I've seen the gog secret Santa a couple of times in December and I was playing stardew valley where they make a mention of it. I've always wanted to try it on gog when it's hosted but I've never known the rules and didn't want to disrupt the proceedings with my queries. Since its summer I figured nows probably the perfect time to ask. :P

So what are the rules / how does it work?

Secret Santa is basically a gifting tradition (quite common in workplaces I think) where instead of everyone buying everyone else a present each person randomly chooses one person to buy for, so everyone gets one gift. Often a price limit is assigned so everyone gets something of the same value.

I presume it's meant to make gifting (particularly with a group of people you don't know well like co workers) cheaper and less stressful.

The Gog secret Santa is a fairly standard version of this, on quite a large scale.

How does everyone get one gift if the giftee is selected at random by the giftor? Unless the giftee specifically mentions they have been gifted, some people would get nothing while others would get multiple wouldn't they?

He doesn't exist.

He's a myth invented to get children to behave.

The Secret Tooth Fairy on the other hand. She's real, but one word: BITCH!

Sorry, I didn't explain that very well. Everyone chooses (or is assigned) their giftee randomly from a pool. So once someone is chosen once their name is no longer available to choose again. Gifts are then usually exchanged altogether (with or without reveals of who bought them).

What is a simple Google search?

Hmm, do not know so will do a Bing search for it.... ;-)

In addition to that, it can also be a fun idea to do it in a family, or a group of close friends. This way, you can spend more on a single gift, plus all the anticipation and guessing of who picked whom is pretty fun.

Personally, I don't take part in GOG's Secret Santa. For me the fun from Secret Santa come from 2 things:
1) Trying to do research and find out what the person whom you're giving a gift likes. Inquiring about his/her interests, hobbies, asking their friends what kind of books, movies they like... etc.
2) The anticipation and surprise of what you will receive (and from whom, if the gifters are revealed).

Both these things are missing from GOG's event. You don't have to do any research, just one click to look at their wishlist. And you know what you're going to receive: it's a game from your wishlist, no real surprises there (even if your wishlist is really huge).

Not dissing the idea, just saying why it's not for me.
It would be quite fun though if there was a way to do a real Secret Santa with some users here. https://www.google.com/#q=simple+google+search

Let's make it more interactive: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=simple+google+search

or even games

There;s one more thing that's missing: the net positive. In a traditional secret santa with friends, you're getting something good you'd have missed on otherwise. When gifting digital games, the recipient has to explicitly choose the gift that's in most cases available from the store at the time of selection and purchase. It's a less efficient exchange of money, made even worse by regional pricing.

lol - or maybe games? :P

Cool. Tanks

What is an antagonist? Do a Google search.