What do you do when you want to get a love letter to the Princess of the land? You give it to someone in the royal court, of course. But who are you giving it to, and will they make it all the way to the Princess?

Love Letter is a “risk, deduction, and luck” (Alderac) game where the players vie for the affections of the princess by trying to pass her a letter professing their love to her. The first player to successfully give the princess four love letters wins the game, and her heart. But other players are trying to stop you.

Each player has a hand of one card showing members of the court; this includes the princess, her handmaid, the king, guards, and other different characters to try and eliminate as your competition. At the start of each player’s turn, they draw a card and then play a card, trying keep the highest value card in their hand while eliminating the other players. Different cards allow you to do different things; the handmaid keeps any player from playing a card on you for a round, the prince forces a player to discard their hand and then draw a card, and with the guard, you try to guess what another player has in their hand to eliminate them.

Rounds of this game go very quickly, as there are a very limited number of people in the court. And even though with four players you play until one person has delivered four letters, it is a game that can be played in twenty minutes or less. There is a balance of luck (what cards you draw) and skilled play (remembering what has been played, how many there are of the different cards, and trying to deduce what cards another player might have).

Love Letter is a very fun, quick game that is great for when you have a moment to play. It is challenging enough that you don’t feel like you are always doing the same thing over and over again, but the rules are simple and clear enough that you don’t get bogged down in what is supposed to happen during each player’s turn, and turns don’t last all that long. It’s a game that I’d definitely recommend as a fun game for the whole family and a great game to take on trips.

Overall Grade: A

Gamer Grade: B

Casual Grade: A+

PS. If you aren’t into courting the princess, you can always get one of several other different themes for the game.

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