Dirty Santa: A Fun Gift Exchange Game for Christmas Parties
Don't Worry, There's Nothing Adult About It - Your Kids Can Participate, Too
It's referred to quite often as "Dirty Santa", don't worry though the reason it's called "dirty" is because you can take a gift someone has already opened. For this gift exchange tell everyone attending to bring a gift in a certain price range, we usually tell people $20-25 for the party I host for my friends. Also tell them not to make it gender or age specific (if you have a broad variety of ages). Once everyone arrives with their wrapped gift tell them to put them under the tree or on the gift table, make sure they didn't put their names on it.
To start the game put pieces of paper with the numbers of how many people are there (i.e. if there are 20 people puts papers with numbers 1 through 20 in the hat). Then let everyone draw a number. Their number indicates which "round" they start.
The person that goes first also usually gets an additional turn at the end which I'll explain later. The first person doesn't really have many options, they pick a present and open it. After that though the game gets more interesting. Starting with round 2 , it changes a little bit. At that point the person who starts the round has a couple options they can open a new present and then the round ends, or if they want they can take one of the presents that have already been opened. If that happens then the person that had their gift "stolen" from them has the option to open a new gift or steal an open gift. There are some rules that go with this though.
The first rule is if player A steals from player B, then player B can not steal that gift back until the next round begins (and of course only if they have their gift they have at the time the new round starts stolen from them). Also, a husband and wife (or significant others) can't steal from each other because they could strategize together then and this is an individual game.
A round ends in one of two situations: One, a person decides they want to open a wrapped gift instead of stealing from someone; or the other way is if there are three steals in the round (person 1 steals from person 2, person 2 steals from person 3, and then person 3 steals from person 4), the 3rd person stolen from must open a wrapped gift and the round ends.
As you can see, the most number of steals there can be in a round is 3, the other rule involving "stealing" is that if a gift has been stolen three times total during the game (regardless of which rounds), the person that steals it the third time gets to keep it and it can not be stolen from them.
Finally, as I referred to earlier, the person that started the game has the option to start one final round after the last person with a number from the hat finishes their round. That person that went first does not have to steal from anyone else, but if they want to they can. The difference in this round is that instead of the option to open a new gift (remember all have been opened at that time) if a person doesn't want to steal they get the gift that the person who started the round had originally. Again if there are three steals, then the last person stolen with will get the present the person who started the round had (this rule only applies on this final special round if person #1 decides to start this "special" round).
I hope this helps everyone have more fun at their holiday parties! My friends and I love this game. Just so you know some people I know have adjusted the gift to be "you must bring a Christmas ornament as the gift", or at other times of the year they call it a "pound party" and everyone must bring a "pound of something" as their gift. I will warn you sometimes in the "pound party" you will end up getting a gift worth much less than the one you brought though unless rules are set regarding the price range for the gift.
Published by A.Kirk
Married 33 year old father of a one year old. Love taking care of my son, playing games with friends, and following the Baltimore Ravens, Baltimore Orioles, Football and Baseball in general. View profile
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- A unique way to add a fun game to the traditional gift exchange at holiday parties
- This game is much more fun if the "stealing" starts early and happens often.
- Remember everyone should be in good spirits, no sore loosers if your gift is stolen, you might have a chance to get it back!
16 Comments
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And Yes I was directing it at Emily and flycat. Y'all are so uptight. This game is for Adults who want to play. And Emily, You said "if they feel the need to waste money on gifts no one wants or needs- perhaps the money would be better spent on food banks and soup kitchens or charities where that $20 would mean something?" That is the reason that when this game is played you get yourself something that you would want to get, but with an agreed upon price limit. You two need to lighten the hell up!
This game is supposed to be fun. Thats the reason you do not get an expensive gift. The whole fun in the game is to see if you can steal the gift you want from someone. Then they have the option of stealing the gift back.
It's only a game. Don't be so uptight.
Itsonlyagame.Dontbesouptight.
I heard some guys played this game down in Miami and somebody got their nose out of joint and shot the host.
I'm in!
I think this is one of the rudest games I've ever seen. What in the world is fun about watching someone open a gift and see that they are truly thrilled w/ it and then see someone else STEAL it. The one and only time we participated I ended up w/ a homemade "family tree" plate (that wasn't even MY famiy) and my husband ended up with a snow cone machine. We had purchased appropriate gifts and ended up w/ crap. NEVER AGAIN !!!
IthinkthisisoneoftherudestgamesIveeverseen.Whatintheworldisfunaboutwatchingsomeoneopenagiftandseethattheyaretrulythrilledw/itandthenseesomeoneelseSTEALit.TheoneandonlytimeweparticipatedIendedupw/ahomemadefamilytreeplatethatwasntevenMYfamiyandmyhusbandendedupwithasnowconemachine.Wehadpurchasedappropriategiftsandendedupw/crap.NEVERAGAIN!!!
You are so right - there is Nothing Adult about this whatsoever...The very notion of gift giving is completely absent in this crass exchange. If you witnessed your child receiving a gift and turning it down to "steal" someone else's gift - you would be mortified. So why are adults engaging in this type of "spoiled brat behaviour" is completely bewildering and downright rude. It's time someone calls it what it is and perhaps it will disappear. Those that indulge in this are simply over indulged and if they feel the need to waste money on gifts no one wants or needs - perhaps the money would be better spent on food banks and soup kitchens or charities where that $20 would mean something. This is simply poor taste no matter which way you cut it. Cut it out!!!