Love Letter Review

My elder daughter is developing a sinister chuckle, and she’s getting a lot of use out of it playing Love Letter. Simply put, the nine-year-old is cleaning my clock.

That’s a surprise, because I wasn’t sure she would take to it at all. Yes, there’s a Princess in charge, and for my daughter that’s definitely a point in Love Letter‘s favor. But this is a somewhat abstract game that relies on bluffing and deduction, and I wasn’t sure that combination would fly with her.

However, it turns out that Love Letter works with just about everyone. It’s a near-perfect combination of short playing time, easy rules, and interesting decisions, and it does all this with just 13 wooden cubes and 16 cards.

You are a suitor for the Princess Annette’s hand, and you have to get a love letter to her to gain her favor. (This is a similar premise to Mirror, Mirror, another favorite of my daughter’s, but that game is chess with bluffing, not cards.) To accomplish this goal, you have to hand the letter to one of her inner-circle and make sure that none of your rivals get their letter to a more-favored member of the Court.

In game terms, this means you have to have the highest-ranked card at the end of the round. The most efficient way to do this is to make sure that none of your opponents finish the round. This happens a lot in Love Letter. If you can figure out what your opponent is holding, then you can usually play a card that will knock them out. It’s great fun to do so, especially when you make an inspired guess and your opponent demands to know how you knew he was holding the Prince card.

Which happens all too often when I play my daughter. She always seems to know what I’ve got and she always seems to have the perfect counter for it. If she’s this sneaky when she starts dating for real, then I’m going to be in a lot of trouble in a few years.

Love Letter is published in the United States by Alderac Entertainment Group, and it’s a steal at about $10. If you see it, play it!