Gift Exchange Wheel

Hand every player a wrapped gift, then spin on each turn to steal, trade, pass or keep.

Gift Exchange Wheel

On the wheel

    Sample list of 11 moves. Type or paste your own to replace it.

    Up to 100 lines. Your list stays in this browser and is never sent anywhere.

    Click the button or the wheel, or press Space or Enter. Press again to skip.Tap the button or the wheel. Tap again to skip.

    StealTrade leftTrade rightTrade acrossAll pass leftAll pass rightKeepFreezeUnwrapMake two tradeYour choice

    Sample result

    Freeze your gift, or stay in the game: you decide.

    A frozen gift goes under your chair for good. No steal, trade or pass moves it, and you stop spinning.

    More options

    Every spin uses the whole wheel.

    11 moves on the wheel.

    Results

      No spins yet.

      Next step Spin who takes the first turnNext: spin a Christmas party game

      How it works

      This gift exchange wheel tells each player what to do on their turn: steal, trade left, pass, freeze or unwrap. It opens on the game where everyone holds a gift; Show only switches to white elephant or the whole room.

      Read the full guide

      How to play a gift exchange with a wheel

      Each player brings one wrapped gift and takes a different one from the pile, so there is a gift in every hand before the first spin. Go round the circle: spin, then do the move. A frozen gift sits under its holder's chair, and trades and passes skip that seat. After two laps of the circle, unwrap whatever is still wrapped.

      As a white elephant gift exchange spinner

      Gifts stay wrapped on the table and each player draws a number for the order. In the usual game a player then chooses to open a wrapped gift or steal an open one. The White elephant set adds moves of its own, such as Smallest, Left picks and Thaw. Those are house rules: change any of them.

      • Stick a paper dot on a gift each time it is stolen. Two dots and it is frozen, with nothing to argue about.
      • In a big room, put the wheel on a TV and let the host spin the whole-room set: each spin is one move for everyone.

      Questions and answers

      How does a white elephant gift exchange spinner work?

      It takes over the choice on each turn. Players still go in number order, and the wheel says whether to open a wrapped gift, steal an open one or pick for yourself. Whoever loses a gift spins next, until a wrapped gift is opened.

      How many times can a gift be stolen in white elephant?

      Each group sets its own limit, and two is the common one: after its second steal a gift stays with whoever holds it. Say the number aloud before the first spin.

      Can I put my own rules on the gift exchange wheel?

      Yes. Type a move under My list and it replaces the set on the wheel; add the rest one at a time. A move typed twice comes up twice as often. Your list stays in this browser.

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      Browse Party & Decision Wheels

      All 33 moves

      A gift in every hand 11

      • Call any move on the wheel and do it. Say the move aloud before a gift leaves anyone's hands.
      • Every gift moves one seat to the left. The host counts to three so every gift moves at the same moment.
      • Every gift moves one seat to the right. Count it in aloud, so nobody is left holding two gifts.
      • Freeze your gift, or stay in the game: you decide. A frozen gift goes under your chair for good. No steal, trade or pass moves it, and you stop spinning.
      • Keep the gift in your hands. Nothing moves. The next player spins.
      • Name two players, not yourself: those two trade gifts. Yours stays put. Neither of the two may be frozen.
      • Steal the gift you want most and give yours in exchange. Its holder cannot say no. A frozen gift is the one thing out of reach.
      • Trade gifts with the player sitting opposite you. Nobody straight opposite? The player who spun before you points to one of the two nearest.
      • Trade with your left-hand neighbor. Left as you sit, not as the room sees you.
      • Trade with your right-hand neighbor. A frozen neighbor is skipped: trade with the next player on that side.
      • Unwrap the gift in your hands and hold it up. It stays in the game, open. Already unwrapped? Point at a wrapped gift and its holder opens it.
      Show all 33 moves (22 more)

      White elephant 11

      • Open a wrapped gift from the table. Show the room what it is. Your turn ends here.
      • Open a wrapped gift, then trade it for any open gift if you like. A trade is not a steal: it does not count toward a gift's two steals, and nobody spins again.
      • Open the largest wrapped gift left on the table. Judged by eye from your seat. The last wrapped gift is the largest and the smallest at once.
      • Open the smallest wrapped gift left on the table. Two look the same? The player on your right decides which is smaller.
      • The player on your left picks a wrapped gift, and you open it. They may weigh it in their hands first. The paper stays on until it reaches you.
      • Sit this turn out: the next player goes now, and you spin after them. Last in the order? Take the usual turn instead.
      • Steal an open gift, and it is yours for good. Nobody can take it back, and the player who lost it spins. Nothing to steal? Open a wrapped gift.
      • Steal from next door: only the open gifts on your left and right are in reach. Whoever lost the gift spins. Neither neighbor holding an open gift? Open a wrapped one.
      • Take a gift someone has already opened. Whoever lost it spins next. Nothing open yet, or every open gift frozen? Open a wrapped one.
      • Thaw one frozen gift, then take the turn you would like. Open a wrapped gift or steal an open one, the thawed gift included. Nothing frozen yet? Just take that turn.
      • Your pick: unwrap something new or steal what someone holds. The usual white elephant turn. A player who loses a gift spins.

      Whole room, host spins 11

      • Everyone stands up and sits in a new seat, taking their gift along. No gift changes hands, but every neighbor is new, so the next pass sends the gifts somewhere else.
      • Everyone trades with the player sitting opposite. At a long table, trade over the table. Anyone without a partner keeps their gift.
      • Game over: every player unwraps what they are holding. Landed here on the very first spin? Spin again.
      • The host calls left or right, and the whole room passes one seat that way. The host may let the room decide by a show of hands.
      • The host says a number from one to five: the room passes that many seats left. Pass one seat at a time on the host's count, so nobody loses track.
      • Neighbors trade in pairs, starting with the host and the player on their left. Then the next two, and so on round the room. With an odd count the last player keeps theirs.
      • Nothing moves. Hold on to your gift for one spin. The host spins again straight away.
      • The whole room passes one seat to the left. Hand it on at the host's count of three.
      • The whole room passes one seat to the right. Every hand lets go at once, so nobody ends up with two.
      • The whole room passes two seats to the left. One seat, a pause, one more seat, on the host's call.
      • The whole room passes two seats to the right. Call each seat aloud so the whole room moves together.

      How this list was compiled: 33 moves in three sets, written for this site on 2026-10-09 in our own words; a gift exchange played with a wheel has no official rules. The outline of the game behind the White elephant set (one wrapped gift each, turns in an order set by drawn numbers, each player opens a wrapped gift or steals an open one, a player whose gift is stolen chooses again, and a gift can be stolen a set number of times, commonly two) was checked on 2026-10-09 against English Wikipedia, White elephant gift exchange, section Rules (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange). Freezing a gift at once, thawing one and letting the wheel choose in place of the player are this page's own additions. Each set is built so that every player ends the game holding one gift. No move involves money, food, drink or phones, and none sorts players by anything but their seat or their drawn number. Licence: own work