White Elephant Book Exchange

A white elephant book exchange is a party where each guest brings a wrapped book, and participants take turns choosing a new book or stealing one that has already been opened.

Bring a wrapped book: Each guest brings one wrapped book to the party. Price range $10-20, please bring a new (not used) book.

Arrange the books: Place all the wrapped books in a central pile, in the middle of the table, where everyone can see them.

Determine the order: We will draw numbers to decide who goes first.

Start the game: The first person chooses a wrapped book and opens it so everyone can see what it is.

Take your turn: On subsequent turns, a person can either unwrap a new book from the pile or "steal" a book from someone who has already opened one.

Continue playing: If your book is stolen, you can either choose a new one or steal another. The game continues until everyone has had a turn and the last person has chosen or stolen.
Each book can be stolen a maximum of 2 times

End the game: The game ends when the last player has completed their turn and no one else wishes to steal. After everyone has had their turn, the first person to go still has the original book they unwrapped, they will get a chance to steal if they want to.