Tabletop Tuesday - Love Letter

Welcome to another edition of Tabletop Tuesday - Your weekly exploration into games of dice, cards, luck and more of the Tabletop world.

This week's game...the game of misdirection and cubes of affection that is Love Letter.

Players: 2-4
Time: 20-30 minutes
Genre: Casual Card Game



Love Letter is a fun little game that pits players against one another as eligible bachelors all seeking the affection of the princess of Tempest, Princess Annette.  The challenge in such is that the princess has locked herself away, requiring players to pass their love letters to other hands of the castle in hopes to woo the elusive maiden.  The mechanics of the game are very simple to pick up: Each round, every player is dealt one card and one card is removed from the deck.  Players then take turns drawing one card and then playing one of their two cards, performing the indicated action listed on their card.  The round ends when the deck runs out or all other players have been eliminated.  Should more than one player make it to the end of the round, the player with a higher card value wins the cube of affection.  First player to win a certain amount of affection (determined by the number of players) wins the game.  With each player only having to choose between two cards to play each turn, the gameplay is rather straightforward.  And yet, there is an interesting layer of strategy to be found in the variety of cards and how they play off one another.

There are eight types of cards to be found in Love Letter in varying quantities.  The most common card is the Guard (1), which allows players to guess other player's cards (excluding guard as a guess) in the chance of eliminating that player for the round.  Other cards have varying effects such as comparing hands and eliminating the player with the lower value, trading hands, or even forcing discards should other cards be drawn.  The fun then becomes trying to identify player's hands based off probability and expectations as to what they'd hold onto.  Keep in mind though that one card is discarded at the start of each round, so there are never any guarantees as to what may lie in wait.  I recommend Love Letter for those who enjoy light strategy and fast, easy gameplay.

If you have any questions about Love Letter, let me know in the comments below.  Otherwise, stay tuned to future installments of Tabletop Tuesday.  And happy gaming!