Reverse white elephant

How reverse white elephant works

1. Everyone brings one wrapped gift at the same price. Number the players by drawing from a hat or using a tool.
2. Players unwrap in order, 1 through the last, and keep what they open for now. Nobody steals during this round.
3. After the last gift is open, steals begin. The last person to open goes first and may swap with anyone.
4. The player who lost a gift now takes a turn and may swap with anyone else, within the steal limit.
5. Work backward through the numbers until player 1 has had a turn, with the final swap rights at the end. The gifts held at that point go home.

Fix a limit before you start, for example each gift can be swapped at most twice. Without one, the same gift can pass back and forth all night.

How it differs from classic

Classic gives the big gasps. Reverse gives the group a better chance of ending with something they want. See white elephant rules for the classic game.

Who goes when

Draw numbers before the party and keep them secret. Number 1 opens first, but in the steal round number 1 goes last, so that player gets the final say. That cancels the usual disadvantage of going first.

In the Hollyhush white elephant tool, you can set the turn order and the steal limit, and show the live game screen on a TV. The printable rules card is handy for the table.

Hollyhush's white elephant tool handles turn order and steal limits so the host can enjoy the game. Run a game night

Rules to settle before you play

• Steal limit: at most 2 steals per gift is common. After that, the gift is frozen.
• Immediate steal back: decide if a player can steal back the gift they just lost. Most groups say no.
• Frozen gifts: a gift that hit the limit stays put.
• Last player: the last player to open should not get a free pick of everything. Let them swap once like everyone else.
• Wrap with care: because everyone sees the gifts, they should look about equal in size.

Variants

• Reverse with a timer: each player has 30 seconds to decide, which keeps a large group moving.
• Reverse with hidden gifts: gifts are opened but held up in a bag, so you only see them when a player reveals.
• Tie breaker round: if two players want the same gift, they roll a die to decide.
• Reverse yankee swap: the same game under another name. See Yankee swap rules.

When to pick reverse

Choose reverse when your group has people who dislike risk, or when the gifts are good enough that people care who gets what. Choose classic when the room is loud and the gifts are silly.

Reverse also helps with large groups, because you can split the unwrapping and the swapping into separate parts. It is less suited to tiny groups, where steals loop quickly.