White Elephant, with numbers drawn on the big screen

Add White Elephant to your RSVPlinks event and press Draw: every player gets a random pick number by email, and at the party the live screen reveals the order one name at a time on a spinning gift tag. Set how many times a gift can be stolen, and a guest who joins late is given the next number automatically.

Per event: $6 or 1 credit
Players: Up to 500
Guests need: A phone, no app

Create Free Event Watch the draw

The gift-tag reel

Names roll past on a reel, almost stop one short, creep, and click over onto the next pick, shown on a gift tag with its number. Earlier picks stay listed beside it.

Sample names, drawn in your browser with the same rules as a real game. Nothing is saved.

How to run a White Elephant online

1
Add White Elephant
Pick White Elephant, Yankee Swap or Dirty Santa from Party Games. The rules guests see start with the usual steal limit.
2
Choose who plays
Guests opt in on the RSVP form, everyone attending, or add players yourself. On the day, you can draw only guests you've checked in.
3
Set the steal rules
Steals per gift, and a number per gift for guests bringing more than one.
4
Draw
Each player is emailed their number and can open it on their own game page.
5
Play it live
Open the live screen and press Start: the reel lands on number 1, then each Next reveals the next pick.

What you set up

Steals per gift: 0 means no limit. The default is 3, shown in the rules guests read.
A number per gift: For guests bringing more than one gift.
Checked-in guests only: Only guests checked in at the door are drawn, and the game page counts how many are in.
Include Maybe replies: Maybe replies count as players. Kids can play or sit out.

The White Elephant settings a host fills in on RSVPlinks — The host's White Elephant settings on the event dashboard.

What guests see

An email and a game page with their number and the rules, including the steal limit.
The order as the host reveals it, on the event page.
A guest who joins after the draw gets the next number; a guest who drops out has their number skipped.

What a guest sees for a White Elephant on their phone — A guest's view on a phone.

On the big screen

The reel spins through the remaining players and stops on each pick in order, with confetti on the name.
Skip jumps to the result and Replay plays it again. Neither changes who won: every result is stored before it plays, so a refresh or a second screen shows the same thing.
Full screen, synthesised sound you can mute, and buttons along the top that switch between your event's games without leaving full screen (keys 1 to 9).
QR code puts the game's page on the big screen for the room to scan.
Preview the draw rehearses with your players, topped up with sample names, and saves nothing.

Good for

Working from a list instead of an event? Try the free white Elephant number generator, no sign-up.

Questions

How do you play White Elephant?

Everyone brings one wrapped gift and draws a number. Number 1 opens a gift; each next player opens a new gift or steals an opened one, and whoever loses a gift opens or steals again. Most groups lock a gift after three steals and give number 1 a final swap at the end.

What's the difference between White Elephant, Yankee Swap and Dirty Santa?

They are the same gift swap under different names: Yankee Swap is the New England name and Dirty Santa leans into stealing. Each is a preset with the same draw.

Can I draw only the people who actually came?

Yes. Turn on Checked-in guests only, check guests in from the guest list as they arrive, then draw. Someone checked in after the draw doesn't get a number, so check in first.

Is there a free White Elephant number generator?

Yes: paste your players into the free White Elephant numbers tool for a fair order, no account needed. The game adds emailed numbers, the live reel, check-in and late joiners.

How much does it cost to run a White Elephant with RSVPlinks?

$6 or 1 credit per event, paid once, for the Party Games add-on. It unlocks every game on that event (up to 12), and a free event can buy it: no paid plan needed. A free event's games hold up to 200 players; paid plans hold up to 500.

Do guests need an app or an account?

No. Guests play from your event page, a QR code or the private link in their email, on any phone or computer.

Setting one up? Read the Party Games guide.

Every game, one add-on

One purchase unlocks all of them on your event.

Run a White Elephant at your next event

Make the event free, then add Party Games from the event dashboard for $6 or 1 credit.

Create Free Event

🐘 White Elephant, with numbers drawn on the big screen