Imagine a royal family, all regal with lavish clothes and huge banquets,
taking high tea and throwing incredibly expensive balls. The problem
with all families, no matter how royal they are, is that they always
have secrets and problems, usually with each other, and this family is
no different. They can be at each other’s throats or maybe take a
sneakier approach but either way one will come out on top, think Game Of
Thrones, but with more class and subtlety.
In Love Letter players aim to win the hand of the fair princess by getting their Love Letter to her before other suitors while hindering others in the process.
A deck of cards, containing various positions held in a royal court all numbered 1-8, is shuffled and placed in the centre of the table. Then take the top card of the deck and burn it, not literally of course. What I mean by this is you take the top card and remove it from the round, this stops card counting accurately which is very possible in this game thanks to multiples of the same card appearing in the deck.
Each card has an ability that’s gets actioned whenever a player plays it.
For example: The Guard has the number one in the top left corner of the card and states “When you play the Guard choose a number other than one and another player, if you choose the correct number that player is out of the round.”
Players start with a card in hand and at the beginning of each then that player must draw a card and play a card.
Some cards may be detrimental to you by playing them, such as the Princess. If at any point you must play the princess you will be out of the round thanks to her effect, it’s a rarity but it can happen.
Going back to an earlier point, despite Love Letter being a game about information at it’s heart, cards like the Guard that want you to guess a characteristic of a card in an opponent’s hand, they don’t all let you look at their hand. This does mean that players could cheat and lie about the card in their hand. Obviously you should be discouraged from cheating in any game and the rule book agrees, it’s only a game and just a bit of fun so don’t be that guy. Also, with enough Cards played you should be able to take a decent guess at what card remains in a players hand and the one that’s been burnt at the start of the round.
At the end of each round the last player standing, or if there are two or more players the one with the highest number card in their hand, wins an affection token. These tokens can denote the overall winner as the player with the most.
The art of Love Letter is lovely. Very stylised and detailed with every character standing out in there own way from facial expressions to outfits. It plays 2-4 players and to get maximum playability out of it Four would be the ideal number. However, I feel that Love Letter works as a fantastic heads up game, that is to say one on one, because players almost need to next level each other and bluff. You could play fast and loose, keep jamming Guards because you have the Princess in hand, or you might bluff that you have a high number card in your hand by playing Handmaiden (a card that stops your from becoming a target until your next turn) prompting your opponent to overthink in the intermittent turns and make the wrong assumption.
Overall, I think Love Letter is a game that deserves a place on your games shelf. It may not get played all that often but when it does players will definitely enjoy their experience with it. For groups of more than 4 there is a deluxe version that adds in more, different cards to bulk out the deck and give players more options while increasing the numbers that appear on cards, upping the challenge a bit.
Head down to your local games store for a demo of Love Letter and I’m sure you’ll become enchanted by it. It also makes a great Christmas present for avid gamers with its great art style and easy-to-understand rules resulting in quick, fun gameplay.
Unfortunately this will be my last article post of this year, I hope you've enjoyed hearing about the many video, board and card games that I've looked at this year and there's many more to come next year.
Keep checking back for Game Changers for more gaming news and updates.
In Love Letter players aim to win the hand of the fair princess by getting their Love Letter to her before other suitors while hindering others in the process.
A deck of cards, containing various positions held in a royal court all numbered 1-8, is shuffled and placed in the centre of the table. Then take the top card of the deck and burn it, not literally of course. What I mean by this is you take the top card and remove it from the round, this stops card counting accurately which is very possible in this game thanks to multiples of the same card appearing in the deck.
Each card has an ability that’s gets actioned whenever a player plays it.
For example: The Guard has the number one in the top left corner of the card and states “When you play the Guard choose a number other than one and another player, if you choose the correct number that player is out of the round.”
Players start with a card in hand and at the beginning of each then that player must draw a card and play a card.
Some cards may be detrimental to you by playing them, such as the Princess. If at any point you must play the princess you will be out of the round thanks to her effect, it’s a rarity but it can happen.
Going back to an earlier point, despite Love Letter being a game about information at it’s heart, cards like the Guard that want you to guess a characteristic of a card in an opponent’s hand, they don’t all let you look at their hand. This does mean that players could cheat and lie about the card in their hand. Obviously you should be discouraged from cheating in any game and the rule book agrees, it’s only a game and just a bit of fun so don’t be that guy. Also, with enough Cards played you should be able to take a decent guess at what card remains in a players hand and the one that’s been burnt at the start of the round.
At the end of each round the last player standing, or if there are two or more players the one with the highest number card in their hand, wins an affection token. These tokens can denote the overall winner as the player with the most.
The art of Love Letter is lovely. Very stylised and detailed with every character standing out in there own way from facial expressions to outfits. It plays 2-4 players and to get maximum playability out of it Four would be the ideal number. However, I feel that Love Letter works as a fantastic heads up game, that is to say one on one, because players almost need to next level each other and bluff. You could play fast and loose, keep jamming Guards because you have the Princess in hand, or you might bluff that you have a high number card in your hand by playing Handmaiden (a card that stops your from becoming a target until your next turn) prompting your opponent to overthink in the intermittent turns and make the wrong assumption.
Overall, I think Love Letter is a game that deserves a place on your games shelf. It may not get played all that often but when it does players will definitely enjoy their experience with it. For groups of more than 4 there is a deluxe version that adds in more, different cards to bulk out the deck and give players more options while increasing the numbers that appear on cards, upping the challenge a bit.
Head down to your local games store for a demo of Love Letter and I’m sure you’ll become enchanted by it. It also makes a great Christmas present for avid gamers with its great art style and easy-to-understand rules resulting in quick, fun gameplay.
Unfortunately this will be my last article post of this year, I hope you've enjoyed hearing about the many video, board and card games that I've looked at this year and there's many more to come next year.
Keep checking back for Game Changers for more gaming news and updates.
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