Let's Talk About: Love Letter

JonJacob makes a good point about the theme. It's not like it's some strong thematic experience, but it sure does stand out in a sea of orc-smashers and bishop-pleasers. The little velvet bag is a great visual hook too.

What do people think about the differences between the editions? I didn't realize there was a different card between the Kanai edition and the Tempest edition. The minister seems a good deal sharper than the countess in the Tempest version. I'm not sure if I like that or not.

Has anyone played the Legend of the Five Rings version?

Love Letter is awesome. I would never bring this out on a 'game night' proper, because it's not the type of game I want to play when I have those types of folks around. It gets _a_lot_ of play with the in-laws and kids though.

Great game!

I prefer the Tempest edition. The Countess provides a little more wiggle room. Instead of being automatically knocked out for a score over 12 you have to discard her if you draw the prince or king. Obviously you do the same if you get the Princess. So when you lay down the Countess people probably have a pretty good idea of what card you have. The more cards played the better their odds. But I've seen it used a lot as a bluff too, especially in early game. Which is great. You're convinced the dude has a Prince and it turns out he was bluffing and only had a Baron or something.

The Kanai edition takes some of that fun away and makes it a simple equation.

i could be mistaken here but i think there are some other minor differences. For instance i think in the Tempest version when you play a hand maiden you are immune to the effect of the card played against you. In the Kanai you cannot be targeted. I could be in error here.

I own the Kanai edition, but probably slightly prefer the countess to the minister, it adds a little more bluff.

Love Letter doesn't seem to fit in to my gaming opportunities. I bought the nice Alderac edition for my girlfriend for Christmas in 2012, but we quickly discovered that it's a terribly boring 2-player game. Almost as bad as Tic-Tac-Toe.

I suspected that my friends might like Love Letter, only it would need a more appealing theme to land on the table. So I made my own version using an online custom card generator for Jyhad, along with some of my own adjustments. My version is about Camarilla vampires trying to influence the Prince of the City. I also made extras of some of the cards, to make the game playable by as many as 8 players.

Either way, I just can't get Love Letter on the table. Both my girlfriend and my gaming friends would rather talk than play a filler game. And they have a point: a conversation is often more enjoyable than a filler game.