Holiday sale: $15.99 a deck, down from $19.99. Free USPS First-Class shipping in the continental US.

Buy the deck
Make your party EPIC!

The most fun you can legally have at a party

TGEG is a 54-card game that fixes the white elephant gift exchange. Everyone brings a wrapped gift, draws a card, and does what it says. Gifts stay wrapped until the last card is played.

Buy the deck · $15.99

Was $19.99. Free shipping in the continental US.
How do you play?

cards in the deck
54
players
4 to 30
for a full game
~55 min
best for ages
15+

Fourteen real cards from the deck. The other 40 are a surprise.

Sound familiar?

Five ways a gift exchange goes sideways

  • You're out early

    Unwrap the lime-green and orange crocheted toilet paper holder and your night is over. Nobody is stealing that from you.

  • Teams form

    A few gifts get opened, small groups band together, and a gift exchange mob does whatever it takes to get the best ones.

  • The rules debate

    Every family plays a slightly different version, so the night starts with a long, tense talk about the right way to play.

  • It takes forever

    Big groups can go for hours. Our family record is three. By the end it's a memory test of who had which gift in which round.

  • Everyone's too nice

    Nobody steals a thing, and the whole game is over in 2 minutes and 32 seconds.

  • TGEG fixes all five

    On your turn you draw a card and follow it. Gifts keep changing hands and stay wrapped until the last card, so everyone plays to the very end. The cards are the rules.

What's in the box

54 cards, one small box, a lot of gift swapping

Some cards send your gift to a specific seat. Some start a thumb war. One is a Golden Ticket you hold until the very end.

The purple TGEG box, four cards fanned out, the rest of the deck and two cards face down on a wood table
The box, the deck, and both sides of the cards.
Four TGEG cards including the Golden Ticket
Top left is the Golden Ticket.
Front of the TGEG box, which reads Make your party EPIC!
Small enough to bring to any party.
  • Card: Exchange gifts with the person who was most likely raised by wild animals.
  • Golden Ticket card: Keep this card until the end of the game. After the gifts are opened, you can keep your gift or swap gifts with anyone you choose.
  • Card: Exchange gifts with the person most likely to be mistaken for Bigfoot if they went camping in the woods.
  • Card: Exchange gifts with the person who always knows the shortcut that ends up taking way longer.
  • Card: Exchange gifts with the person who would be taken by aliens, only to have the aliens bring them back because they talk too much.
  • Card: If there was a movie made about you, exchange gifts with the person in the group you would want to play the part of you.

Every card gets read out loud, which is where the laughing starts.

How to play

Recipe for fun

Straight off the back of the box. Agree ahead of time on a price, and on whether gifts should be new, used, or jokes.

Ingredients

  • 4 to 30 of your favorite people: family, friends or co-workers
  • 1 wrapped gift for each person
  • 1 TGEG deck

Short on time? It's about a minute a card, so pull your favorite 30 for a half-hour game.

Instructions

  1. Sit in a circle and put the wrapped gifts in the middle.
  2. Everyone takes one gift back to their seat. No opening yet.
  3. Shuffle the deck.
  4. The oldest or youngest player goes first: draw a card and read it out loud.
  5. Do what the card says.
  6. The person to the left draws next. Keep going, one at a time, until every card is played.
  7. When the last card is done, everyone opens their gift, one at a time.
  8. Whoever holds the Golden Ticket can keep their gift or trade it for any gift they want.
  9. After that, keep what you have or swap with someone else.
  10. Have fun. Laugh as much as possible.

Add smiles and laughter to taste.

All year long

It works for any gift exchange

TGEG isn't only for the holiday party. Pick a theme, have everyone wrap a gift, and deal the cards.

  • Thrift exchange

    Set a dollar amount, then everyone shops a thrift store for a gift in that range.

  • Something from your house

    Bring anything from home that fits in a shoebox.

  • Book exchange

    Everyone brings a wrapped book.

  • Gift card exchange

    Bring a gift card of a set dollar value.

  • Sock exchange

    Find the craziest socks you can.

  • Wine exchange

    Wrap a favorite bottle.

  • Board game exchange

    Everyone brings a wrapped game.

  • Scotch exchange

    Or any other spirit. Agree on a price first, since bottles vary a lot.

  • Gadget exchange

    Everyone brings a new or used gadget.

Kerrie and Eddie holding a TGEG deck in front of a Christmas tree
Kerrie and Eddie, with the deck.
The story behind TGEG

We built the game our family needed

Like a lot of creations, TGEG started as a fix. We played white elephant every holiday, and the same problems showed up every time. They took the fun out of it.

So we tried putting the tasks and directions on cards. Everyone still brought a wrapped gift, but on your turn you drew a card and did what it said. The gifts stayed wrapped until every card was played. It was a big hit.

It took a few years of tweaking to get to the 54-card deck we have now. The cards keep the game moving and keep you laughing from start to finish.

Eddie & Kerrie

Eddie Stephen and Kerrie Flanagan, Denver, Colorado

Good questions

FAQ

What ages can play?

TGEG is best for ages 15 and up.

What if I don't like the card I draw?

Grab the next card in the deck. TGEG is all about having fun.

How big can the group be?

Anywhere from 4 to 30 people. The game takes about the same amount of time no matter how many are playing.

How long does a game last?

About 55 minutes with the full deck, which works out to roughly a minute per card. For a 30-minute game, pick your favorite 30 cards.

How much should we spend on gifts?

Decide as a group ahead of time. It also helps to say whether the gifts should be jokes or something nicer.

How does shipping work?

Shipping is free by USPS First-Class within the continental US.

The TGEG deck
Make your party EPIC!

Get your deck before the party

One deck covers the whole group, from 4 players up to 30. Free USPS First-Class shipping, continental US only.

Buy TGEG now

Secure checkout through Square.

Holiday sale$15.99was $19.99