This fun Christmas war gift exchange is the most fun gift exchange game you’ll ever try! Everyone gets a set of cards with numbers of 1-10 and the battle is on – challenge whoever you want to try and steal a gift but watch out because if they beat you in the war, you may end up stuck with your gift! This easy and fun gift exchange game may just be your new favorite!
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Gift exchanges are one of the most popular Christmas traditions for a reason – they make for fun Christmas games while also allowing people to exchange gifts!
But just because you do a gift exchange every year or at every party doesn’t mean that it has to be the same gift exchange game year after year! We’ve created over 25 different gift exchange games over the years to keep things new and fresh every single year!
This newest Christmas war game may be one of my personal favorites because like our viral deck of cards gift exchange, it uses playing cards and some luck to decide who gets to steal and who gets to keep their gifts! It combines the card game War with a gift exchange in a super fun way that my entire family loved when we played!
Why people love this game
- Easy to learn – if you can play a game of war (one card versus another like we do in our kid-version of the Vegas gift exchange), you can play this gift exchange. Everyone from my tween son to my grandma played this!
- Gives your some say in what you get – in some gift exchanges (like left right gift exchanges or this Grinch gift exchange), you really have no say in what happens. In this game, you at least get some say because you choose who to challenge!
- Making old new – I’m guessing pretty much everyone has played a game of war in their lifetime and this is just a new way of playing it, combined with a gift exchange. People love nostalgia and this is a really fun play on it!
Supplies
You really only need two things for this game and you probably have them sitting around at home already!
- 1-10 cards for everyone – you can either use playing cards (my preferred method) or you could write out 1 to 10 on index cards. Everyone will need a 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on card all the way through 10. Or you could technically just play this with two stacks of 1-10 (and everyone uses the same stacks), you’ll just need to choose who goes first a different way.
- Wrapped gifts – everyone should bring a wrapped gift of some sort as you’ll need one per person. You can have people bring them within a theme or just whatever they want. As long as they’re all around the same amount and everyone isn’t just bringing gift cards, they should be fine!
Tip!
Make sure to have some extra gifts on hand in case people forget to bring theirs and want to play. You could have them either buy in (pay you cash for the gifts) or just let them have the gifts to play, but I always like to have some extras for people who want to play! Here are some fun gift exchange gifts if you need ideas!
How to play Christmas War
This Christmas war gift exchange game isn’t hard at all once you understand how it’s played. Just make sure you read through all of the rules and notes below to make sure you get it before you just start playing!
1 – setup the game
Before you start playing, give everyone deck of 1-10 cards and have everyone put their wrapped gifts on a table at the front of the room.
I mentioned this before but if you don’t have enough cards for everyone to have a 1-10 set, you could also just have the group share two decks – one for the challenger and one for the person who is being challenged. It’s more fun for everyone to have their own deck, but I understand if not everyone has multiple decks of playing cards around your house.
Then once all of the wrapped gifts are on the table, pass out all of the gifts randomly to people and have them open the gifts so that everyone can see. Then you’re ready to play!
Do we have to use wrapped gifts?
Since you’re opening the gifts right away, technically you could just have everyone bring unwrapped gifts if you’d prefer. You could even have them tell a little about the gift they brought (especially if you do a fun theme or favorite things type gift exchange). But I personally like to have the wrapped gifts on the table and then just everyone unwrap them before you play IF there’s no explaining the gifts. It’s always fun to unwrap something!
2 – Choose Who Goes First
Have everyone sit in a circle or in a group so that there’s some resemblance of an order (so you can go around clockwise). Have everyone shuffle their deck of cards then on the count of three, have everyone flip over their top card.
The person who has the highest card gets to choose who goes first for the game. Play will go around the circle clockwise, so they can choose themselves to go first, the person to their left to go first (making them last) or anywhere in the middle.
What if there’s a tie?
If two people tie for having the highest card, have just those players flip over their next card on the count of three (like you would in the game of war) and the person who is the highest will go first. If they tie again (unlikely but definitely could happen), keep going until only one person is the highest.
If you don’t have enough decks for everyone to do the Christmas war version above for choosing who starts, then do this instead. Shuffle as many cards as players as you have (20 players = 20 cards) into a deck and make sure to include a joker (or if you don’t have a joker, just do one king).
Have everyone choose a card and the person who pulls the joker gets to choose who goes first. Play continues as mentioned above!
2 – Play a round
Everyone is going to get one official turn during this game. The person who was chosen to go first (by the winner of the first game of war) will take their turn first then play moves clockwise and everyone will take their subsequent turns in the same way.
What is a Turn/Round?
Each turn (aka a round) can consist of:
- Up to three challenges by the original challenger (they’re part ends when they win, up to three challenges)
- Up to one challenge by the secondary challenger (whoever loses to the original challenger)
That’s the most a turn can consist of. There will likely be turns that consist of much less than that, but that’s the most challenges a turn can include.
On a person’s turn, if they want to, they can choose to challenge someone to a game of war to try and swap gifts with them.
