White Elephant Dice Game Online
A free online dice game for your gift exchange: a big fair die, a countdown timer, player turns and a full-screen TV mode. Edit the six dice actions to fit your group. No app, no sign-up.
Players & timer
Roll history
How to play the White Elephant dice game
- Set a price limit and wrap the gifts. Agree on a budget ($20–$30 is typical) and have each player bring one wrapped, unlabeled gift.
- Sit in a circle. Put the gifts in the middle, or hand one to each player for the hold & pass version.
- Choose your dice actions. Pick a preset or type your own six actions in the table next to the die.
- Start the timer and roll. Press Start timer, then take turns rolling. Do what the die says, then pass the phone or dice to the next person.
- Stop when time is up. When the buzzer sounds, the game ends. Everyone keeps the gift in their hands and unwraps anything still wrapped.
Tip: for a TV, open this page on a laptop or cast the tab, press TV mode, and give a phone to whoever is rolling. Or just pass one phone around the circle.
Classic White Elephant dice rules
These are the default actions on the die above. They're also on the printable dice game rules.
| Roll | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open a new gift from the pile |
| 2 | Steal any opened gift |
| 3 | Swap gifts with the person on your left |
| 4 | Swap gifts with the person on your right |
| 5 | Everyone passes their gift to the left |
| 6 | Roll again |
Popular variations
- Hold & pass: everyone starts holding a wrapped gift and nobody opens anything until the timer ends. Rolls only move gifts around the circle.
- Two rounds: in round one, gifts can only move to the left; in round two, only to the right. Use a 5-minute timer for each round.
- Steal limit: a gift is “frozen” after its third steal, just like in the classic number-draw White Elephant.
- Lightning round: in the final minute, everyone rolls as fast as they can. The tick sound starts at 10 seconds.
- Big groups (25+): split into two circles with two phones, or use one die and a 20-minute timer so everyone gets a turn.
What gifts work best?
See our curated White Elephant gift ideas by budget and theme. Wrap gifts so nobody can guess them by their shape. That's half the fun. Funny but useful things get stolen the most: a mini waffle maker, a heated blanket, a fancy hot sauce set, a desk-sized basketball hoop. Keep everything inside the agreed price limit so that nobody feels short-changed when the timer runs out.
White Elephant dice game FAQ
How does the White Elephant dice game work?
Everyone brings one wrapped gift and sits in a circle. Players take turns rolling one die, and the number decides what happens: open a gift, steal, swap left or right, everyone passes, or roll again. A timer runs the whole time; when it goes off, everyone keeps the gift they're holding.
What do the numbers on the dice mean?
There's no official standard. A popular set is: 1 open a new gift, 2 steal any opened gift, 3 swap with the person on your left, 4 swap with the person on your right, 5 everyone passes left, 6 roll again. This page lets you rename all six actions or pick a preset, and it remembers your choice.
How long should the timer be?
About 30 seconds to 1 minute per player works well. That's 10 minutes for a group of 10–15 and 15–20 minutes for 20–30 people. If you have a bigger group, run two shorter rounds, one passing left and one passing right.
Can I play it on a TV?
Yes. Tap TV mode (or press F) and the die, the timer and the current action fill the whole screen. Cast or AirPlay the browser tab to your TV, or plug in a laptop with HDMI. Press Space to roll and N to skip to the next player.
Is the online dice fair?
Yes. Every roll uses your browser's cryptographic random number generator (crypto.getRandomValues), so each face has exactly a 1 in 6 chance. Nothing is sent to a server.
Do I need to enter player names?
No. Without names it works like a normal dice you pass around the room. If you add names, it highlights whose turn it is, moves to the next player after each roll, and keeps the same player when someone rolls “roll again”.
Does it work offline or on a phone?
Yes. Once the page has loaded it runs entirely in your browser, on phones too. Your names, actions and timer are saved on your device, so a refresh or an accidental tap won't reset the game.