Love Letter

1 Game Overview

Love Letter is a game of deduction, luck, and calculated risk that fits in a tiny bag and plays in 20 minutes. You're trying to get your love letter delivered to the princess, which means staying in the game longer than everyone else or holding the highest card when the round ends.

The entire game uses just 16 cards (in the standard edition), each numbered 1–8. Each card has a special power. At the start of your turn, you have exactly 2 cards, your current card and the one you draw, and you must play one of them. That's the entire game. It's simultaneously one of the simplest and most brain-burning card games ever designed.

Love Letter is one of the best "filler" games in existence, it genuinely rewards deduction and memory while being teachable in under 2 minutes.

2 What's in the Box

• 16 character cards (Guard x5, Priest x2, Baron x2, Handmaid x2, Prince x2, King x1, Countess x1, Princess x1)
• 13 affection tokens (wooden cubes)
• 1 cloth bag
• 4 reference cards

3 Setup

1. Shuffle the 16 cards.
2. Set 1 card aside face-down (hidden from everyone). This prevents perfect deduction.
3. In 2-player games, also deal 3 cards face-up from the deck (known to all). This helps make deduction work with only 2 players.
4. Deal 1 card to each player. This is your starting hand. Keep it secret.
5. Place affection tokens in a central pool. The remaining deck goes face-down as a draw pile.

4 Taking Your Turn

On your turn:

1. Draw 1 card from the deck. You now hold 2 cards.
2. Play 1 card face-up in front of you, resolving its effect.

You hold exactly 1 card at the end of every turn. Play continues clockwise.

Special rule: If you hold the Countess (7) AND the King (6) or Prince (5), you must play the Countess, she refuses to conspire.

5 The Cards

• Guard (1) ×5: Name a player and guess which card they hold (can't guess Guard). If correct, they're eliminated.
• Priest (2) ×2: Look at another player's hand. Don't reveal it to others.
• Baron (3) ×2: Compare hands secretly with another player. The player with the lower card is eliminated. Ties: nothing happens.
• Handmaid (4) ×2: Until your next turn, you cannot be targeted by other players' card effects.
• Prince (5) ×2: Choose any player (including yourself), they discard their hand and draw a new card. If they discard the Princess, they're eliminated.
• King (6) ×1: Swap your hand with another player's hand.
• Countess (7) ×1: No special effect, but must be played if you hold it with the King or Prince.
• Princess (8) ×1: If you ever discard or play the Princess for any reason, you're eliminated immediately.

6 Winning Rounds & the Game

Ending a Round

A round ends when either:

• All but one player have been eliminated, that player wins the round, or
• The draw deck is empty, the player(s) with the highest-value card win the round. Ties split the tokens.

Winning Tokens

The round winner takes an affection token. First player to collect the required tokens wins:

• 2 players: 7 tokens
• 3 players: 5 tokens
• 4 players: 4 tokens
• 5–6 players: 3 tokens

7 Advanced Strategy

Track the Deck Like a Deduction Game

Love Letter rewards players who track every played card. With only 16 cards in the base game, information accumulates quickly. If both Barons are in the discard, no one can eliminate you with a Baron. If the King is gone, no trades are possible. Mentally catalog each discard every round.

Protect the Princess with the Handmaid

If you are holding the Princess (8), the Handmaid (4) is your most important protection. Play the Handmaid the moment you draw it while holding the Princess. An untargeted Princess almost guarantees a round win. Never let the Princess sit exposed if you have a Handmaid available.

Baron Timing Is Everything

The Baron (3) compares hands and eliminates the lower card. Use it only when you are confident you hold a higher card than your opponent — ideally after using the Priest to see their hand. In late rounds with a depleted deck, narrow deduction can make Baron plays nearly certain wins.

Guard Precision Over Guessing

The Guard (1) is the most abundant card (five copies) but is wasted on random guesses. Build information before you guess: use the Priest to see a hand, then follow up immediately with a Guard naming their card. In 2-player games with the face-up setup cards, you can often narrow possible holdings to 2–3 cards by the midgame.

King Trade Scenarios

The King (6) forces a hand swap. It is only valuable when you believe you hold a lower card than your opponent — especially useful when you draw a Priest and discover they hold the Princess. Swapping away a low card for their Princess (8) is an almost certain round win.

8 Common Mistakes

• Guessing Guard blindly: Playing a Guard without information is nearly a coin flip. Wait until you have deduced a holding through Priest information or elimination logic.
• Forgetting the Countess rule: If you hold the Countess (7) alongside the King (6) or Prince (5), you are legally required to play the Countess. Playing the other card is an illegal move — remind all players of this rule before the game begins.
• Self-Princing with the Princess: Playing the Prince on yourself forces you to discard your hand. If your hand is the Princess, you are immediately eliminated. Only Prince yourself when you are certain your hand is not the Princess.
• Not counting discards: Every played card sits face-up in front of the player who played it. Ignoring these discards means playing blind in a game built entirely around deduction. A 30-second discard scan before each turn pays dividends.
• Treating all rounds as independent: Token tracking matters. If an opponent is one token away from winning the match, shift your strategy to target and eliminate them specifically, even at the cost of your own positioning.

9 Variants & Editions

Love Letter Premium (2019)

The expanded edition includes 32 cards and supports up to 6 players. New characters include the Chancellor (draw 2 cards, keep 1, replace the others on top of the deck) and additional unique roles that expand tactical options. A strong upgrade for groups who have played the base game extensively.

Two-Player Adjustments

In the base game with 2 players, after setting aside 1 hidden card, deal 3 additional cards face-up (not face-down). This exposes more known information and makes Guard guessing more meaningful. Token threshold for 2 players is 7 tokens.

Themed Editions

Love Letter has spawned dozens of licensed versions: Batman Love Letter, The Hobbit Love Letter, Archer Love Letter, and others. The core mechanics are identical across editions — only the card names and artwork change. Any edition's tokens work with any other edition.

Extended Match Format

For a longer session, play a best-of-7 match instead of a single game. Track round wins across games. This format reduces the impact of single-round luck and rewards consistent strategic play over multiple rounds, making it a good choice for competitive groups.