# of Players: 2-4
Playtime: 0-30 Minutes
Playtime: 0-30 Minutes
Core Mechanic: Hand Management
Theme: Renaissance
Type: Filler
Type: Filler
Weight: Light
Year: 2012
Rating: 7*
When this game first came out, I kept hearing what a great, short game it was - seemingly the perfect filler. I didn't read much more into this game before buying it, since it had already shot up the rankings and was very cheap to purchase. Once I opened the box and subsequent bag, I understood why it was so cheap - how can so few components, 16 cards and a few tokens, be that much fun? I was about to find out.
The rules could not be more simple - on your turn, draw cards until your hand has two cards and then play a card. This continues until everyone but one person is knocked out, who is the winner of the round, or until the deck of cards being drawn from runs out and everyone compares cards to see who has the highest-ranking card, who is the winner of the round. The winner of the round receives an affection token and a new round begins, with the game ending once someone collects a certain number of tokens depending on the number of players.
As mentioned earlier, the game consists of 8 roles spread over 16 cards. There are five Guards, two of each of the middle four roles, and one King, one Countess, and one Princess. The Guards are given a rank of 1, the Princess 8, and others are in between. Some of these roles, like the Priest, will help players figure out other players' roles. Others, like the Guard or Baron, will give players the chance to eliminate each other. Two of the more interesting roles are the Countess and Princess. The Countess has the second highest rank of 7 but you must play her if you hold the King or the Prince, so it might give away your remaining role or you can her to your advantage as a bluff if you are willing to sacrifice her high ranking. The Princess has the highest rank of 8, but if you play or discard her for any reason, you are eliminated!
The theme of the game is that each player is trying to get his "love letter" to the princess through the characters represented by the roles in order to win her affection, so obviously the guards would have the least influence and the countess would have the most, and if you are able to get your letter to the princess herself, that is best of all. If it doesn't sound like much of a theme or if some of the roles don't seem like they fit what they actually do in the game, it's because the theme is quite pasted on. In fact, the game has been popular enough that it has been officially re-themed many times, from Batman to the Hobbit to Santa, and there are numerous unofficial re-themes as well. In addition, the game ends once one player wins a number of rounds depending on the number of players. This feels like a bit of an arbitrary way to extend a short game and there doesn't seem to be much thematic connection with this either - you're able to get more letters to the princess? I guess that works...
Still, regardless of the light theme or how I feel about the number of rounds, this is a fun little deduction game that is extremely portable and takes up very little table space, making it a perfect travel game. Although my fondness for it has waned slightly, I would still play it as a filler and I think the updated premium edition with more players and roles will only make things more exciting. I think it definitely belongs in the Gateway, Essentials, and Collector collections. Its position as an easy to learn but somewhat deep filler also warrants its position in the Middleweight and Heavyweight collections. Similar to Hive, this might eventually form a travel collection of games.
As mentioned earlier, the game consists of 8 roles spread over 16 cards. There are five Guards, two of each of the middle four roles, and one King, one Countess, and one Princess. The Guards are given a rank of 1, the Princess 8, and others are in between. Some of these roles, like the Priest, will help players figure out other players' roles. Others, like the Guard or Baron, will give players the chance to eliminate each other. Two of the more interesting roles are the Countess and Princess. The Countess has the second highest rank of 7 but you must play her if you hold the King or the Prince, so it might give away your remaining role or you can her to your advantage as a bluff if you are willing to sacrifice her high ranking. The Princess has the highest rank of 8, but if you play or discard her for any reason, you are eliminated!
The theme of the game is that each player is trying to get his "love letter" to the princess through the characters represented by the roles in order to win her affection, so obviously the guards would have the least influence and the countess would have the most, and if you are able to get your letter to the princess herself, that is best of all. If it doesn't sound like much of a theme or if some of the roles don't seem like they fit what they actually do in the game, it's because the theme is quite pasted on. In fact, the game has been popular enough that it has been officially re-themed many times, from Batman to the Hobbit to Santa, and there are numerous unofficial re-themes as well. In addition, the game ends once one player wins a number of rounds depending on the number of players. This feels like a bit of an arbitrary way to extend a short game and there doesn't seem to be much thematic connection with this either - you're able to get more letters to the princess? I guess that works...
Still, regardless of the light theme or how I feel about the number of rounds, this is a fun little deduction game that is extremely portable and takes up very little table space, making it a perfect travel game. Although my fondness for it has waned slightly, I would still play it as a filler and I think the updated premium edition with more players and roles will only make things more exciting. I think it definitely belongs in the Gateway, Essentials, and Collector collections. Its position as an easy to learn but somewhat deep filler also warrants its position in the Middleweight and Heavyweight collections. Similar to Hive, this might eventually form a travel collection of games.
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