Love Letter Board Game has been loved by many players.
And this is inevitable due to its profound advantages: it is fast-paced and lasts for about 20 minutes, it can be learned pretty easily by everyone and can be carried everywhere .
I played the premium edition of Love Letter which has additional cards and can be played by up to 8 players.
SO what’s the deal?
You are at the City-State of Tempest, a lively metropolis and the Queen Marianna has been arrested for high treason. Her beloved daughter, Princess Annette, is devastatingly heartbroken and locks herself in the palace. No one who lives outside the court can meet her in person.
You are one of the many suitors who arrived at the city-state in order to court the Princess and bring some joy into her life, after her mother’s arrest.
The only way to get in touch with the princess is through sending love letters to her, relying to intermediaries to carry your romantic message.
During the game, you hold one secret card in your hand. This is who currently carries your message of love for the princess. Each card represents someone at the royal residence and has a value in the upper left corner – the higher the number, the closer that person is to the princess.
You have to make sure that the person closest to the princess holds your love letter at the end of the day, so it reaches her first.
Love Letter Board Game | What’s in the box?
The box contains 1 Rulebook, 32 Game Cards, 8 Reference Cards, 25 Tokens of Affection, 1 Jester Token and 40 Sleeves.
The game cards are 32 and 16 of them are used when playing with 2-4 players. At the bottom of the cards, there is a text box describing the effect that occurs when the card is discarded.
The reference cards are not used during the rounds, but are provided as a memory aid for players. One side of each reference card summarizes the effects of the cards used in the 2 to 4 player game, while the other side describes the effects of the additional cards used in the 5 to 8 player game. Furthermore, they show how many copies of each card are in the deck in order to allow the players to form their strategy knowing how many cards are available during the rounds.
The red heart shaped tokens are to measure the success of each suitor to attract the princess’ attention. The winner of the round takes one.
The jester token is given to the player who has been chosen by the Jester card effect during the game.
Love Letter Board Game | Gameplay
You start with one card in hand and on your turn you draw one card. You play one of the two cards in hand. You have to weigh in your opponents’ cards and carefully take them out of the game during your one to one “battle”.
Let’s say that you hold the “baron”. It is a card with low value: 3. The text box says that you and another player have to secretly compare hands and the player with the lower value is out of the round. If you have figure out that another player has a card with lower value than 3, you could pick him and knock him of the round.
But be aware! Other players might know your card and try to knock you of the round, too. At the beginning of the game, maybe you have to be somewhat lucky but, as the game unfolds, strategy and attentiveness hold the reigns.
The game gets very interesting for 5 to 8 players because you play with full deck which contains additional characters such as the assassin, the bishop, the baroness.
Love Letter Board Game | Play it or leave it?
I highly recommend Love Letter! It’s one of the most engaging and enjoyable games that I have played recently.
It is a quick game and easy to grasp but not at all boring. You must be alert and ready to outwit your friends because winning is not as effortless as it seems.
In addition, I loved the card’s design and the illustrations of the box. They are really bright, elegant and beautiful.
And if you are not fond of this artwork you can pre-order the new edition of the game. The art is totally refreshed and new characters are added: the chancellor and the spy.
Have fun!
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