How many participants should I include in my Gift Exchange?
While Standard games allow up to 100 players, you should consider length of time and participant engagement.
The time it can take to play will vary a lot by group, due to factors such as how long it takes to make decisions, how many rounds of stealing there are, how chatty the group is, etc.
Generally, based on past games played, we estimate it takes ~1.5 minutes per participant to play. So if you want a 30-40 minute event, then 25-30 people makes sense. If you want a 60-75 minute event, then 40-50 participants make sense. Again, this can vary greatly by group, but we provide these estimates so you can get a general idea.
As a general rule, we do not recommend more than around 50 participants per gift exchange. While the system can support it, the average participant may not be as engaged since they have to wait so long for their turn. Depending on your goals, smaller groups of 20-40 are an ideal range.
Ways to make gameplay faster
If you're playing with a larger group, there are some game play settings that would help keep the game moving faster. See screenshot below. Turning all of these settings ON will mean that rounds of stealing, and by extension your overall game, will be shorter. You can set the number to whatever you like based on your group size.
Ways to make the game longer
If you're playing with a smaller group, there are some game play settings that would help extend the game. In particular, the top option for a "bonus swapping round" will allow each player to go a second time once everyone has a gift. See example settings below.