same kind of game as White Elephant: gifts for nobody in particular, opened in turn, with stealing. The house rules vary from group to group, and so does what each name means. Some groups use "Yankee Swap" when the gifts are meant to be useful and "White Elephant" when they are meant to be jokes.

Whatever you call it, agree the rules about stealing before the first gift is opened.

The differences that matter

• Who the gift is for: one named person in Secret Santa; anyone in the room in a swap.
• What stays secret: who gives to whom in Secret Santa; only what is inside the wrapping in a swap.
• Preparation: Secret Santa needs a draw some weeks before; a swap needs nothing but a gift each.
• Mood: Secret Santa is warm and personal; a swap is loud and competitive.
• Being there: a Secret Santa gift can be posted; a swap only works with everyone in the same room or on the same call.

Which to choose

• People who know each other and like choosing gifts: Secret Santa.
• A large party where guests are not sure to come: a swap, since nobody is left without a Santa.
• A team that wants a game more than a present: a swap.
• A family replacing gifts between adults: Secret Santa, because each person still gets something meant for them.
• A group spread over several cities: Secret Santa, with gifts sent by post.

A middle way: Secret Santa with a twist

If plain Secret Santa feels too quiet and a swap too random, add a rule to the Secret Santa. Everyone still buys for one person, but with a constraint: a single colour for the whole gift, or a challenge of two adjectives and a function set by the person receiving it. The gifts stay personal, and the party gets the guessing and laughing of a swap.

Secret Santa Twist runs Secret Santa and its twists: the draw, the secrecy and the reveal. It does not run swap games.