The Christmas dice game: rules, ideas and a version to play on a tablet
Everyone brings a wrapped gift, the die goes round, and a six means you take one. Then the clock starts and the gifts change hands. Here are the rules, the variants, gift ideas for three budgets, and the game to play on a tablet so nobody has to keep track of the time.
What it looks like on a tablet
Open the page on a tablet, a phone or a computer and type in the names. The screen keeps track of the rest: whose turn it is, the die, the gifts and the clock.
What you need
- One gift per person, wrapped and without a name. Agree on a price limit first.
- A die, or two to speed things up if you are many. The game on the tablet can roll for you.
- A clock for the second round: an egg timer, a phone or the screen.
- A table or a floor where everyone can sit in a circle, with the gifts in the middle.
The rules of the Christmas dice game
Round 1: a six takes a gift
Everyone sits in a circle with the gifts in the middle. The youngest starts and rolls the die, and then it goes on to the left. Roll a six and you take a gift from the middle and put it in front of you. No six? Pass the die on. It doesn't matter if someone gets two gifts and someone else none; it evens out in the next round. The round ends when the middle is empty.
Round 2: a six steals a gift
Now set the clock, often to ten minutes, and keep rolling. Roll a six and you may take a gift from anyone you like. This is where it gets loud: gifts that rattle or feel heavy tend to change hands many times. Nobody opens anything.
When the time is up
When the clock rings, everyone keeps the gifts in front of them, and now you may open them. If someone has no gift and someone else has several, decide before you start whether whoever has the most gives one away. Most families do, so nobody goes home empty-handed.
How long does it take?
The first round takes about a minute per gift: with ten people, about ten minutes. The stealing round lasts as long as you set the clock. Ten minutes suits adults and older children; five is enough with little ones. Count on half an hour in all, with the opening.
Variants
- Two dice. With more than ten people one die is slow. Send two round, starting on opposite sides.
- Six or one. In the second round a six means you steal, and a one means you must give a gift away.
- Left and right. In the stealing round someone reads a Christmas story aloud, and every time the words "left" or "right" come up, everyone passes their gifts that way.
- Oven mitts. Whoever rolls a six puts on oven mitts before the gift may be moved. Slow and funny.
- Open at once. Gifts are opened when taken in the first round, and in the second round you steal what you know. Good when there is something everyone wants.
- A theme. Homemade, second-hand, something edible or "something red". It makes the gifts more fun than the price tag does.
- Cheeky cards. Now and then something unexpected happens: everyone passes their gifts to the left, the youngest picks two who swap. In the game on the tablet such cards turn up by themselves.
An odd number, or more people than gifts?
In the Christmas dice game it doesn't matter whether you are an odd or even number: everyone brings a gift, and the turn goes round to all. What matters is that there are as many gifts as people. If someone comes without one, add a spare from the hosts, or let two people play together with one gift.
If you are very many, or there are small children, play in teams of two. With an odd number, one team has three. A team rolls once per round and shares what it gets.
The dice game with children
Children usually love the stealing round, as long as they don't go home empty-handed. Agree first that everyone keeps at least one gift, or have a couple of small spare gifts ready. For the youngest, shorten the clock to five minutes and let them roll the die on the screen themselves; the big die on the tablet is easy to see even for those who can't read numbers yet.
Gift ideas for the dice game
Good gifts are ones many people want, so they are worth stealing. Here are ideas for three budgets, without brands, to find in a supermarket, a pharmacy or an ordinary shop.
A small budget
- A nice bar of chocolate and a pair of warm socks
- A pack of cards, a dice cup or a small travel game
- Hand cream, lip balm or a fragrant soap
- Mulled wine spices, gingerbread dough or a jar of caramel sauce
- A box of long matches and a candle
- A puzzle magazine, crosswords or a colouring book for adults
A medium budget
- A cosy mug with tea or hot chocolate inside
- A head torch or a small torch, which everyone has use for
- A travel mug for walks
- A 500-piece jigsaw puzzle
- A pair of soft slippers or a beanie
- A small cookbook, or a jar with the dry ingredients for cookies and the recipe on a note
A bigger budget
- A board game that plays in a quarter of an hour
- A blanket to curl up under
- A power bank or a charging cable long enough for the sofa
- A hamper with cheese, crackers, jam and something sweet
- A cinema ticket or a gift card for something everyone likes, such as a round of bowling
- A small speaker or a pair of simple headphones
A tip: wrap the gifts so their shape doesn't give them away. A small gift in a big box makes the stealing round twice as much fun.
Gifts that cost nothing: the dice game for children
Children care more about rolling the die and stealing than about what is in the gift. It works perfectly well to play with gifts that cost nothing at all. Wrap them as nicely as real presents and they are just as wanted.
- Vouchers on a note: "You pick tonight's film", "Skip the dishes once", "Choose Saturday's dinner", "15 minutes extra before bed", "One extra story" or "A hug whenever you like".
- Something nice: a clementine, a gingerbread biscuit, a candy cane or a piece of chocolate.
- From the drawers at home: stickers, a rubber, a pencil or a hair clip. Or a cuddly toy, a toy or a book someone has outgrown and another may take over.
- Crafts: a sheet to colour in, a bead pattern or a drawing of your own.
- An elf door or a letter from the elf, printed and wrapped. Both are free to print here, and the elf door comes to colour in too.
- A riddle gift: a note with a clue to something hidden in the room.
Play the Christmas dice game on a tablet
Open the game on a tablet, type in the names in the order you sit, and pass the tablet round with the turn: whoever is next taps the die. The screen shows whose turn it is, counts the gifts, starts the clock in the second round and rings when the time is up. Have a real die? Use it: choose "We have a real one" before you start, and the screen's die becomes two big buttons, "Six!" and "No six". The screen does the rest. It works just as well on a phone or a computer, or on the TV if you want everyone to see.
You can try it for free, with three rolls and half a minute on the clock. The whole game, with the clock, stealing and the elf's cheeky cards, comes with Busnissen.
Questions and answers
How many people can play the Christmas dice game?
It works from three people, and it is most fun with six to fifteen. If you are more, play in teams of two, with one gift per team.
How long does the Christmas dice game take?
Count on half an hour. The first round takes about a minute per gift, and the stealing round is usually ten minutes. With small children, five is enough.
How much should the gifts cost?
Agree on a limit first, so it is fair. Further down the page there are ideas for a small, a medium and a bigger budget.
What if we are an odd number?
It doesn't matter in the dice game: everyone brings a gift and the turn goes round. If you play in teams, one team has three people instead of two.
Are the gifts opened during the game?
No, in the usual game the gifts are opened only when the time is up. That is what makes stealing exciting. If you would rather open them at once, there is a variant for that.
Do we need a die?
If you have a die, use it. Otherwise roll on the screen: the game on this page shows a big die on a tablet, a phone or a computer.
Does the game on the tablet cost anything?
You can try it for free, with three rolls and half a minute on the clock. The whole game, with the clock, stealing and cheeky cards, comes with Busnissen for 29 SEK.
How long can we play the Christmas dice game?
The game runs in your browser, on your own Busnissen page. It stays available as long as busnissen.se exists, and always at least until Twelfth Night (6 January) after your purchase, so the whole Christmas is covered. What you buy is the right to play, not the program itself.