Love Letter
A quick game of deduction and elimination. Each rank from 1 to 8 has a unique power, and a single wrong guess can knock you out.
Cards needed and setup
16 cards by rank (1-8; suit is cosmetic — pull duplicates across suits)
Clubs
Spades
Hearts
Diamonds
Caps
Switches
Planets
Stars
Assemble 16 cards by rank — only the rank matters, suit is purely cosmetic. Because each suit in the ZSA deck has each rank only once, you'll need to gather duplicates from across different suits.
| Rank | Count | Pull from any |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 5 different suits |
| 2 | 2 | 2 different suits |
| 3 | 2 | 2 different suits |
| 4 | 2 | 2 different suits |
| 5 | 2 | 2 different suits |
| 6 | 1 | 1 suit |
| 7 | 1 | 1 suit |
| 8 | 1 | 1 suit |
One example pull (any other suit assignment with the same ranks works just as well):
1111122334455678
One valid set of 16 Love Letter cards. The suits shown are arbitrary — only the rank determines which power the card has.
Setup (2-player variant):
- Shuffle the 16 cards.
- Burn three cards face-down into the middle of the table — they're out of play and nobody sees them.
- Burn one more card face-up next to those three. Both players see it; it's also out of play.
- Deal 1 card to each player.
Opp
54
You
1
2-player setup. Three cards face-down + one card face-up are removed for the round; each player starts with a card in hand.
Setup (3-4 players): Burn just one card (face down) and each player a card.
How to play
On your turn:
- Draw one card.
- Play one of the two cards in your hand. Apply its power.
- The played card stays face-up in front of you.
You're back to one card in hand until your next turn.
Card powers
Every rank has a unique power that triggers when you play it.
| R | Power |
|---|---|
| 1 | Choose another player and name a rank other than 1. If their hand contains that rank, they're eliminated. |
| 2 | Privately look at another player's hand. |
| 3 | Choose another player and privately compare hands. The player with the lower card is eliminated (ties: nobody out). |
| 4 | Immunity — no other player's card can affect you until your next turn. |
| 5 | Choose any player (including yourself). They discard their hand and draw a new card. |
| 6 | Trade hands with another player of your choosing. |
| 7 | If you're also holding a 5 or 6, you must play this. |
| 8 | If you play or discard this card for any reason, you're immediately eliminated. |
Winning
A player is eliminated when another card's power knocks them out, or when the deck runs out and they don't hold the highest card. The last player standing wins the round and earns 1 point. Then shuffle and start a new round.
First player to get to the required points total wins the game.
| Players | Total |
|---|---|
| 2 | 7 |
| 3 | 5 |
| 4 | 4 |
