{"id":11613,"date":"2019-09-17T16:09:43","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T20:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/?p=11613"},"modified":"2023-02-21T12:05:47","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T17:05:47","slug":"how-to-play-secret-santa-with-a-techy-twist-elf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elfster.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/17\/how-to-play-secret-santa-with-a-techy-twist-elf\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Play Secret Santa with a Techy Twist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Now<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My uncle sat there staring at us, like he did every Christmas, glancing at every upturned face with the suspicion of a trained detective. One by one, he\u2019d look at us, trying to spot a clue: a twitching smile, a glance away, a tell-tale blush. He was trying to figure out his Secret Santa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He never got it right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, someone would just confess. Other people had gifts to open. That was our ritual: watching a person guess every name before moving on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just about every family, workplace, or other group of people has a Secret Santa-type gift exchange, and everyone has their own rituals. But for the most part, they\u2019ve traditionally relied on people being in the same room. Family members or friends who couldn\u2019t make it were left out. But it doesn\u2019t have to be that way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, you can play Secret Santa online<\/a>. It\u2019s the traditional game of Secret Santa with a twist\u2014a techy twist. You can bring in groups from all over the country or the world. You can bring friends and family together and make sure that everyone gets what they want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secret Santa with a Twist: The Benefits of Being Online<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every Secret Santa game, analog or digital, has five main parts that make it fun: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Getting a good gift<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Giving a good gift<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Guessing your Secret Santa<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Hiding your own Secret Santa-ness<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Building community<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    How does being online, either through a website or an app (iOS<\/a> and Android<\/a>), help make these things better? That\u2019s a great question! Here\u2019s how being online helps with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Getting a Good Gift<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Every year people ask me what I want for Christmas or my birthday, and my answer is always the same: books. This is extremely unhelpful. There are both a million books I want and very specific ones. Also, I tend to get excited about things I just heard about, so my must-read list is always changing. (I was one of those kids whose parents got them hooked on books)<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    That\u2019s where hosting your Secret Santa gift exchange online helps. The day the game begins, I can come up with a list. Like right now, I\u2019m excited about the upcoming Ta-Nahesi Coates novel<\/a>. But maybe later I realize that, oh my goodness, Joan Shelley<\/a> has a new album coming out! I want that record! All I have to do is add it to my list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is a cool upgrade from the way we used to do it, where I\u2019d write what I wanted on a piece of paper, hoping that I remembered what it was I wanted and never being able to upgrade the list. The new techy way of doing things helps me get better gifts, which isn\u2019t<\/em> the main reason for doing it, I suppose. But it\u2019s nice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Giving a Good Gift<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    If you\u2019re giving gifts, you want them to be memorable, to mean something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When you play Secret Santa online, you get the chance to give someone what they truly want. You have their list, and you have unlimited options to buy. Are they a fan of true crime? Get them these cool true crime gifts<\/a>. Do they like cooking? You have all the culinary stores in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Remember, your giftee can make a wish list from some of the top stores in the world, and you can buy directly from that wish list. All you have to do is click on an item, and you\u2019ve got it. It can be delivered to you, to a central location, or even directly to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What\u2019s important is that you aren\u2019t just guessing. You aren\u2019t saying, \u201cWell, I know that Sally absolutely has feet, so I guess\u2026 socks?\u201d Instead, you have a real-time list that they\u2019ve curated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Guessing Your Secret Santa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Guessing your Secret Santa is all about psychology. I know that if I had, say, three different books on my list, which one I got would tell me something. Was it the science book? That probably means my cousin who works in a lab. An aunt who loves novels might make a different choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But the really cool thing about being online is the ability to set the parameters of who can be whose Secret Santa. And while I know the phrase \u201cset the parameters\u201d isn\u2019t inherently fun, trust me. When playing with an online Secret Santa organizer, you can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n