Love Letter is a fast, elegant card game in which two to six players compete to get their letter of affection into the hands of the Princess. Each round takes only a few minutes, yet every turn is packed with reading opponents, bluffing and deduction. With just a handful of cards numbered from low to high, you are constantly guessing what your rivals are holding while trying to protect your own hand.
Designed by Seiji Kanai and first released in May 2012, Love Letter became a modern classic almost overnight, winning the 2012 Origins Award for Best Traditional Card Game. This guide explains the complete Love Letter rules: the deck, the setup, how a single turn works, what every card does, how a round is scored and how to win the whole game. Whether you own the original edition or the newer 2019 release, you will find everything you need to start playing confidently.
Key Facts
| Players | 2–4 (original) / 2–6 (2019 edition) |
|---|---|
| Play time | About 15–30 minutes per game |
| Recommended age | 10 and up |
| Designer | Seiji Kanai |
| First released | May 2012 |
| Deck size | 16 cards (original) / 21 playing cards (2019) |
| Goal | Hold the highest card at round end, or be the last player standing, to collect tokens of affection |
What Is Love Letter?
Love Letter is a deduction and risk-management card game for small groups. The theme is light and charming: the Princess of the realm has shut herself away, and every player is a suitor trying to deliver a love letter to her through trusted members of the court. The cards represent those courtiers, from lowly Guards up to the Princess herself, and each has a special power.
Mechanically, the game is tiny. You only ever hold one card at a time between turns, so every decision is sharp and meaningful. The joy comes from using your card’s effect to knock other players out of the round, gather information, or quietly survive until the deck runs dry holding the highest-value card. It is often described as a “micro” game because the whole thing fits in your pocket, yet it rewards careful observation the way much larger games do.
The Story Behind the Cards
The card hierarchy mirrors a medieval court. The Guard (the most common card) represents the many watchful soldiers; the Priest and Baron are advisors; the Handmaid protects you; the Prince and King hold real influence; the Countess is a scheming noble; and the Princess sits at the very top. Understanding that ranking matters, because in a tie or a showdown the higher number almost always wins.
What You Need to Play
A standard game of Love Letter requires very little:
- The deck of character cards (16 cards in the original edition).
- A set of tokens of affection — cubes, hearts or similar markers — used to track round wins.
- Two to four players in the original edition, or two to six players in the 2019 edition.
- A table or flat surface where discards can be seen by everyone.
Rounds are short, so most groups play a full match in 15 to 30 minutes. The recommended age is around 10 and up, which makes it a flexible choice for both game nights and quieter family evenings. If you enjoy quick titles like this, you may also like our rundown of the top party card games for adults in Canada.
How to Play Love Letter: Setup
Setting up a round is quick:
- Shuffle all 16 cards into a single face-down draw deck.
- Remove the top card of the deck and set it aside face down without looking at it. This hidden card is never used that round and is part of what keeps the deduction honest — one card is always unaccounted for.
- Deal one card face down to each player. This is each player’s starting hand.
- Give each player their first turn in clockwise order, beginning with whoever most recently went on a date (or simply the youngest player, as a common house rule).
Tokens of affection are kept in a shared pile. Players earn them by winning rounds, and the first to reach the target number wins the game.
Two-Player Setup
With exactly two players the hidden card alone would give away too much information, so there is one extra step. After removing the single face-down card, take the next three cards off the deck and place them face up where both players can see them. These three cards are out of the round but visible, which helps both players reason about what is still live in the deck.
Playing a Turn
Turns are simple and always follow the same rhythm. On your turn you:
- Draw the top card of the deck, so you now hold two cards.
- Choose one of the two cards to play, placing it face up in front of you.
- Resolve that card’s effect immediately.
- Keep the remaining card as your hand and pass play to the next person clockwise.
That is the entire turn. Because you always end with one card, the tension is constant: the card you keep is the card you are secretly defending, and the card you play is a public statement about what you might be holding. This hidden-information loop is what makes Love Letter feel like a bluffing duel even though the rules are so light. Fans of this kind of social reading will recognise it from Coup, another sharp deduction game by the same designer.
