Invisible friend

The secret friend, secret santa, invisible friend or little angel is a very popular game in which Several people participate who give each other gifts without knowing who has given each gift.

It is not necessary that the secret friends be a couple, in love or that there is a taste for one of the parties, they can send anonymous letters to their corresponding friends, using pseudonyms. In these letters they express what they feel and think about their playmate and at the same time they always comment something about themselves in order to give clues about their identity.

The game can be played with any excuse as long as two requirements are met:

• that the participants know each other
• that their number is not very high (about twenty, maximum)^{[chuckles]required]}

Usually, it is celebrated in small areas and in some regions, it is usually the star game of meals and celebrations on Christmas dates. The final delivery can be organized at home or in a public place: restaurant, cafeteria, etc. In Colombia and Paraguay, it is a very popular game during the celebrations for International Friendship Day.

How it is organized

The ideal thing in this game is to do it on the occasion of a festivity or meeting where it is common for people to exchange gifts, such as Christmas.

To prepare it, it is necessary for the participants to meet or coordinate a few weeks before the date indicated for the delivery of gifts. The organizer writes the names of all the participants on pieces of paper and puts the names of the participants in a bag. Then, one by one, they introduce their hand and choose the 'secret friend'. More recently, online raffles have become fashionable, where participants can find out the name of their Invisible Friend through a website, or receive it by email. This new way of drawing avoids the problem of having to gather the entire group before the event, or coordinate in another way, such as by telephone.

Finally, on the agreed day, all the participants of the game meet and carry out the delivery of gifts, where any person (the organizer can start) takes a gift from the bag or place where all the objects have been deposited and delivers it from according to your card; the receiver must open it before everyone and then proceed in the same way. So on until you finish all the gifts. At the end someone can take the floor and make a toast.

Should someone decide, for whatever reason, to leave the game, they will need to provide the name of the person they were supposed to deliver the gift to. In this way, the secret friend of the participant who leaves the game will become that person's secret friend without the need for a complete reorganization.

Lately, it became a kind of tradition, a casual event, if a person does not show up for the delivery of gifts, for whatever reason, later that person should compensate the other person who chose their gift with a formal dinner. name as a sign of repentance and so that he can deliver his gift properly and properly.

Origins

The secret friend game has its origins in an old Venezuelan custom probably from the late 1800s and early last century. Married or engaged Venezuelan ladies, at that time, could not have friends, only compadres, because of the social questions. So they decided to meet a group of friends and make a gift exchange. This conservative tradition was called compadre de papelito or secret compadre de papelito, that is, the name of a person was randomly chosen when removing a written piece of paper from a container. This tradition was later renamed 'secret friend' and spread to neighboring countries through social exchange.

Modalities

• One modality is the friend.. It consists of giving away embarrassing or sexual objects to cause hilarity.
• A fun modality is called alusive invisible friend. For their implementation, participants must make gifts concerning the person to whom they are intended. This allusion can be explicit, implied or brought to collusion by some jocky commentary. For example, you can give away a book with a Joco title or a Monigote practicing your favorite sport.
• You can also organize invisible friend Thematic. This variation is that all gifts must correspond to a prefixed generic theme.
• There is another variant called the invisible enemy or devil, which consists of giving away useless or defased objects that accumulate at home.
• Finally, if you have to celebrate one of these games at a party where people hardly know each other, it may be convenient to prepare the invisible friend. In this mode, the distribution among the attendees is made randomly by introducing each of them into the sack. The only existing risk is that someone chooses by chance the gift he himself has provided.
• Another longer-lasting mode is the invisible friend with clues. Each participant should give clues to his invisible friend, so that he can guess who's up to him. It can be done by a letter accompanying the gift, or even by multiple letters delivered over several days. At the end of the game is performed a gift-giving ceremony where everyone should say who believes he is his invisible friend. An example of clue can be Micaela, I'm over 21 years old equal is not mandatory But it cannot be done in one day the tracks are given days before and agreed on the day the gift is delivered.
• Another game mode, he's the known Invisible friend I put. This modality consists of taking the most cutre thing you find in your home, an object that you do not use and give-the well wrapped. It has to be agreed by the whole group.

Discovery of the invisible friend

For the date of delivery of gifts, various activities can be prepared that have the purpose of making known the person that corresponds to the secret friend. This game can have some variations, for example, in Colombia the secret friend is used, also sweetened until the date arrives to discover who is that person who should give you the gift, with candies, chocolates, fruits and other delicacies. And also, to make the moment of discovery more interesting, you can mime the way you walk, sit, or some special gesture that easily identifies that person.