• 80 cards

Christmas Pass the Gift Game

Everyone holds a wrapped gift, the reader presses Next card, and the card says who passes, who swaps and who has to get up.

Christmas Pass the Gift Game

The host picks any two players. They swap.

Next step Play Christmas charades next

All 80 cards

Pass it along 21

  • Close your eyes and pass one place to the left. Slow hands. Skip this card if any gift feels fragile.
  • Count the letters in NOEL. Pass that many places to the right. Four places.
  • Count the letters in SANTA. Pass that many places to the left. Five places.
  • Hold your gift above your head, then pass it one place to the left. Anyone who would rather not lift just passes.
  • Musical gifts: pass left while the host hums any carol. Stop when the humming stops. The host turns away from the circle so the stop is a surprise.
  • Pass left once for every stocking you can see. None? Pass once. Stockings on feet do not count unless the room says so.
  • Pass one place left and say Merry Christmas to the player you hand it to. A good opening card.
  • Pass one place to the right using one hand only. Big boxes may rest on a knee.
  • Pass right once for every player wearing a Christmas sweater. Nobody? Pass once. The reader counts the sweaters and has the last word.
Show all 80 cards (71 more)

Pass it along, continued

  • Pass right, then left, then right again, one place each time. It ends as one place to the right, with a lot of confusion on the way.
  • Pass to the left until the reader says stop. Reader: look away from the circle so you cannot aim a gift at anyone.
  • Pass to the left while the room counts down from ten. Stop at zero. One pass for each number, so ten places in all.
  • Pass your gift one place to the left behind your back. Turn a little in your seat. No throwing.
  • Pass your gift one place to the left. The plain pass. Everyone hands over at the same moment.
  • Pass your gift one place to the right. Hand it over with two hands if it is heavy.
  • Pass your gift three places to the left. Count the three passes out loud together.
  • Pass your gift three places to the right. In a circle of three or four, this brings some gifts home again. That is allowed.
  • Pass your gift two places to the left. Pass once, wait for the room, then pass again.
  • Pass your gift two places to the right. Two short passes are safer than one long reach.
  • The reader names a number from one to five. Everyone passes that many places right. Reader: choose before you look at where the gifts are.
  • Whisper pass: one place right without a sound. Any noise and everyone passes again. Three passes at most, however much the room giggles.

Who qualifies 22

  • Anyone born in December swaps with the player on their right, one at a time. Go round the circle from the reader so two Decembers never swap at once.
  • Anyone wearing a hat, antlers or a headband swaps with a bare-headed player they choose. One at a time, going round from the reader.
  • Anyone who baked something for today swaps with a player of their choice, one at a time. Nobody baked? The player who brought food of any kind swaps.
  • Anyone who has sung a carol today swaps with a player of their choice, one at a time. Singing along in the car counts.
  • Anyone who has watched a Christmas movie this week swaps with someone who has not. Pair up until one side runs out.
  • Birthday in May, June, July or August? Swap with anyone you choose, one at a time. They are the four months with no R in their names.
  • Everyone wearing green swaps with someone who is not. Pair up until one side runs out.
  • Everyone wearing red swaps with someone who is not. Pair up until one side runs out. The players left over keep their gifts.
  • Everyone with an S in their first name swaps with another S. An odd one out keeps theirs. Only one S in the room? That player swaps with the reader.
  • The first guest to arrive today swaps with the last guest to arrive. The host does not count as a guest.
  • First name starts with a letter in MERRY? Swap with the player on your left, in turn. The letters are M, E, R and Y.
  • First names, A to Z: the player who comes first swaps with the player who comes last. Same first letter? Go to the second letter.
  • The host swaps with anyone they choose. Two hosts swap one after the other.
  • The player sitting nearest the tree swaps with the player sitting furthest from it. No tree? Use the front door.
  • The player who sent the most Christmas cards this year swaps with anyone they choose. Nobody sent any? The player who received the most swaps.
  • The player who traveled the furthest today picks any gift in the circle and swaps for it. A rough guess at the distance is enough.
  • The player who woke up earliest this morning swaps with anyone they choose. Take their word for it.
  • The player whose birthday is closest to Christmas swaps with anyone they choose. Day and month only. Nobody has to give a year.
  • The player with the longest first name swaps with the player with the shortest. Use the name people call you today. Ties go to rock paper scissors.
  • Players wearing Christmas socks swap with each other. Only one? Swap with the reader. The room may ask for proof.
  • Whoever put up their tree first this year swaps with whoever put theirs up last. Players without a tree sit this card out.
  • Whoever wrapped their gift last, even this morning, swaps with anyone they choose. An honest confession is rewarded.

