What is "pass the parcel"

n. 1 (context games English) A children's game in which a parcel having many layers of packaging is passed from person to person around a ring while music plays, the person holding the parcel when the music is temporarily stopped being allowed to remove a single layer, and the person removing the innermost layer winning the prize contained within; in a variation of the game, there is a prize under each layer that is awarded to the person removing that layer. 2 (context by extension English) a situation in which the ownership of something changes frequently.