In the wake of the queens arrest, all the eligible young men of Tempest (and many not so young) seek to woo Princess Annette. Unfortunately, she has locked herself in the palace, and everyone must rely on those within the palace to bring their romantic letters to her. Will yours reach her first? Love Letter is a game of risk, deduction, and luck, for 2-4 players. Get your love letter into Princess Annettes hands while keeping other players letters away. Powerful cards lead to early gains, but make you a target. Rely on weaker cards for too long and your letter may be tossed in the fire!
The guard looked Bartolemew Kaiss up and down for a moment and then frowned. "Im sorry, Master Kaiss, but the princess is not seeing visitors at this time. She is, of course, in despair over the arrest of her mother." "Of course," the young composer said, nodding and looking appropriately sympathetic. "But I am not just visiting, you see. Her Highness requested my instruction. We are to practice her singing." "The princess already has a vocal maestro," the gruff woman replied, raising an eyebrow. "Im sure he knows that, Odette," said a kind voice echoing down the hall that connected the residence to the palace. The two turned to see Susannah, one of Princess Annettes handmaids, walking toward them. "What the good composer means to say is that Annette requested his work for their practice." The young woman smiled at the guard and gave Bartolemew a conspiratorial wink. From his satchel, Bartolemew produced a sealed tube. "If you will be so kind as to deliver these sheets of music, my dear Susannah," he said with a smile and a genteel nod. The guard took the tube from him, but as it changed hands, something with a little weight shifted inside the tube. "Whats this, then?" the guard asked, jostling it next to her ear. Certainly not a small statue of a bird the Princess is so fond of, Bartolemew thought. "The quill and ink I used to pen the music, in case she or the maestro wish to make any changes. I always deliver some with a new composition." Susannah gently took the case from the suspicious guard. "Oh, would you stop, Odette? Its just some music," she chided playfully. "Ill see to it that milady gets these," she added with a hand on Bartolemews arm. "Im sure shell be eager to see the contents."
In the wake of the arrest of Queen Marianna for high treason, none was more heartbroken than her daughter, Princess Annette. Suitors throughout the City-State of Tempest sought to ease Annettes sorrow by courting her to bring some joy into her life. You are one of these suitors, trying to get your love letter to the princess. Unfortunately, she has locked herself in the palace, so you must rely on intermediaries to carry your message. During the game, you hold one secret card in your hand. This is who currently carries your message of love for the princess. Make sure that the person closest to the princess holds your love letter at the end of the day, so it reaches her first!
Your game of Love Letter should include the following. If it does not, contact customerservice@ alderac.com for assistance. 16 game cards 4 reference cards tokens of affection
The game has 16 cards. Each different card name represents someone at the royal residence. Each card has a value in the upper left corner-the higher the number, the closer that person is to the princess. At the bottom of each card, a text box describes the effect when the card is discarded.
These list the various cards in the game, as well as their effects and how many copies are in the deck. They are not used in the game, but are provided as a memory aid.
Red tokens are also included. These are used to track Princess Annettes ever-growing affection for those suitors whose letters reach her.
Shuffle the 16 cards to form a face-down draw deck. Remove the top card of the deck from the game without looking at it. If you are playing a two-player game, take three more cards from the top of the deck and place them to th They will not be used during this round. Each player draws one card from the deck. This is the players hand, and is kept secret from the others. Whoever was most recently on a date goes first (if tied, the younger player wins the tie).
Love Letter is played in a series of rounds. Each round represents one day. At the end of each round, one players letter reaches Princess Annette, and she reads it. When she reads enough letters from one suitor, she becomes enamored and grants that suitor permission to court her. That player wins the princess's heart and the game.
On your turn, draw the top card from t choose one of the two cards in your hand and discard it face up in front of you. Apply any effect on the card you discarded You must apply its effect, even if it is bad for you. All discarded cards remain in front of the player who discarded them. Overlap the cards so that its clear in which order they were discarded. This helps players to figure out which cards other players might be holding. Once you finish applying the cards effect, the turn passes to the player on your left.
If a player is knocked out of the round, that player discards the card in his or her hand face up (do not apply the cards effect) and takes no more turns until next round.
A player could cheat when chosen with the Guard, or fail to discard the Countess when that player has the King or Prince in hand. We suggest that you dont play with knaves who cheat at fun, light games.
A round ends if the deck is empty at the end of a turn. The royal residence closes for the evening, the person closest to the princess delivers the love letter, and Princess Annette retires to her chambers to read it. All players still in the round reveal their hands. The player with the highest ranked person wins the round. In case of a tie, the player who discarded the highest total value of cards wins. A round also ends if all players but one are out of the round, in which case the remaining player wins. The winner receives a token of affection. Shuffle all 16 cards together, and play a new round following all of the setup rules. The winner of the previous round goes first, because the princess speaks kindly of him or her at breakfast.
A player wins the game after winning a number of tokens based on the number of players: 2 players = 7 tokens 3 players = 5 tokens 4 players = 4 tokens