One of the first games I picked up when I got back into board gaming is Love Letter, published by AEG and by designer Seiji Kanai.
This game although simple to learn and understand provides a good amount of depth for 2 to 4 players.
The components are very simple with 20 cards, and 13 wooden tokens, I like the compact carrier for the game that adds to the theme of the game.
The rules are simple. Each player starts with one card numbered between 1~8 and a cheat sheet card with a list of each card, their ability and quantity, and one card put to the side to randomize the endgame instead of process of elimination.
During a players turn, they draw a card (now having 2 in their hand) and must discard 1 following the discarded card's ability, in this situation the #4 Handmaiden would protect the player from any abilities that would target him/her until their next turn.
Play goes on in this fashion until each player is eliminated or the last card is taken from the deck and those remaining compare the number on their card. Whomever has the highest number wins the round, takes a block to represent a point (Token of affection), shuffles all cards and begins the next round.
This game is widely popular and currently sits at 175 on BoardGameGeek's list of top games. The popularity is apparent in the recent premium edition (2016)
as well a list of re-themed: Samurai edition, Star Wars, Batman, Adventure Time, The Hobbit, popular animated TV series Archer, and "Loot Letter" Munchkins play on Love Letter.
Impressions:
Available on Coolstuffinc for $6.89 on up for the different versions Love Letter is a game that can be played with families and game groups, providing a nice itch for some light strategy and deduction as a filler game fitting into the publishers estimated play time of 20 minutes. The game is very easy to learn with very little table space needed to play so for this price and compact size, I see no reason not to pick up this game for gamer groups or families.
As for language dependency, it does require some reading but the rules and character roles are easy enough to play with that I can play this game with my ESL students.
The premium edition retails for $19.99 on Coolstuffinc and adds additional role cards and supports up to 8 players. Because of this it does make the game a bit more lengthier and harder to understand because of additional roles, but if you know you'll like Love Letter then go ahead and spring for the premium edition as it will add a lot more replay-ability to the game with these new roles:
What are you thoughts about Love Letter? Found a better filler game? Have you played any of the re-themed ones? Leave your comments below !