To challenge, both players shuffle their cards and flip over the top card on the count of three. Whoever has the higher card of the two wins the challenge. What happens next depends on who wins the challenge.
If The Challenger Wins the Original Challenge
If the challenger has the higher card, they swap their gift with the person they challenged.
Then the person who they swapped with has the chance to challenge anyone else in the circle if they want something else. They play a game of war against the person they want to swap with and if they win, they swap with that person. If they lose, the person they challenged can either choose to swap their gift with the challenger or keep their gift.
Regardless, the round is complete after the secondary challenge (the person whose turn it is counts as the original challenge and the person who lost their gift in the original challenge is the secondary challenge). It’s only ever two levels of challenge, it doesn’t just go on forever.
If the Challenger Loses The Original Challenge
If the challenger has the lower card, the person they challenged can choose to still swap their gift with them (because who knows – they might actually want it) and if they do, this round is over and you move to the next person’s turn.
If they choose not to swap, then the challenger can choose to challenge someone else and follow the same process as above.
If they lose again, they can challenge one more person to try and swap out their gift. If they lose again, this round (and that person’s turn) is over.
If the War is a Tie
If the two players flip over the same card in the challenge, they would then count to three again and flip over the next card off their deck and the highest card wins. If they keep flipping the same card (it’s happened), they keep going until someone gets the higher card.
Important Game Play Notes
A few key points to keep things going smoothly and to keep the game moving:
Everyone should shuffle their deck of cards before every challenge to ensure that the odds are the same for each war regardless of if people have participated in any challenges or not.
A round consists of the original person’s challenges (up to three) and the one secondary challenge (if it happens).
The person whose actual turn it is (the original challenger) can challenge up to three people during their turn if they keep losing but as soon as they win a challenge, their part of the round is over. If they lose all three challenges, they’re stuck with their gift and their turn is over.
There is only one secondary challenge allowed (when someone’s gift is swapped by the original challenger), not three. There are not additional rounds of swapping past the original challenger the the secondary one.
A gift cannot be challenged for more than ONE time in an entire round, meaning the original challenger’s challenges (up to three) or the secondary challenge (just one). Once it’s someone else’s turn, that gift is back up for grabs (as long as it’s not frozen).
3 – Move to the next player
After the first person’s turn (aka the first round) is over, play moves clockwise to the next person and they take their turn in the exact same way as explained above.
Are gifts ever frozen?
Gifts are frozen when they are challenged for (either won or actually swapped) three times and can no longer be challenged for. Or if you’re playing with less than ten people, increase that to four times.
For example, if Player A challenges player B for a water bottle and player A wins (and the water bottle swaps), that’s counted as 1 challenge. If Player C then subsequently challenges Player A for the water bottle and Player A wins again, that’s a second challenge even though it doesn’t swap hands. If Player D then comes and challenges Player A for it again and Player D wins, the water bottle is swapped to Player D and is frozen for the game.
How does the game end?
After everyone has had one turn, the game is over and everyone keeps the gifts they have in hand.
If people want to swap at the end of the game, they totally can so people go home with things they want, but that’s not a built in part of the game!
Game FAQs
Are gifts ever frozen?
Gifts are frozen when they are challenged for (either won or actually swapped) three times and can no longer be challenged for. Or if you’re playing with less than ten people, increase that to four times.
How many people is this gift exchange good for?
I recommend this gift exchange for smaller groups of 20 people or less for two main reasons. First, you’ll need 1-10 playing cards for everyone (or the numbers 1-10), which can be a lot if you get really big groups. And second, since there can technically be up to four challenges per turn, it can get a little longer than some other gift exchange games like our holiday hustle or a left right gift exchange.
What if they flip the same card?
If they flip the same card, both players would flip the next card from their deck on the count of three and the highest card wins. If it continues to be a tie, keep going until you have one person with the higher card.
Do I really need decks of 1-10 cards for everyone?
I definitely think it’s more fun for everyone to have their own playing cards (it feels more interactive and involved) but technically you could just have two sets of 1-10 playing cards that everyone passes around and uses during the game. If you want to do it this way (because you don’t have enough playing cards to go around), just choose who goes first at random rather than doing the war to start the game.
When do people unwrap their gifts?
Everyone should unwrap their gifts before the game starts so that people know what they’re challenging for in the game.
More Gift Exchange Games
If you like this gift exchange game, make sure to check out these other fun gift exchange games!
- Heads or tails gift exchange – another fun variation of a gift exchange that includes some heads or tails battles! Or try something similar in this rock paper scissors gift game!
- Dice gift exchange – this super fun gift exchange will have people rolling dice to try and keep their gifts! Or try this December dice game if you want something that’s more the luck of the die deciding where gifts end up!
- Chews the gift exchange – this one’s super sweet as the color candy you choose determines what you get to do with your gift!
- The Brick gift exchange – are you going for a gift or going for a brick??
- Christmas never have I ever – this fun gift game will have people switching as they read Christmas never have I ever statements!
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