PULTEVENT
Secret Santa games: fair name draws and 6 ways to run the reveal
An open-plan office in Leeds, the last Thursday before the break. Thirty-one presents in a recycling crate by the kitchen, each labeled with a first name in felt tip. Someone from payroll has wrapped hers in a page of the company newsletter. The head of IT is staring at a small parcel with his name on it, and the question going round the room isn't what's inside. It's who.
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That's the half of Secret Santa most groups waste. They spend a week on the draw and the budget, then hand out the presents in five minutes flat, and the one mystery the game was built on (who bought for whom) is never solved. People find out later by accident, or never.
This page covers both halves. First the draw: how to pull names so nobody gets themselves, how to handle couples and remote colleagues, and the rules worth writing down. Then six reveal games I run with a laptop connected to a TV or projector, where the room guesses the Santa on their phones before the answer goes up. Guests scan a QR code, no app and no account. Their phones need internet. The draw itself you do before the party, the old-fashioned way or with a free name-picker; PULTEVENT takes over on the day.
6 Secret Santa reveal games, for the office and for the family
1 Guess your Santa
The core game. One recipient at a time comes up, opens the present, and a question appears on the screen: who was the Santa? Four names as options, the whole room answers on their phones, then you reveal the right one. Points go to everyone who guessed correctly.
How to run it. Build it in the quiz builder the day before, one question per present. Pick the three wrong names from the same team or the same side of the family, so the guess isn't obvious.
The mystery gets a proper ending, and people who didn't buy the gift still have something to play for.
2 The clue card
Before the reveal, the Santa writes one clue about themselves on a card: I've never been to Wales. I own four bikes. I was here before the carpet. You put each clue on a splash screen with the photo of the wrapped present behind it.
How to run it. Collect the clues by email a few days ahead and ban anything that points straight at a job title. "Works in finance" is not a clue.
It turns the reveal into a small puzzle, and colleagues learn one thing about each other that they didn't know before.
3 The disguised video hint
Each Santa films a few seconds of themselves from the neck down, or with a paper bag over their head, and says one line in a silly voice. You play the clip on the screen with one tap from the video section, then the room guesses.
How to run it. Ask for landscape clips filmed in a quiet corner. Watch them all in advance, then line them up in the order you'll hand out presents.
Hearing the finance director try a Scottish accent does more for a Christmas party than any speech he could give.
4 The wheel decides who opens next
Instead of calling names off a list, spin the guest wheel on the big screen. Whoever it lands on comes up, opens, and the guessing starts.
How to run it. Keep your list of opened presents next to the laptop and spin again if it lands on someone who's already been. That spin usually gets a laugh on its own.
It keeps the order fair and a bit tense. Nobody knows if they're next, so nobody wanders off to the bar.
5 The family version with baby photos
At home, with grandparents and cousins, the Santa's clue is a childhood photo. The photo goes on the TV, the family guesses on their phones which grown-up in the room it is, and that person turns out to be the Santa.
How to run it. Get the photos from parents, not from the Santas themselves. Parents always have the better ones.
Grandparents get to be the experts for once, and nobody forgets which uncle had the bowl haircut.
6 The Santa awards
Once every present is open, the room votes from their phones: most thoughtful present, best wrapping, best disguise in the guessing game. Points from the guessing rounds go to the team scoreboard, and the evening ends with an awards ceremony on screen.
How to run it. Run the vote anonymously. Keep one silly award, like "Most tape used on a single present".
The effort people put into their present gets noticed out loud, which is the nicest thing an office party can do.
Clues on the big screen
A photo of the present and a hint from the Santa. The room guesses before the name appears.
Guesses from phones
Four names as answer options, everyone taps one, the screen shows who fooled the most people.
Video hints
Santas film a five-second clue with their face hidden. You play it with one tap.
A vote to finish
Most thoughtful present, best wrapping, best disguise. Phones vote, awards follow.
How to draw names so nobody gets themselves
The hat method is the classic. Everyone writes their name on a slip, the slips go in a hat, and each person draws one. If you draw your own name, you put it back and draw again. With a big group, the last person can end up with only their own name left, so either redraw everyone or do the swap quietly with the person before them.
A cleaner method for small groups: write all names on cards, shuffle, lay them in a circle face down, then turn them over. Each person buys for the name to their left. Nobody gets themselves and nobody is left over. The catch is that whoever turns the cards over knows every pairing, so it has to be someone who doesn't take part.
For teams spread across offices, most groups use a free online name-picker that emails each person their match. Set the exclusions before you press the button.
Rules worth writing down
One budget, said twice, in the first message. A date by which presents must be under the tree or in the crate. A rule about wish lists: either everyone writes three ideas, or nobody does. And one line about taste, especially at work: nothing you wouldn't open in front of your manager.
For families, add exclusions. Partners don't draw each other, and small children usually buy for each other or for a grandparent, with an adult doing the actual shopping. Write the exclusions down before the draw, not after someone draws their husband.
Office and family are different games
At work, Secret Santa is mostly about people who don't know each other well. The reveal games matter more there, because the guessing is where colleagues learn something new. Keep the clues light and the budget small. In the UK it is the default office tradition and almost everyone knows the rules, so you can spend your time on the reveal instead of the explanation.
At home the gifts are bigger and everybody knows everybody, so the guessing is harder. That's where video hints and baby photos help, since they make the Santa hide in plain sight.
"Was it Gran?"
"Gran can't film a video."
"That's exactly what she wants you to think."
When half the team is remote
Remote Santas post their presents to the recipient with a sticky note: don't open until the party. On the day, share the stage window in the video call. Remote colleagues see the clue cards and the guessing questions, scan the QR code from their screen, and answer on their phones like everyone in the room.
Ask remote recipients to open on camera, one at a time, and give them a turn in the same order as everyone else. Nothing makes a remote colleague feel more forgotten than a reveal that happens entirely in a meeting room.
How long it takes
About a minute per present for the guessing game, a bit more with video hints. For twenty people, set aside twenty-five minutes plus the vote. For forty or more, split into two rooms or two rounds, or reveal only the Santas who agreed to play and hand out the rest quietly.
Try the whole thing at home first. The free 3-day demo needs no card and gives you time to build the guessing questions and load a couple of clips. After that it's a one-time license, no subscription. The current price is on pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who has hosted weddings, birthdays and office parties since 2014: over 500 events, best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own nights first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to run a Secret Santa with a reveal game
- 1
Three weeks out, send the budget, the deadline, the wish-list rule and any exclusions.
- 2
Draw the names by hat, circle or name-picker, and ask each Santa to keep it quiet.
- 3
A week before, collect a clue, a short video hint or a childhood photo from each Santa.
- 4
Build one guessing question per present in the quiz builder, with four names as options.
- 5
On the day, connect the laptop to the screen and put the QR code up while presents are handed out.
- 6
Open presents one by one, guess, reveal, then finish with the phone vote and the awards.
FAQ
Does PULTEVENT draw the Secret Santa names?
What if someone draws their own name?
How do guests guess the Santa?
Can remote colleagues join the reveal?
Is it only for offices?
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See also
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