Before starting the game, the players agree on the maximum value of the gifts they’ll be buying. The gifts are usually chosen to be silly, tacky, or useless. Everyone brings a single wrapped gift with no name attached to contribute to the pool. Players start the game by randomly drawing numbers from a hat, then sitting in a circle around the gift table or pile. The player who drew 1 goes first, selecting a gift from the pile and opening it. The rest of the players go in order by number; they can either select a gift to unwrap or “steal” a gift from another player. If your gift is stolen, you can select a new gift from the pile or steal someone else’s. Once everyone’s had a turn, the first player has a chance to swap their gift with someone else’s.