You never know what’s going to happen in this switch, steal, unwrap gift exchange dice game, which is why it’ll quickly become one of your favorite Christmas party games this year!
No gift is safe until after the last dice are rolled and even then, you just never know! This will become a family favorite replacing the traditional white elephant game year after year!
Switch Steal Unwrap Gift Exchange Game
I’ll be the first to admit it, this is basically a Christmas gift exchange rendition of my super popular left, right, eat game I shared in this birthday party games post. That one has been so popular with readers and my own family that I decided to switch things up this year with a similar gift exchange game!
I love that it’s simple enough for kids to play but fun enough for teens and adults!
The general idea of the game is this – everyone brings a gift (or multiple gifts) and the gifts get passed around the table based on the roll of the dice until all gifts get unwrapped. As soon as all gifts are unwrapped the game is over and everyone goes home with whatever gifts they ended up with.
But it’s way more than that! Watch the video below to see a quick version of how to play AND to see how fun this gift exchange dice game really is!
Gift Exchange Game Preparation
Before you are going to play, you have a decision to make. You can either have people bring one, two, or three gifts each.
If you do two or three, just specify that they should be smaller price items within a price range of say $15 for all three gifts. If they’re just bringing one gift, just set your price range wherever you want it.
This is more fun with multiple gifts but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still work well with one or two. I’ve included instructions below for playing it with just one gift or multiples.
When you ask your guests to bring gifts, make sure they know to bring them wrapped. This game only works if the gifts are wrapped.
When guests arrive, they should put their gifts in a pile on a table or on the floor, wherever works best for you. You can also decide what type of gifts you want people to bring – white elephant or regular.
I prefer regular for this game and white elephant for this heads or tails gift exchange game but again, do what’s best for your group! If you need white elephant gift ideas, here’s a huge list!
How to Play
If you want a printable set of these instructions, make sure to download the free game file at the bottom of this post!
How to Start the Game
Have everyone put their gifts in a pile in the middle. Before you start playing, have everyone just randomly pick out one (or 2 or 3) gift from the center then sit down in the circle. These are the gifts they’ll start with.
Alternately, you could have whoever is hosting the game just hand out all the gifts randomly until everyone has the correct number of gifts. Everyone should start with the same number of gifts and will end with that same number.
How to Play the Game
Choose someone to start the game and give them the dice. If you are playing with one gift per person, give them one die. Two gifts = two dice. Three gifts = three dice.
They roll the appropriate number of dice and take action based on what they roll. Each die corresponds with one of the gifts in their pile. The person who is rolling the dice gets to choose which gifts to swap and steal.
- Roll a 1 – they switch gifts with the person on their right
- Roll a 2 – they switch gifts with the person on their left
- Roll a 3 or a 4 – Switch gifts with anyone in the circle AND unwrap the gift if it’s not already unwrapped
- Roll a 5 or a 6 – Unwrap your gift
So for instance, if you are playing with three gifts and the person rolls a 2,4,6, they would swap one of their gifts with a gift from the person on their left (the swapper’s choice of gift), they would steal a gift from anyone around the circle (trade one of their gifts with someone else), and they would choose to unwrap one of their gifts.
If someone cannot complete the action on the dice (e.g., they roll two 6’s and all of their gifts are already unwrapped) their turn is over. Better luck next time.
Once the player has completed all of their actions, they hand the dice to the person on their left and it’s now that person’s turn.
Continue playing around the circle with people rolling the dice, swapping presents, stealing presents, and unwrapping presents.
Note: The player must take action on the gifts they have in their possession at the time of the roll, not ones they’ve swapped or switched for after their roll. So if player A swapped a gift with a player on their right, they can’t also use that gift as the one they want to unwrap.
How the Dice Gift Exchange Ends
The game ends as soon as the final gift is unwrapped and everyone keeps the gifts they have in hand. If someone ends up with their own gift, they can either trade if they want or just keep it.
This is one of the most fun parts of the game because you never know when the last gift is going to be unwrapped and there’s always a possibility of your gift being switched until that final gift is unwrapped.
Alternate Ending
If you’d prefer, you could do one more roll for everyone after the final gift is unwrapped, including the person who unwrapped the last gift. This will add a bit more time to your game and the unwrapping of the last gift isn’t quite as suspenseful, but totally up to you!
Whatever you decide, make sure everyone know ahead of time so you don’t have any confusion or complaining.