The Cards and Their Effects
Every card has a number (its strength) and a power that triggers when you play it. Knowing all eight is the key to the game. The table below summarises the original 16-card deck, and the sections after it explain how each card is used in practice.
Card Reference
| Card | Value | Copies | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guard | 1 | 5 | Name a non-Guard card and a player; if they hold it, they are out. |
| Priest | 2 | 2 | Secretly look at another player’s hand. |
| Baron | 3 | 2 | Compare hands with a player; lower value is out (tie: nothing). |
| Handmaid | 4 | 2 | You cannot be targeted until your next turn. |
| Prince | 5 | 2 | Choose a player (or yourself) to discard and redraw; discarding the Princess eliminates them. |
| King | 6 | 1 | Swap your remaining card with another player’s hand. |
| Countess | 7 | 1 | No effect, but must be played if held with the King or Prince. |
| Princess | 8 | 1 | No effect; if discarded for any reason, you are out of the round. |
Guard (Value 1)
The Guard is the workhorse of the deck, with five copies. When you play a Guard, name any card other than Guard, then choose another player. If that player is holding the card you named, they are knocked out of the round. This is pure deduction: you are guessing an opponent’s single hidden card. Early in a round a Guard guess is often a shot in the dark, but once discards reveal what has already been played, a well-timed Guard can be deadly.
Priest (Value 2)
Playing a Priest lets you look at another player’s hand in secret. You do not reveal it to anyone else. The Priest gives you no immediate attack, but the information is powerful — it tells you exactly what to name if you draw a Guard later, or whether it is safe to challenge that player with a Baron.
Baron (Value 3)
The Baron forces a private duel. Choose another player, then the two of you secretly compare the cards in your hands. Whoever holds the lower number is knocked out of the round. If the values are equal, nothing happens and both players stay in. Playing a Baron is a gamble unless you already have information (often from a Priest) about the other player’s card.
Handmaid (Value 4)
The Handmaid is purely defensive. When you play it, you cannot be targeted by any other player’s card effect until the start of your next turn. It is an excellent shield when you are holding a high card like the Princess and want to survive the next round of attacks. Note that a Handmaid does not protect you from effects that target everyone, and it cannot stop you being forced out if you are the last valid target of a Prince.
Prince (Value 5)
The Prince lets you choose any player — including yourself — to discard their current hand and draw a new card. The discarded card’s effect is not triggered, with one crucial exception: if the discarded card is the Princess, that player is immediately out of the round. This makes the Prince a sneaky way to force an opponent to throw away the game’s most valuable card.
King (Value 6)
When you play the King, you trade the card remaining in your hand with the hand of another player of your choice. This can be used to hand off a dangerous low card, to grab a card you suspect is valuable, or to set up a future Baron or Guard play once you know what you have swapped away.
Countess (Value 7)
The Countess has no active power, but it carries a strict rule. If you ever hold the Countess together with either the King or the Prince, you must play the Countess on that turn. Clever players sometimes play the Countess even when they do not have to, bluffing that they were forced to and hiding a strong card behind it.
Princess (Value 8)
The Princess is the highest card and the heart of the game. She has no useful effect — in fact, if you ever discard or are forced to play the Princess for any reason, you are instantly eliminated from the round. The goal is to survive while holding her, because the Princess beats every other card in an end-of-deck showdown.
How a Round Ends
A round of Love Letter ends in one of two ways:
- Only one player is left. If every other player has been knocked out, the last survivor wins the round immediately and takes one token of affection.
- The deck runs out. If the draw deck is empty at the start of a turn, every remaining player reveals their hand. The player holding the highest-value card wins the round and takes a token.
If two or more players tie for the highest card when the deck empties, they compare the total value of the cards in their discard piles, and the higher sum wins. After a round ends, all cards are gathered, reshuffled and dealt again for the next round.
