btaylo24 wrote:white elephanting?
Eh?
Never heard of that, what is it?
Cheers
Barry
It's something we do here in the States. I got the rules off wiki because I think they do a much better job of explaining it.
There are many versions of the game, but the basic rules tend to be fairly consistent. Rule variations typically involve limiting how many times a single gift can be stolen throughout the game or during a particular turn, and/or limiting how many steals can happen during a turn. Other variations include the suggested monetary value of the gifts, as well as a suggested theme for the gifts.
What follows is the most common variant of the rules:
The gifts
1. The value of the gifts to be purchased should not exceed $10.00.
2. The gift should be wrapped or sealed in a gift bag before arriving to the party. If a gift bag is used, the gift should be wrapped inside if possible. This ensures each player has something to unwrap or open.
3. Gift cards/certificates are not acceptable.
4. As guests arrive to the party, the gifts should be placed in an area where few people can see who brought which gift. All efforts should be made to hide who brought which gift.
White Elephant Rules
Items needed
1. Each participant will provide a wrapped gift..... 'value not to exceed $10.00.
2. Upon arriving to the party, you will place your gift in the designated gift area.
3. You will put your name on a slip of paper, and put the slip of paper in a hat.
How to Play
1. First turn: The party host draws a guest's name from the hat. That guest chooses a gift from the gift pile, opens the gift, and sits with the "live" gift for everyone to see.
2. Second turn: The host draws another guest's name from the hat. That guest has two choices: steal a gift from a previous gift-opener or choose a wrapped gift from the gift pile. If they choose to steal someone's opened gift, then that someone can in turn have two choices: steal a gift from a previous gift-opener or choose from the pile. If there is no previous person to steal a gift from, they must choose from the pile.
3. A gift can only be stolen once during a turn.
4. A gift is considered "dead" once it has been stolen 3 times, and, once "dead", it cannot be stolen again. Therefore, whomever has a "dead" gift is the final keeper of the gift.
5. A dead gift must be kept out of sight.
6. Guests in possession of "live" gifts must keep them visible.
7. Turns repeat until all names have been drawn from the hat.
We do silly and "adult" gifts and have loads of fun. I've left with some pretty weird stuff and some...erm...useful stuff