Instructions for 1 or 2 Gifts
If you have people bring two gifts, the game will be the exact same except everyone will only roll two dice instead of three. And the game will likely be quite a bit shorter.
If you have people only bring one gift, the game will work the same way except they’ll only be rolling one die instead of two or three. A couple of reasons it’s more fun with multiple gifts instead of one:
- The game lasts longer
- The gifts get more mixed up because there are more chances on the dice to switch, swap, etc.
- People don’t get stuck (rolling a 5/6 when their gift is unwrapped) not being able to do anything at all on a turn because they always have two or three dice and gifts.
- There’s more variety in the gifts making for more excitement when people swap and steal.
Variations for Groups of 20+ People
We played this last night with a group of 35 people and honestly, I wouldn’t recommend doing it with a group that big. If you have a group that big, I’d split it into two groups and play two smaller games to make it more fun. Or try one of these other gift exchange games instead.
If you’re set on playing this game with the entire group, here are some changes we made to speed up the game and keep everyone interested.
- Change switch gifts left/right to everyone in the game switching – this will keep everyone involved throughout the entire game
- If someone stole an unopened gift, they also unwrap the gift they stole – this will help speed up the game. I actually recommend this for all versions of the game but definitely for larger groups.
- If someone rolled a 5/6 and their gift was already unwrapped, they choose someone else in the circle to unwrap their gift – again with speeding up the game.
You also want to make sure that you’re all in a circle so people can see what others are opening and have. I saw one set up where they had groups at like 3 different tables (not connected) playing the same game and no one knew what anyone else had because they couldn’t see. I would just do small table games if that’s the case.
want all our Christmas games in one place?
Frequently Asked Questions
Once the gift is unwrapped is the gift out of play or can someone steal an unwrapped gift?
All gifts remain in play throughout the game whether they’re wrapped or unwrapped. Unwrapping them just adds more fun to the game because people then know what they’re stealing/swapping.
If someone rolls something other than 5 or 6, do they still unwrap their gift?
Yes, and no. If someone rolls a 1 or a 2, they just swap their gift but do not open. If they roll a 3 or a 4, numbers for stealing – they choose a gift to swap from anyone in the circle and unwrap that gift if it’s not already unwrapped. If you want to make the game go longer, you could take out the unwrapping part, but I’ve found this helps keep the game moving.
Does everyone swap their gift when someone rolls a 1 or 2?
No, only the person whose turn it is will switch their gift. If you’d like a game where everyone follows the rules of the dice, try this December dice game.
What if someone rolls a 5 or 6 and their gift is already unwrapped?
Bad luck. They pass on the dice and it’s someone else’s turn. Or if you want to speed up the game, if someone rolls a 5 or a 6 you can have them tell someone else to unwrap.
Does everyone start with and end with a gift? Could someone end up with no gifts?
Everyone starts and ends up with the same number of gifts – whatever number you determine to play. If everyone starts with three gifts, they will end with three gifts. Stealing really just means switching with anyone in the circle, not actually stealing a gift. They have to exchange their gift with whoever they choose to steal from.
Do you have to do what the dice says even if you don’t want to?
Yes! If you roll a steal – you must steal a gift even if you love yours. If you roll a 1, you must switch your gift, again even if you don’t want to. Part of the fun of the game is that the dice are calling the shots, not you.
Can this game be playing with a large group of people?
Yes, however the biggest group I recommend playing with is about 20-25 people. If you have many more than that, I’d recommend breaking it into two smaller groups. And definitely read the instructions for large groups in this post!
Do you have blank cards?
Yes! There are blank cards included with the downloadable file at the bottom of this post.
How do I print the instructions?
If you download the game file, it comes with a set of written instructions you can print so you don’t have to print this post.
How many cards do I need to print?
I recommend printing one for every 2-3 people to share or just print out the card really big and put it up on a wall for everyone to use!
More Gift Exchange Ideas
- Gift exchange card game
- Santa’s Helper gift exchange
- Scrooge your neighbor
- Christmas Left Right Game
- Pass the Present Game
Download the Gift Exchange Dice Game
Enter your first name and email address in the box below to get a sheet of the cards AND a blank version as well to fill in your own actions.
If you do not see the form below, click here to get to it.
The file comes with:
- Instructions
- A sheet of blank cards (with dice but no actions)
- A sheet of filled in cards
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