Winning the Game
Winning a single round only earns you one token of affection. To win the whole game you must collect enough tokens, and the target depends on how many people are playing. Fewer players means more rounds are needed, because a win is harder to come by in a crowded game.
| Players | Tokens to win (original edition) | Tokens to win (2019 edition) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 players | 7 | 6 |
| 3 players | 5 | 5 |
| 4 players | 4 | 4 |
| 5 players | Not supported | 3 |
| 6 players | Not supported | 3 |
The first player to reach the target delivers their love letter to the Princess and wins the game.
The 2019 Edition and Other Versions
In 2019, after Z-Man Games took over the title, a second edition was released with new artwork and a bigger deck so that up to six people could play. It keeps every original card but adds two new ones and nudges the top values upward.
The 2019 playing deck has 21 cards: Spy (value 0, x2), Guard (1, x6), Priest (2, x2), Baron (3, x2), Handmaid (4, x2), Prince (5, x2), Chancellor (6, x2), King (7, x1), Countess (8, x1) and Princess (9, x1). The Spy does nothing when played, but if you are the only player who played or discarded a Spy by the end of the round, you gain a bonus token. The Chancellor lets you draw two cards, then return two of your three cards to the bottom of the deck, giving you a brief moment of extra choice.
Beyond the standard game, Love Letter has appeared in many themed and premium versions over the years, including boxed “premium” sets with additional characters and licensed editions based on popular franchises. The core engine — one card in hand, play one, deduce the rest — stays the same across all of them, so learning the base rules here prepares you for any version. If you enjoy compact modern card games, you might also try The Mind or the family-friendly Sleeping Queens.
Strategy Tips for Love Letter
Although the rules are simple, strong play relies on watching the discards and managing risk. A few principles help:
- Count the Guards. With five Guards in the original deck, a correct Guard guess is your most reliable way to eliminate someone. Track which cards have been discarded to narrow down what opponents can be holding.
- Hold the Handmaid for pressure moments. Playing it while you cradle a high card buys you a safe turn when the table is hunting for the Princess.
- Use the Priest before the Baron. Information first, confrontation second. Knowing an opponent’s card turns a risky Baron duel into a sure thing.
- Respect the Countess trap. If you hold the Countess with a King or Prince, you must play the Countess — but you can also play it voluntarily to bluff that you were forced, masking a strong card.
- Protect the Princess at all costs. Never be manoeuvred into discarding her. Watch out for opponents’ Princes, and keep a Handmaid or a safe discard ready.
Because each round is so short, you will quickly develop a feel for when to attack and when to lie low. That blend of luck and tight decision-making is exactly why Love Letter has stayed popular for more than a decade. For another quick, cutthroat filler to add to your collection, see our guide to Exploding Kittens.
Reference sources
Frequently Asked Questions
How many players can play Love Letter?
The original edition supports two to four players. The 2019 second edition from Z-Man Games expands the deck and supports two to six players. Both play best as a quick filler for a small group, with each round lasting only a few minutes.
What happens if you have to discard the Princess?
If you discard the Princess for any reason — whether you choose to, or you are forced to by a Prince — you are immediately knocked out of the current round. The Princess has no useful power; her entire value is that she wins any end-of-deck showdown, so the goal is simply to keep her safely in your hand until the round ends.
Why do I have to play the Countess sometimes?
There is a special rule for the Countess: if you are ever holding her at the same time as the King or the Prince, you are required to play the Countess on that turn. This stops players from combining those powerful cards. Some players also choose to play the Countess when not forced, as a bluff to suggest they were.
How do you win a round when the deck runs out?
If the draw deck empties, all remaining players reveal their hands and the player holding the highest-value card wins the round and takes a token of affection. If there is a tie for the highest card, the tied players compare the total value of the cards in their discard piles, and the highest total wins.
Is Love Letter a good game for beginners?
Yes. Love Letter is one of the easiest modern card games to learn, with only eight card types and a one-card hand. New players can grasp a full round in a couple of minutes, yet the deduction and bluffing give it enough depth to stay interesting over many games, making it an ideal introduction to the deduction genre.