Check your gift 12

  • Anyone holding a gift bag swaps with someone holding a box. No bags in the circle? Everyone passes one place left.
  • Anyone holding a gift with a bow swaps with someone holding a gift without one. Pair up until one side runs out.
  • Guess your gift in three words. The best guesser, by room vote, swaps with anyone. Guesses only. No tearing a corner.
  • The heaviest gift and the lightest gift change hands. Pass the two heaviest round for a vote if players disagree.
  • Hold your gift up high. The reader picks the two that look most alike, and they swap. Same paper, same shape or same size all count.
  • Holding the gift you brought? Swap it with the player on your right, one at a time. Nobody should open their own gift, so this card is worth keeping in.
  • The player holding the biggest gift swaps with the player holding the smallest. The room judges by eye. No rulers.
  • The player holding the gift with the most ribbon swaps with anyone they choose. No ribbon anywhere? Count bows, then tags.
  • The player holding the softest gift swaps with anyone they choose. A squeeze test, not a peek.
  • Players holding red wrapping swap with players holding any other color. Pair up until one side runs out.
  • The room votes: the neatest wrapping and the messiest wrapping change hands. Point on the count of three. Most fingers wins.
  • Shake your gift gently. If it rattles, swap with a player whose gift is silent. Gently. Skip the shake for anything marked fragile.

Everybody moves 13

  • All gifts in the middle. On three, walk in and pick up one you have not held yet. Walk, do not grab. Two hands on one gift? Rock paper scissors. Seated version: everyone passes three places to the left.
  • Conga pass: stand, turn to your left and hand your gift over the shoulder in front of you. Seated version: everyone passes one place to the left.
  • Everyone stands, gift in hand, and finds a new seat at least three chairs away. This one has no seated form. Skip it if anyone in the circle cannot move easily.
  • Find a player born in your birthday month, or the month next door, and swap gifts. One partner each. Anyone left without a partner keeps their gift.
  • Gifts on chairs. Walk round the circle while the reader counts to seven, then sit down. Sit at the nearest empty chair and pick up what is on it. Seated version: pass to the right while the reader counts to seven.
  • Leave your gift on your chair. Move one chair to the right and pick up the gift there. Seated version: everyone passes one place to the left.
  • Leave your gift on your chair. Move three chairs to the right. Seated version: everyone passes three places to the left.
  • Leave your gift on your chair. Move two chairs to the left and pick up the gift there. Seated version: everyone passes two places to the right.
  • Line up A to Z by first name. Sit down again in that order, gift in hand. Nobody changes gifts. It breaks up couples and siblings for the next passes.
  • Line up by birthday month, January first. Sit down again in that order, gift in hand. Nobody changes gifts. The new neighbors change every pass that follows.
  • Stand up, carry your gift to any player you like and trade. Everyone trades exactly once. Anyone who has already traded says so and sends the asker on. With an odd number, one player keeps their gift.
  • Swap gifts with someone you have not talked to yet today. Everyone finds one partner. Anyone left over keeps their gift.
  • Swap seats with someone across the circle. Take your gift with you. Nobody changes gifts, but every neighbor is new.

Swap or keep 12

  • Freeze. Nobody moves a gift this round. Groan, then deal the next card.
  • Going round from the reader, each player may offer one trade. The other player can say no. No thank you is a full answer. Nobody has to explain.
  • Hold tight. Only the reader may swap this round, with anyone they choose. The reader may also keep what they have.
  • The host picks any two players. They swap. The host may pick themselves.
  • On three, everyone points at the gift they want. Two players pointing at each other swap. No pair of pointers? Nothing moves.
  • Pair up with a neighbor for rock paper scissors. The winner decides: swap or keep. With an odd number, the reader sits out and keeps their gift.
  • The reader picks a player, who picks a player, who picks another. First and last swap. The player in the middle just enjoys the power.
  • Reader: close your eyes, spin a finger and point. That player swaps with you. Pointing at a gap? The nearest player on the left.
  • Reader: swap with anyone you choose, then hand the phone to the player on your left. The new reader deals the next card.
  • Thumbs up to keep, thumbs down to swap. Each thumbs down passes left to the next one. One thumbs down alone keeps the gift anyway.
  • The two players who have held the same gift the longest swap with each other. The room decides who they are.
  • Undo the last card. Every gift goes back where it was. If nobody remembers, everyone passes one place to the right.

