Dice Gift Exchange

Set up

Ask everyone to bring one wrapped gift within the same spending limit. Put all the gifts in a pile in the middle of the table or circle. Write the number chart below on a card and set it where everyone can read it. Have two or three dice ready so the turns move quickly, and a phone timer for round two.

How to play

Round one: emptying the pile

1. Pass the dice around the circle. Each player rolls once on their turn.
2. Roll a 6 or a 1: take a gift from the pile and keep it unopened in front of you.
3. Any other number: pass the dice on.
4. When the pile is empty, everyone should have one gift. If someone has two and someone has none, the player with two gives one away.

Round two: the timer

5. Set the timer for five to ten minutes, without telling anyone the exact time if you want more tension.
6. Keep passing the dice. This time each number has a job:
   • 1: swap gifts with anyone.
   • 2: everyone passes their gift one place to the left.
   • 3: everyone passes their gift one place to the right.
   • 4: take a gift from any player; they take yours.
   • 5: nothing happens. Pass the dice.
   • 6: roll again.
7. When the timer goes off, everyone stops and opens the gift in front of them.

Simpler chart for kids and big groups

Use only three outcomes in round two: odd number, pass your gift left; even number, pass your gift right; 6, swap with anyone you choose. It is easy to remember and keeps everyone involved.

Ways to change it

• No dice: play the same chart with a deck of cards, using the card’s number.
• Open as you go: in round one, open each gift as soon as you take it, so everyone knows what they might win or lose in round two.
• Office version: keep the timer short, and set a firm rule that nobody may refuse a swap.

Who it suits, and who it doesn’t

The dice gift exchange suits groups of about five to twenty at a table or in a circle, including mixed ages: it needs counting, not strategy. It is faster and more chaotic than White Elephant and feels less personal when someone loses a gift, because luck, not choice, decides it. It does not suit a group that wants to pick gifts for particular people; for that, use Secret Santa.