The story behind the herd

About Gift Stampede

A small, free tool to make the first part of a white elephant gift exchange feel like part of the party.

Gift Stampede draws a pick order for white elephant and Yankee Swap gatherings. Add your players, start the stampede, and share the resulting order with the room. The elephants put on a show; the names are shuffled independently of their movement. An optional steal tracker helps the host keep track of opened gifts, steals, locked gifts, and whose turn is next.

Why I made it

Drawing numbers from a hat works fine until a slip goes missing, two people claim the same number, or nobody can remember whether the blanket has been stolen twice already. I wanted a quick way to paste names, reveal a fair order everyone can see on a TV, and keep score of the swap without a whiteboard.

I’m Damion, an independent maker in Indiana. Gift Stampede is designed to work on a phone or laptop without an account or installation. I also write the guides on this site, covering the rules, gift ideas, office swaps, house-rule variants, and hosting.

What it does and does not do

It shuffles names fairly with a Fisher–Yates shuffle in your browser, plays an optional animation, and optionally tracks the swap. It is not a gambling product, does not take entry fees or payments for picks, and is not a multiplayer server game. The full details are on How it works.

Your data

There are no accounts. The list, order, and tracker run in your browser, with a draft kept only in this tab’s session storage. Names are not uploaded to a Gift Stampede server. Hosting and advertising are described on the Privacy page.

How the site is funded

The tool is free. The site uses Google AdSense, so ads may appear on the homepage and content pages once approved. If it helps at your party, an optional tip through Ko-fi is appreciated. Tips are never required to use any feature.

Get in touch

Questions, bug reports, or a house rule you’d like supported? Email Damion.

Last updated October 10, 2026.