Review of Love Letter

A welcome update to the classic version of the game of courtly romance and intrigue, Z-Man Games has fixed and clarified some mechanical issues with the earlier version, added some exciting new cards, and allowed for 2 to 6 players (up from 2 to 4 players in the classic version).

The basic game is the same: you have one card in your hand; each turn you draw another, play one of the two, resolving its effect. You try to win the round (and the resulting favour token) either by knocking everyone else out or by ending up with the highest number card of those not knocked out.

The old tie-breaker rule is eliminated (which simplifies the game, as you don't need to count and add the numbers in your play/discard pile anymore). The idea of resolving (after such a tie) who goes first in the next round by "some random means" is easy to do; if you lack anything else, you have before you a deck whose three highest numbered cards are unique!

The number of favour tokens needed to win the game is reduced to 6 in the 2 player version (a good thing, IMHO), and the 5-6 player versions require only 3 tokens, so with luck and the use of the Spy a game could be won in 2 rounds!).

All of the old cards are present, allowing one to use only that subset for the classic version of the game if one so wishes. The addition of the Chancellor and Spy cards (2 each) are welcome - the Chancellor (allowing one to put cards at the bottom of the draw deck) gives a huge knowledge advantage if one can last long enough, while also allowing one to get rid of a "dangerous" card like the princess without being knocked out.

The Spy gives one a chance to win an additional favour token in a sort of mini-game (if a spy is in your play/discard pile and no one else's of those knocked out, and you are not knocked out, you get one!), although that can paint a target on your back when more than two players are still in the round.

The additional cards (plus another guard) make it slightly favourable, other things being equal, to be "stuck" with two Barons in one's hand (and thus forced to play one and use the other in a "face-off" comparison with another player), which improves over the classic version of the game.

The rules are clear, with no ambiguity that I could see. Mechanically this game is a gem. It is intriguing how so much tactical fun can be had with such a minimalist game structure!

On to theme: The round favour tokens (which look like the wax seals one would put on a love letter), cards (which include reference cards with a "broken" seal on the back to show when one is knocked out) and dark red velvet carrying bag look beautiful, and the card character art is well-done and reflective of diversity.

The only things I miss from the classic game are the "backstories" that each individual card character used to have in the classic version's rules booklet, as well as the thematic introduction (reduced in this version to one sentence). Thus, unlike the classic version of the game, here there is no explanation in the rules for why there is no "Queen" card in the game, or why the Countess and Handmaid cards function as they do, or why the characters are numbered as they are.

In any case, at 21 cards the game is still the fast, portable game that has captured the hearts of many, and while this is a capsule review I believe that the game will still be fast and enjoyable in the new 5 or 6 players versions enabled here. I would highly recommend it.

Oh, and if you want a slight tactical advantage I would practice your penmanship, as the first player of the first round is determined by who most recently hand-wrote a letter!