Start a room.
- On the home page, choose Create a room.
- Give the room a name, like your family or team, and type your own name. You'll be the room's leader.
- Open the settings if you want to change the defaults: how many skips and wishes each player gets, extra things to ask everyone (like a shirt size), and whether a wishlist is required.
- Create the room. You'll see a join code and an invite link.
Invite everyone.
Share the invite link in your group chat. Opening it takes people straight to the room, where they type their name. Anyone can also go to picknames.app, choose Join a room, and enter the join code. Nobody needs an account, an app or an email address.
The Secret Santa rules guide has an invite message you can copy, with the budget and dates already laid out.
Skips and wishes.
Before the draw, each player can tune who they might get.
- A skip is a name you will never draw. Use it for a partner, someone you live with, or last year's person. The leader decides how many skips each player gets.
- A wish is a name you'd like to draw. It about doubles your chance of getting them, but it isn't a guarantee.
Skips are strict and wishes are soft. The draw never breaks a skip, and nobody ever draws their own name. Your skips and wishes are private: nobody else in the room, the leader included, can see them.
Wishlists and room questions.
Each player can attach a wishlist in the room, or make a new one right there. Whoever draws them sees the list with their result. You can also make a wishlist ahead of time and attach it later. Attaching a list needs its edit link, so open that link on the device you're playing on first.
If the leader added questions to the room, like a shirt size or a favorite color, every player fills them in. Everyone in the room can see the answers, so keep them to things you're happy to share. The leader can mark a question or the wishlist as required, and then you can't ready up until it's filled in.
Ready up and draw.
- When you've set your skips, wishes and wishlist, press I'm ready. You can undo it until the draw.
- Once everyone is ready, the leader presses Start.
- Each player sees the name they drew, with that person's wishlist and answers. The leader only sees their own result, like everyone else.
People don't have to be online at the same time. Anyone who wasn't there sees their name the next time they open the room. To make a moment of it, get everyone ready ahead of time and start the draw on a video call or around the table.
Find your result again.
- Same phone or computer: open picknames.app. Your room is listed under Your rooms.
- A different device: on your original device, copy your rejoin link from the room's menu and open it on the new one. It's private to you, so don't post it in the group.
- Lost access completely: the room leader can copy any player's rejoin link from the player list and send it to them privately.
Playing for someone else.
A parent can add a child, or anyone without a phone, by joining a second time under that person's name. Your rooms on that device lists both players, so you can switch between them.
After the draw.
The room closes when names are drawn. Nobody new can join, and the draw can't be redone, so each person's result stays fixed. If someone drops out, see the awkward bits for how to hand their person on without spoiling anyone else's secret.
Troubleshooting.
Why can't I press Start?
Only the room leader sees Start, and only once every player has pressed I'm ready. Check the player list for anyone who isn't ready yet.
It says the draw is impossible. What do I do?
Too many skips rule out every way to pair people up. This mostly happens in small groups. Ask a few players to remove a skip, or lower the number of skips in the room settings, and try again.
Can I change my name after joining?
Yes, any time before the draw. Each name in a room has to be different.
Someone joined twice by mistake. Can I remove them?
Yes. The room leader can remove a player from the player list before the draw. They can join again with the join code if it was a mistake.
Can we redo the draw?
Not in the same room: it closes at the draw so nobody can reroll for a better match. If you need to start over, make a new room and have everyone join it.
Does Picknames send emails or reminders?
No. Picknames never asks for an email address. Share the invite link and any reminders in your own group chat.
Something else not working? Email hello@picknames.app and say what you were trying to do.