Yankee Swap Rules: How to Play, Step by Step

1. Set one budget and have everyone bring one wrapped gift within it, something most people in the group would use.
2. Pile the gifts in the middle and draw numbers for the turn order. If you'd rather not cut up paper, the white elephant generator shuffles the order for you; choose Yankee swap under Rules and it shows this variant's summary.
3. Player 1 opens a gift and shows it to everyone. That ends their turn.
4. On each turn, open or steal. The player either opens a new gift from the pile or steals a gift that's already been opened.
5. A player who loses a gift chooses again: open a new gift, or steal a different one. They can't take back the gift that was just taken from them.
6. Three steals freeze a gift. Once a gift has been stolen three times, it stays with whoever holds it.
7. A turn ends when a new gift is opened. Steals can chain within a turn, but the turn is over the moment someone unwraps something.
8. The final swap. When the last gift is opened, player 1 gets one more move: swap with any gift that isn't frozen, or keep what they have.

The table above plays a whole game under these Yankee swap rules, with five people: Ana, Ben, Cleo, Dev and Eli. Three things in it are worth noticing.

First, a single turn can involve several people. On turn 4, Dev's steal sets off a chain: Ben, now empty-handed, steals from Cleo, and only Cleo opening the headlamp ends the turn. Second, the blanket shows how freezing works. It's stolen on turns 2, 4 and 5, and the third steal locks it with Eli for good, so Ana can't take it in the final swap. Third, Ana is player 1, the worst seat for most of the game: she opens first with nothing to compare, loses her gift twice and ends up opening the last one. The final swap is what makes up for it, and she uses it to take the board game.

Notice too that the game has exactly five turns, one per player, however many steals happen. That's true of every Yankee swap.

In the basic game, player 1 has the hardest job. They open a gift blind, can't steal on their first turn because nothing is open yet, and then watch everyone else choose. The last player, by contrast, sees every opened gift. The final swap evens that out: once the pile is empty, player 1 can trade with anyone holding a gift that isn't frozen. Some versions of the game include it and some don't, so say before you start whether yours does.

Two details are worth settling at the same time. Can player 1 take a frozen gift in the final swap? Under the Yankee swap rules on this page, no. And does the person who loses a gift in the final swap get to steal? No: the game is over, and they keep what they were given.

The mechanics are the same: one gift each, a shared pile, a random order, open or steal. A Yankee swap is usually played with practical gifts, while a classic white elephant leans toward funny or useless ones. When the gifts are worth having, the stealing gets serious, so settle the steal rules first.

The steal limit is the main dial in any set of Yankee swap rules. The usual limit in a white elephant is two steals per gift; this page uses three, which makes for a longer, more tactical game. The white elephant rules cover the classic version, and Dirty Santa rules cover a version where gifts never freeze. Whichever you play, pick one set of rules and say it out loud before the first gift is opened.

A good Yankee swap gift is something most of the room would be glad to take home: a warm blanket, a kitchen tool people actually use, a board game or card game, a good flashlight or headlamp, a phone stand, a nice notebook, a hot sauce set or good coffee. Stay at the budget, because one expensive gift turns the game into a fight over it.

Skip things that depend on someone's size, a strong scent or a very particular taste. Wrap the gift so the shape gives little away: a practical gift in a plain box is far more fun to steal than one everybody can identify from across the room.

Each player gets one turn, so the number of turns equals the number of players. Steals are what make a game long. With three steals per gift, a 10-player game can have up to 28 steals, counting the final swap, and a 20-player game up to 58. For a short office break or a big crowd, lower the limit to two steals per gift, or allow only one steal per turn.

A few house rules adults like to add:

• Your own gift. Allow players to end up with the gift they brought; banning it forces people to say which one is theirs.
• Sets move together. A gift in several pieces counts as one gift.
• Latecomers go to the end of the order, with their gift added to the pile.
• Private trades after the game are fine if both people agree.

Whatever you decide, write it down. The rules card near the top of this page prints the Yankee swap rules with your budget and date, so you can point at it instead of arguing mid-game.

Everyone brings one wrapped gift to a shared pile and draws a number. On each turn, a player opens a new gift or steals an opened one. A gift stolen three times is frozen, and when the last gift is opened, player 1 may make one final swap.

Three times under the rules on this page; the third steal freezes it. Many groups use two steals per gift for a shorter game. Agree on the number before the first gift is opened.

Not straight away. If your gift is stolen, you can't take that same gift back on the same turn. You can steal a different gift, or come back for it on a later turn if it isn't frozen yet.

Yes, under these rules. Once the last gift is opened, player 1 may swap once with any gift that isn't frozen. It makes up for opening the first gift with nothing to compare it to.

The rules are almost the same. In a Yankee swap the gifts are meant to be practical things people want, while white elephant gifts are often funny or useless. The version on this page also gives player 1 a final swap.

There is one turn per player, plus the steals. With three steals per gift, a 10-player game can have up to 28 steals and a 20-player game up to 58, so for a large group consider a lower limit.