How to Play Dirty Santa

Known by several different names around the world, Dirty Santa is a hilarious game of gift giving and stealing that is ideal for families, small church groups, and even office Christmas parties. While there are several variations, all you really need are the gifts, chairs for everyone, and a spot to place all the gifts in one large pile.

Begin by having everyone who wants to participate buy a small gift of some sort. Ideally, a limit on the cost of the gift should be set, so no one spends a great deal of money. All gifts should be wrapped in a way that it is impossible to tell what is in the package.

Next, have all the participants sit in a semi-circle, with the gifts either in the middle or within easy reach. Invite the first person to come forward and select a gift. He or she will open the gift, allowing everyone to see what was in the package.

Invite the individual sitting to the right of the first recipient to make a choice: take the gift opened by #1, or select a new one from the pile. If #2 chooses to take #1's gift, then #1 gets to return to the pile and select another gift for opening.

Continue moving clockwise around the semi-circle, with each person having the option of selecting a gift from the pile, or claiming one of the gifts that has already been opened. Whenever anyone loses a gift, that person gets to select and open a new one. Keep the action moving along until all the gifts are open and everyone has their final gift of the night.

In most settings, there will be one or two gifts that everyone decides are highly coveted. Those gifts will probably be "stolen" by multiple people during the course of the game. Part of the fun is to see what lengths spouses, love interests, and best friends will go to cajole someone into getting their favorite gift back for them.

A hilarious and fun game, Dirty Santa can be played with kids, young adults, or an intergenerational group that includes all ages. While more effective with larger groups, the game works well with smaller groups of even eight to twelve people.