Review: Love Letter

Game Overview
Players are trying to win the love of the Princess with their love letters. However, they are unable to reach her themselves and must therefore recruit people close to the Princess to deliver their letters for them. The game is played with cards.  Each card has a picture, title, and number.  The higher the number, the closer relationship they have to the Princess.

Rules Summary

The game consists of a series of rounds.  Each round begins by dealing every player a card and removing the top card from the round unseen.  When it is their turn, players draw a second card and determine which  of their two cards they want to play based on the card's ability and value.  The abilities range from protection for one turn, to looking at another's hand, to trying to guess another's card. Some of the cards, like the guard card, give players the opportunity to knock another out of the round.

Used cards are discarded face up and the total number of each card is available to everyone so it becomes easier to guess what others are holding as the game goes on. The last player standing receives a token of the Princess' affection. However, if more than one player make it to the end of the round, those players compare cards and the player holding the highest value card (most favor) wins the round and receives the token of affection. In a four player game, 4 tokens of affection are required to win the Princess' heart and win the game. Less players require more tokens to win the game.

Components

My favorite part of the game is how small it is. This is a great game to travel with and it fits easily in a purse of backpack. This pouch is the package for the game. All of the components fit nicely into the bag with a drawstring at the top. Because the package is soft, you do have to worry about the cards being bent. While I like the look and feel of the package, I probably would have preferred a small box in order to protect the cards because this is one of those games where a damaged card can really ruin the game if the other players can identify it. Sleeving the cards may be a good option or you could always put it in a box anyway when traveling. 

These cubes are underwhelming. They do the job but don't match the theme very well. In my opinion, heart shaped pieces would have been much more interesting and fitting.

This picture shows the back of the cards as well as one of the reference cards included in the game. Because deduction plays a big part of this game, having a reference card with the number of each card and what they do is a big asset.

These are the main attack cards in the game. They allow you to guess an opponent's card (you can't guess another guard). If you are correct, that player is removed from the round. 

The Priest card lets you look at another player's card which can pair well with a Baron or Guard in some situations.

The Baron card is awesome if you also have the Princess because then you can automatically knock out another player.

The Handmaid card shields you from other players' attacks for one turn.

 

If you play the Prince card against someone holding the Princess, they are knocked out of the round. If not, one more card is removed from the round which makes it easier to guess what everyone else has.

 

The King card is tricky. When you trade cards, you now know what the other player has but, they also know what you have. Additionally, they will get their next turn before you do, so if they have a Guard or a Baron, they may be able to knock you out easily.

 

The Countess card has a very high value and will win the round if there is no one is holding the Princess.  However, she must be discarded if you also have a Prince or King card. This may make it easier for other players to guess what you have. You can be tricky and discard her when you don't have the Prince or King to confuse the other players.

 

The Princess card is tricky because you can't ever discard it. Therefore, you must always use your second card which limits your options. However, if you can make it to the end of the round with this card you will automatically win because it is the highest valued card available.

 

This manual is smaller than the cards and fits nicely into the package. It includes a description of each of the cards and a story that gives some thematic context to the game. Because the text is printed on the cards, you don't have to refer to this very often - which I really like.

Final Thoughts

 

Overall, I really enjoy this game as a light starter or closer to game night. It is fun and you don't have to think too hard which makes it a more relaxing game. Also, because each player only has two cards to choose from, turns are pretty quick. I would definitely recommend this little game.

 

Positives

• Compact package makes it easy to travel with
• Easy to teach because of directions printed on each card
• Very inexpensive

Negatives

• Cards may need to be sleeved
• Tokens are bland
• Not very fun with two players

How this game made it into my collection:

I went to my friendly local game store on free comic book day and everything in the whole store was 30% off so I couldn't resist this attractively packaged game. Let's just say the price was right.