Yankee Swap Rules

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Preparation

  1. Each person buys 1 gift, wraps it, and brings it to the party (do not tell anyone what the gift is or label it in any way).

    1. Price range: $30–40.

    2. No food items please as a lot of people are traveling (this does not include pistachios or other family staples).

    3. If you’re having trouble buying a gift, ask for help and remember the golden rule: don’t buy anything you wouldn’t like to receive yourself.

  2. Once everyone is gathered, all of the gifts are placed in one area where everyone can see them.

Order of Selection

  1. Put numbers in a hat for the number of people that are participating (e.g., 10 people = numbers 1–10).

  2. Everyone takes turns drawing a number until everybody has one.

The Swap

  1. In the order of the numbers drawn from the hat, each person begins a round by picking a wrapped gift from the pile and opening it.

    1. Once a gift is opened, it must be kept in the open where everyone can see it. No trying to hide gifts.

    2. If the person whose turn it is to pick a gift touches one of the gifts, that’s the one you they get. No shaking and weighing the gifts.

    3. If a person takes too long to pick a gift, the group can elect to count down from 10. If time runs out, the person gets the gift closest to them.

  2. After a person unwraps the gift that they have picked, they have the option to keep the gift they opened or swap gifts with someone who has an open gift.

  3. If a person has a gift swapped from them, they have the option to keep the gift that they received in the swap or swap gifts with someone else who has an open gift. This carries on until the person who has a gift swapped from them elects to keep the gift or there are no more gifts to be swapped.

    1. Once a gift has been swapped in a round, it cannot be swapped again in that round (but may be swapped with in later rounds).

  4. Once all the gifts are opened and swapped, the person with #1 has the option to swap with anyone else, ending the swap (the person who #1 swaps with does not have any option to keep swapping).

    Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animals!