Left Right Game Story

How to play the left right game

1. Everyone brings one small wrapped gift and sits in a circle holding it. Agree a rough value first, so nobody minds what they end up with.
2. One person reads the story aloud. Type everyone’s names above first, so the story is about the people in the room. The reader can play too: their gift sits on the chair beside them and the neighbors pass it on.
3. Every time the reader says LEFT, everyone passes the gift in their hands one place to their left. Every time the reader says RIGHT, one place to their right. Everyone passes at the same moment, so each person always holds exactly one gift.
4. When the story ends, the gift you are holding is yours. Open them together.

The page counts every LEFT and RIGHT in the version you picked, straight from the words, and shows the total above the story. In the stories here, a capital LEFT or RIGHT is the only way the words appear, so the reader never has to decide whether “that’s right” counts: the count on the screen is exactly the number of passes the players will make.

Questions

Is there a free printable PDF of a left right Christmas story?

Yes. Pick a story, type the names, and press Download PDF. You get the whole story on one page of A4 or US Letter (the page picks the paper your phone or computer is set to, and you can switch), with each LEFT printed in bold red and each RIGHT in bold blue, a little larger than the text around them, and the count of each at the top. Rules card prints a one-page how-to for the host. A 300 dpi PNG of the story is there for printing at a shop or sharing in a family chat. All of it is free, without sign-up or watermark.

Which story is funny for adults?

The Christmas Lights (one giant knot, one bad bulb, and a supervisor on the sofa) and The Family Group Chat (two hundred messages, sixteen trifles and a seating plan on a napkin) were written for grown-ups. The humour is gentle: nothing crude, so a teenager at the table is fine. The White Elephant Swap suits an office or friends’ party and works as the warm-up before a real white elephant exchange. For adults, choose the long version (about 30 passes) and read faster as the story goes on; the passing gets chaotic, which is the point.

Which story is best for kids or a classroom?

The Class Party was written for ages 5 to 11: the teacher is name 1 and the class hamster escapes into the snack bowl. The Snow Day and The Birthday Surprise suit families with young children. Use the short version (about 15 passes, three to four minutes read aloud) for under-sevens, and practice once before you start: hold up your left hand, then your right. With a whole class, type twenty names: every name is read out at the start, and six of them get a part in the story.

How many gifts do you need?

One per player, so a circle of 10 needs 10 gifts. Small and sturdy works best: a candy bar, a mug, socks, a scratch card, a dollar-store toy. With more than about 20 players the passing slows down, so split into two circles with a reader each, or play the short version.

How long does the game take?

Read at a steady pace with a pause for each pass, the short stories (about 270 to 350 words, 14 or 15 passes) take three to four minutes, and the long ones (about 520 to 600 words, 27 to 30 passes) six to eight.

Can I read it from my phone?

Press Read full screen for a full-screen, big-text version with every LEFT and RIGHT highlighted, and A− and A+ buttons for the text size. On phones and browsers that support it (Chrome and Edge on Android, Safari on iPhone since iOS 16.4) the screen stays awake while it is open, so it does not lock in the middle of the story. Where the browser does not allow that, the page simply carries on; tap the screen now and then.

Are the stories copied from somewhere?

No. All eight were written for this page, and the names you type are put into them in your own browser. Nothing you type leaves the page.