How this list was compiled: Written for this page in September 2026: 80 instruction cards in five groups. Each card was checked so that it leaves one gift with every player: a pass moves every gift the same way, and a swap trades two. Every card was screened for a mixed room of kids, parents and grandparents: no alcohol, nothing sexual, no phones, no food dares, nothing taken off, and no card sorts people by age, size, looks, income or relationship status. Easy cards are passes made from your seat, medium cards need the room to work out who qualifies, and hard cards ask players to leave their seats, with a seated version in the note where there is one. The game has no official rules. The comparison with pass the parcel follows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pass_the_parcel and the comparison with a white elephant swap follows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange, both checked on 2026-09-19. Every card was compared with every other list on this site on the same day. No outside list was copied. Licence: own work

How it works

In a Christmas pass the gift game every player starts with one wrapped gift, and nobody knows which one they will open. This deck holds 80 instruction cards. Press Next card and read it out: the whole circle passes two places to the left, everyone wearing red swaps with someone who is not, or the room changes chairs. After the last card, everyone opens the gift they hold.

Read the full guide

Run the game from one phone

Seat everyone in a circle with one wrapped gift each, and give the phone to a reader. If you looked through cards earlier, press Start over at the foot of the tool first, and the counter beside it returns to Seen 1. Read the card aloud, let the gifts settle, then press Next card. The counter appears after the first press and goes up by one each time, so you know when to stop. A topic keeps the deck to one kind of card. The levels sort by effort: Easy cards are passes from your seat, Medium cards make the room work out who qualifies, and Hard cards get players out of their chairs.

The rules, and the choices a host makes

This game has no official rules, and house rules vary. Every guest brings one wrapped gift at an agreed price and takes a different one into the circle. Agree on a number of cards first: 10 for a quick game, 15 for most parties, 20 for a big circle. On a pass, everyone hands over at once. On a swap, two players trade. If the room cannot agree on who qualifies, the reader decides. After the last card, anyone holding the gift they brought swaps with the player on their right, and then everyone opens.

The printed list and what the phone remembers

All 80 cards are printed under the tool in five groups, A to Z inside each. Each line carries a short host ruling that the card on screen does not show: what to do on a tie, what happens if nobody qualifies, and a seated version of six of the 13 Everybody moves cards. This browser remembers the cards it has dealt, and none comes back until you press Start over. After 12 hours without a card the list clears itself.

  • Open with two or three Pass it along cards, so every gift leaves its first owner before the swaps begin.
  • For a room that cannot move around easily, set the level to Easy or Medium.
  • Ask guests to box anything fragile, and skip the eyes-closed and shake-it cards if a gift feels delicate.
  • Planning a pass the present Christmas game for an office party? Put the price cap in the invitation and wrap two spare gifts.

Questions and answers

How do you play the Christmas gift passing game with cards?

Everyone sits in a circle holding one wrapped gift. A reader deals a card and reads it aloud, and the gifts move as it says. Nothing is unwrapped until the agreed number of cards has been played. Then the reader says stop and everyone opens the gift in their hands.

Is this the same as pass the parcel?

No. Wikipedia describes pass the parcel, also called pass the present in North America, as a British party game with one prize wrapped in many layers. It goes round while music plays, and whoever holds it when the music stops removes a layer. Here there are as many gifts as players, nothing is unwrapped until the end, and cards replace the music.

How is it different from the left right game or a white elephant swap?

In the left right game a story is read aloud, and gifts move one seat on the words left and right. In a white elephant swap, players take turns to unwrap a gift or steal one, and you can draw the turn order here. This Christmas pass game has no story, no turns and no stealing, and everyone opens at once.

How many people do you need?

Six to twenty is a comfortable range. With four or five players the longer passes bring every gift straight back to where it started, so skip those and lean on Swap or keep. Above twenty, split into two circles with a reader each, or let the Who qualifies cards do the work, since they move only a few gifts at a time.

What if a card does not suit the group?

Press Next card for another, and leave the passed-over card out of your count. Nobody has to stand, close their eyes or say anything about themselves, and the reader's call is final. No card sorts people by age, size, looks or money, and none involves a drink or a dare with food. Birthday cards ask for the day and month only, never the year.

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