Blombombadon

Love Letter has a total of 16 card, but don’t let that scare you. It’s so ingeniously created that it can be played over and over and not get repetitious. Along with the 16 cards they provide a cheat sheet card for what each card does, and how many there are in the deck. The cards also have nearly invisible stars that show you how many are in the deck.

I don’t even know how many times I’ve played this, but it is a lot. You can set it up in literally a few minutes, and explain how to play in roughly about the same time.

My only gripe is the box version that I got has square wooden bits that are the tokens of affection that you earn by wining each round. They are not great quality and don’t really add to the theme at all. Hearts (plastic hears are provided in the non-box version), letters, or something else would lend more to the theme.

This is great for anyone to play and found no problems playing with my wife, 10 and 12 year old, and is great for those moments you need a quick and fun game to play.

Pros:
1. Fast Setup
2. Easy to explain rules
3. Low amount of cards but designed for interesting combinations
4. Great replay value
5. Good for many age groups (basic reading and simple math skills required)

Cons
1. Tokens of affection in box set look cheap and don’t add to theme

After reading many reviews on this game I wasn’t confident my wife, who would be the one playing this with me a lot of the time, would like it or not. Once we finished our first game though it was apparent that this is our type of game.

Being new board gamers we are exploring many different genres and this was our selection for worker placement with the added benefit of being placed in my favorite D&D campaign setting.

This game is great looking. The artwork and components are very nice looking and mesh with the overall look and feel of the game. The cards also carry this same quality and don’t feel out of place at all. There are a fair amount of components, but it seems the insert could have been designed slightly better as the pieces are a bit hard to put back in they way that it came. There is likely a method that I haven’t discovered yet but not the greatest design.

The gameplay is fairly quick, and you don’t have to wait a long time for your turn. With the right players this game can be completed in 30 minutes or so. For those that get analysis paralysis it could be longer.

I’ve played this several times already but it appears to have a lot of replay value. There is a fair amount of diversity in all the buildings that can be put out that procure different things like adventurers, gold, and abilities. There are different Lord cards that score extra victory points if specific conditions are met. With all that I can say we will be playing this a lot without much repetition.

While it’s well balanced, i feel that there is not many cut-throat tactics that you can play as a Lord. There are some extra victory points, but the gameplay seems identical no matter who you are playing, so it makes being a specific Lord seem not that important.

While it’s solid as a 2 player I think this game will shine as a 3 player. After that it would probably run longer than my liking. Smart gamers that understand basic mechanics and like to play in fantasy settings will love this game.

Pros:
1. Great design and top quality components
2. Quick turn taking
3. Theme is great and set in a very popular D&D environment with lots of history
4. Great replay value
5. Balanced
Cons:
1. Box insert could have been designed better
2. Needs more interesting Lord cards to give specific advantages to being a Lord.