MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Your opinion of the Dirty Santa game

Your opinion of the Dirty Santa game


We are rapidly approaching the time of year for Christmas parties, and the possibility of having to play "Dirty Santa", where as the game progresses subsequent players can steal a gift from someone who has already chosen one.

1. Have you ever played this game?
2. Do you enjoy this game? (If you've never played it do you think you would enjoy it?)

Me: I cannot stand this game. The one time I played it my husband and I went last. This meant we had the pick of every single present that everyone else had already opened plus the one left under the tree, and I "stole" one...the most coveted item of all, a s'mores Christmas ornament. I will never forget the look of disdain on the face of the woman I took it from. I don't think she ever liked me again after that. A dumb, dumb game!

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I never heard of this "game." The fact that it's called "Dirty Santa" should be a red flag. Christmas isn't about stealing.

Save the holiday season.

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It is possible that it is only played in certain countries or even just certain regions of the US. I would count you lucky as one who has never heard of it.

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I KNEW you would first on this topic๐Ÿ˜„

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I played once and you expressed my sentiments too.

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I'm glad someone who has played agrees with me! I've seen more than one hostess hype it up as the highlight of their party. (Maybe because they couldn't think of anything else to do. ๐Ÿ˜‚) If people want to play a gift-giving game to make people laugh then I think White Elephant is much better.

Ain't nobody laughing when their s'mores Christmas tree ornament gets hijacked. ๐Ÿ˜ฌ๐Ÿคฃ (Oops!)

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I play a game called Dirty Santa with my wife but it's a bit different than what you described.

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I would hazard a guess that it still has something to do with delivering a package.

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You'd be right to think so. It also involves sitting on my lap and I go Ho HO HOO!!

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Mr. Fourlemons is currently cackling.

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Never played it and it sounds lame.

You buy a gift for someone, not to pass it around like bennymuso's mother.

RIP bennymuso.

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I made you a Christmas present but I'm holding onto it for now. You better hope no one steals it.

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Crossing my fingers that you made this:

https://cdn.acidcow.com/pics/20190418/nic_cage_pillow_21.jpg

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Better

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Not just the pillow but a full body pillow?

Now I feel bad about getting you this:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41qKb27lU7L.jpg

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I didn't realize you were a professor.

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I plenty smart.

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Now I'm starting to understand you better. If my life's work involved tracking the worldwide purchasing of escalator parts I would tell people on internet forums that I was a computer, too.

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Yep - played it at several parties with gift exchanges. Everyone has a good time - all the gifts have a low value - under $20, so no feelings hurt.

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There's always that one under $20 gift though that outshines the rest. I guess as long as it's not a s'mores Christmas ornament you're in good shape.

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My family does it, but we use the term "White Elephant" I've never heard it called Dirty Santa until now.

https://www.whiteelephantrules.com/

The first few years, everyone just kept what they picked because they didn't want to seem rude "stealing" someone else's gift.

But that was boring and uneventful. Now, we have no problems with it as it is intended and it does make for some memorable moments.

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I've just learned something new, potentially. My understanding was that the White Elephant game involved buying purposely tacky or ridiculous gifts and giving them to each other, and the laughs came from seeing how outrageous the presents were. In Googling it though AI says it's the same as Dirty Santa. Maybe there's more than one type of White Elephant game(?).

I guess the most important thing is that everyone is having fun and if your family enjoys it, then I say keep doing it. ๐Ÿ˜Š

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"I guess the most important thing is that everyone is having fun and if your family enjoys it, then I say keep doing it."

This is key. Enjoy the holidays!

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