Game rules

Love Letter rules: how to play and how to score

Reviewed on 10 October 2026 against the publisher’s rulebook. How we check

Love Letter plays 2 to 6 players: everyone wants to get their letter to the princess, with just one card in hand. Here are the essential rules, setup and how favor tokens are counted, based on the official rulebook.

Players: 2 to 6
Play time: About 20 minutes
Winner: First to collect enough favor tokens (6, 5, 4 or 3 by player count)

Love Letter quick rules

The goal: You are a suitor trying to get your letter to the princess. Each round, you try to win a favor token. The first to collect enough wins the game: 6 with 2 players, 5 with 3 players, 4 with 4 players and 3 with 5 or 6 players.
A turn: You always have just one card in hand. On your turn, draw a second card, then lay one faceup in front of you, applying its effect, and keep the other. Played cards stay visible to everyone, and play continues clockwise.
The characters: Guard (1): name a character other than Guard; if the targeted opponent has it, they’re out. Priest (2): look at an opponent’s hand. Baron (3): compare hands, the lower value is out. Handmaid (4): nobody can target you until your next turn. Prince (5): a player, yourself included, discards their hand and draws a new one. Chancellor (6): draw two cards, keep one of your three, put the other two at the bottom of the deck. King (7): swap hands with an opponent. Countess (8): must be played if you also hold the King or a Prince. Princess (9): playing or discarding her knocks you out. Spy (0): no effect, but it can earn you a token.
Being knocked out: Reveal your hand faceup, without applying its effect. You can no longer be chosen by an effect, and you skip your turns until the next round.
The end of a round: If only one player is left in the round, they win it and take a favor token. Otherwise, when the deck is empty after a turn, the players still in reveal their hands: the highest value wins the round. On a tie, all tied players gain a token. The winner starts the next round.
The Spy and the count: At the end of the round, if you’re the only player still in who played or discarded a Spy, you gain an extra favor token, whoever wins the round. Two Spies played by you still give just one token; if two players each played one, nobody takes it.
Beginner traps: The Countess is mandatory if you hold the King or a Prince, but don’t show your other card. Discarding the Princess knocks you out, even when a Prince forces it. The Guard never names a Guard. If all other players are protected by a Handmaid, your card is played with no effect, except the Prince: you must then choose yourself.

How to score Love Letter

Favor tokens: 1 token per round won; on a tie, one token for each tied player.
Spy bonus: +1 token if you’re the only player still in the round who played or discarded a Spy (no Spy in the classic version).
End of the game: The first to collect 6 tokens with 2 players, 5 with 3 players, 4 with 4 players, 3 with 5 or 6 players wins.

Worked example

With 4 players, you need 4 tokens. Emma wins round 1 (1 token). In round 2, Jake wins, but Emma is the only player still in who played a Spy (2 tokens). She wins rounds 3 and 4: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 4 tokens, and she wins the game.

Common mistakes

Forgetting the Spy token: it’s an extra, even if another player wins the round.
Giving the Spy token to a player who was knocked out: only a player still in the round takes it.
Aiming for the same number of tokens at any player count: 6, 5, 4 or 3 depending on the table.
Giving only one token on an end-of-round tie: each tied player gains one.

How to set up Love Letter

Setup is repeated every round. With 2 players, 3 more cards are set aside faceup; the classic version plays 2 to 4 with 16 cards.

The cards

Give a reference card to each player.It shows the value, effect and number of copies of each character.
Shuffle the 21 Character cards and place the deck facedown in the center.The favor tokens go next to it, within everyone’s reach.
Remove the top card of the deck without looking and place it facedown to one side.It’s the round’s set-aside card: nobody knows what it is.
With 2 players, also remove 3 cards from the deck and place them faceup to one side.These 3 characters aren’t in the round; they have no other use.

Each player

Deal 1 card from the deck to each player: this is their starting hand.Everyone keeps their card secret.
The first player is whoever most recently wrote a letter by hand.In later rounds, it’s the previous round’s winner; on a tie, draw lots among the winners.
Note how many favor tokens you need to win the game.2 players: 6 tokens. 3 players: 5. 4 players: 4. 5 or 6 players: 3.

The classic version

With 2 to 4 players, for the classic version, first put back into the bag 1 Guard, the 2 Chancellors and the 2 Spies.That leaves 16 cards. Do this before shuffling; the other rules don’t change.

Each new round

Reshuffle the 21 cards and start again: one set-aside card (and 3 faceup with 2 players), then one card for each player.Favor tokens already won stay in front of their owners.

Frequently asked questions

How many tokens do you need to win Love Letter?

6 favor tokens with 2 players, 5 with 3 players, 4 with 4 players and 3 with 5 or 6 players.

How many cards do you start with in Love Letter?

Just one card in hand. On your turn, draw a second and play one. One card is also set aside facedown, plus 3 faceup with 2 players.

What does the Spy do in Love Letter?

It has no effect when played. But if you’re the only player still in the round who played or discarded a Spy at the end of the round, you gain an extra favor token.

Ludingo’s Love Letter sheet was last reviewed on 10 October 2026, based on: asmodee.net, BoardGameGeek.