Secret Santa is the gift game where everyone draws one person to buy for. Type in the participants and Slumpa handles the draw – no slips of paper, nobody pulling their own name and nobody left out.
Why the draw is always valid
The participants are shuffled at random and placed in a ring where each person gives a gift to the next. That guarantees a valid draw on the first attempt: nobody can land on themselves and everybody receives exactly one gift.
It avoids the classic problem with names in a hat, where the last person is sometimes left holding their own name and the whole draw has to be redone.
Keeping the draw secret
Recipients are hidden to begin with. Pass the device around and let each person reveal only their own row, so the rest stays a surprise. If you are not in the same room, copy the whole list and send it to one person who runs the game.
The draw is not stored anywhere outside your device – close the page and it is gone, so copy the list if you need it later.
Frequently asked questions
- Can somebody draw their own name?
- No. The method makes it mathematically impossible: each participant gives to the next person in a randomly ordered ring.
- How many participants do I need?
- At least three. All names also have to be unique, so add a surname or an initial if two people share a first name.
- Can I redo the draw?
- Yes, press Draw Secret Santa again and a completely new draw is made.
