Bad Santa Rules: How to Play the Office Gift-Stealing Game

Bad Santa is a gift swap with a twist. Everyone brings one wrapped gift, players take turns to open a new present or steal one somebody has already opened, and a gift locks once it has been stolen three times. Set a spend limit, draw numbers for the order and give player one a last steal at the end. That is the whole game, and the full rulebook is below.

Australian offices call it plenty of things: Bad Santa, Dirty Santa, Stealing Santa, Yankee swap or white elephant. The rules barely change. What makes the afternoon is the gifts, so if you still need one, our Kris Kringle and Secret Santa hampers arrive ready to give, free gift card included, and ready to be fought over.

What you need to play

• Six to thirty players. Fewer than six and there is not much to steal. More than thirty and the game runs well past an hour, so split into two tables.
• One wrapped gift per player, bought to the agreed limit. No gift, no ticket.
• Numbered slips in a hat to set the order of play.
• One gift table where everyone can see what has been opened.
• A host who knows the rules, keeps count of the steals and settles arguments. The host can play too.

Bad Santa rules, step by step

1. Everyone brings one wrapped gift to the spend limit and puts it on the table, unlabelled.
2. Draw numbers. Everyone takes a slip, and whoever holds 1 goes first.
3. Player one opens a gift from the pile and shows it to the room.
4. Every player after that has a choice: open a new gift from the pile, or steal any gift that has already been opened.
5. If your gift is stolen, you choose again straight away. Open a new gift, or steal a different opened one.
6. No instant steal-backs. You cannot take back the gift that was just taken from you in the same turn.
7. Three steals and it locks. Once a gift has been stolen three times, its third owner keeps it and nobody can take it again.
8. A turn ends when someone opens a new gift from the pile. Then the next number plays.
9. The final round. When the pile is empty, player one, who never had the chance to steal, may swap their gift for any gift that is not locked. Then the game is over.
10. Keep what you finish with. Private swaps afterwards are fine if both people agree, but not until the game has ended.

Print the list and stick it on the gift table, and the host never has to argue from memory.

Why the three-steal lock and the final round matter

Without a lock, the best gift on the table can change hands all afternoon and the game never ends. Three steals is the usual house rule because it gives a popular gift a real contest and still lets the game finish before the food runs out.

The final round fixes the one unfair seat. Player one opens first with nothing to steal, so without a last turn they are stuck with whatever came out of the pile. A mathematician writing for The Conversation worked through how the order of play changes your chances in Bad Santa, and it is worth a read before you settle your house rules.

House-rule variations worth trying

• Two-steal lock for small groups. With fewer than ten players, lock a gift after its second steal so the game does not stall.
• One steal per turn. Each turn allows a single steal: if your gift is taken, you open a fresh one from the pile instead of stealing again. It stops a chain of steals swallowing the whole afternoon.
• Dice Santa. Roll a die on each turn: a six means steal, a one means swap with the person on your left, anything else means open from the pile. Louder, luckier and great for a big room.
• Theme round. Set a theme with the limit, such as something edible or something made in Australia, so the table looks like a set instead of a jumble.

Pick one variation at most and announce it before the first gift is opened. Changing the rules mid-game is the quickest way to lose the room.

Setting the spend limit

Bad Santa only works when every gift is worth roughly the same, so agree the limit before anyone shops and put it in the invitation. Most offices land between $30 and $50: enough for something people genuinely want to steal, low enough that nobody feels stung.

Decide up front whether delivery counts toward the limit. Our hampers under $100 carry a flat $14.95 standard delivery, so say so in the invitation and everyone shops to the same number. Our Christmas gifts under $50 and the $30 to $60 hampers are already sorted by price.

Bad Santa for remote and hybrid teams

A team that never shares a table can still play. Each player picks a gift to the limit and sends the host a link and a photo instead of buying it. On the video call the host shows each gift on screen as it is opened, the steals happen out loud and the host keeps the count. When the game ends, each player orders the gift they picked and has it sent to whoever finished with it, straight to their door.

It runs most smoothly when everyone picks from one shop, so delivery, gift cards and timing all match. Our guide on how to run a Kris Kringle at work covers collecting home addresses privately, which you will need for this version too.

Keep it fun, not cut-throat

Bad Santa is meant to be a laugh, and a few house rules keep it that way.

• Put a timer on turns. Thirty seconds to decide keeps the room moving.
• No ganging up. Nobody steals from the same person twice in one round.
• Let people sit out. Make it opt-in, and give anyone who would rather watch a job, like keeping the steal count.
• Keep gifts kind. Nothing that embarrasses the person who opens it, nothing personal and nothing that only works for one kind of person.
• Look after the non-drinkers. If wine is in the mix, make sure plenty of gifts on the table are alcohol-free.

What makes a gift worth stealing

The gifts that get stolen three times are the ones anyone in the room could enjoy that night. Food and drink win game after game, because they look generous on the table, suit every age and take no guessing about sizes or taste.

Three that fit a typical limit: the Merry Christmas Nibbles Box, an alcohol-free box of salty snacks and shortbread with a navy Merry Christmas sleeve; the Mini Christmas Snack Gift Box, alcohol-free sweet and salty snacks made for sharing; and the Celebrate Shiraz & Chocolates Gift Box, a bottle of Shiraz with chocolates for the wine lovers. Enjoy responsibly.

For the full list of gifts people fight over, sorted by limit, see our Bad Santa gift ideas.

Ready for the gift table

Every hamper comes with a free personalised gift card, so you can sign it from Bad Santa and keep everyone guessing. Order before 1pm Melbourne time on a weekday, public holidays excepted, and we hand-pack your hamper in Victoria and dispatch it the same day. Browse our Kris Kringle and Secret Santa hampers, find more ideas in Kris Kringle gift ideas, or pick up gifts to share for the office kitchen while you are there.