I had played this game a long time ago and hoped to play it again. It really refreshed my memory of periods. Thank you! There is an alternative version of the rules which is to open the gift BEFORE deciding to steal from others. This is the much inferior version of the game. There are different variations, but here are the rules that work best: If you follow the right rules, it works pretty well. @bradybybun~ glad you were able to bring back the memories, I hope you have a great Christmas and enjoy another unforgettable game of Santa. If that`s not enough, you can even change the rules of the game. Try the White Elephant version, where everyone buys a generic gift instead of buying for a specific person. Each participant then draws an order number, and the first person opens a gift.

Then the second person goes and so on, with the caveat that they can choose to keep their own gift or « steal » the previous one. (Tiff taught me these rules and used them as a source, so whoever ~alex is, thank you very much.) One of the great things about the game is that it offers a lot of customization options, so make sure you set some ground rules ahead of time. The general rules of the game as well as some popular deviations are listed in this article. Stick to the above rules and you will surely have a successful secret Santa Claus for everyone involved! This may seem obvious, but it`s a pretty logical starting point. So if you`re not familiar with the rules, that`s basically the way it is. « Santa Claus is an important part of Senatobia`s holiday tradition, but because of the pandemic, we have to sin on the safety side of Santa and children, » said Britt Herrin, executive director of Tate County EDF. Like many other things that had to change in 2020, this will be the year of the « contactless experience » with Santa. Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgium`s health minister, sent a letter to Santa Claus in early November, saying he would be exempt from the rules.

But don`t panic yet. Stick to the following secret Santa rules and you should avoid the pitfalls of this potential minefield of etiquette! So I originally played this game at work parties. My wife and I have been trying for years to get their family to play this game instead of buying gifts for everyone in the family. It is a much cheaper way for everyone to participate in giving and receiving. We finally got part of the family to participate this year. The problem for me came when someone else came up with rules I had never heard of and made the game shorter and less fun for me. According to these rules, not only does the number one open a gift, but each person first opens a gift, and then decides whether to keep it or steal it from someone else. When you steal someone`s gift, you are giving them the gift you opened. If that person doesn`t want what you gave them, they can steal someone else`s gift and give them the gift they received when it was stolen, and so on. It was never made clear to me whether we had the choice to open an unopened gift and leave the open gift you received after it was stolen from the pile.

But I don`t think it was a choice. Because I think it was about everyone opening a gift. If you have a large number of people, I think that`s good. But with as little as we had (8 people), it allowed less barter and theft and slowed down the fun for me. I like the choice to open or fly. Anyway, it`s another alternative way to play, I think. I looked for the rules and found this thread because I had never heard of this way of playing. I wondered if I just remembered badly or if it was a known and used variant. […] These 41 Dirty Santa gift ideas will make everyone steal from each other! Dirty Santa is a fun Christmas gift exchange game that can be played with adults, kids or both! For more information on how to play, check out the Dirty Santa Claus rules. […] Belgian authorities have declared Santa Claus exempt from COVID-19 rules.

Santa Claus does not have to follow guidelines and safety rules related to the coronavirus, according to Belgian health authorities. A man dressed as Santa Claus wears a protective face shield at the Capital City Mall in Lower Allen Township, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday November.