Now, if you’d told my mates at the pub that I’d spend my Tuesday evening swooning over a dinky card game themed around a cute graphic novel about princesses rescuing princesses, they’d probably have choked on their pints. But here we are. Old Two Players Gaming has a soft side, and honestly, the missus and I have been absolutely obsessed with this little beauty.
If you've played any version of Love Letter before, you'll know it's a legendary microgame of deduction and bluffing. But this specific edition—Princess Princess Ever After—takes Seiji Kanai's classic design, gives it a gorgeous, inclusive facelift based on the graphic novel, and throws in a few cheeky rule tweaks that make it the definitive version to own.
Nitty Gritty Stuff
The core loop of the game is wonderfully simple: you start with one card in your hand. On your turn, you draw a card from the deck, and then you must play one of your two cards, triggering its effect. You’re trying to either eliminate all your opponents or hold the highest-value card when the deck runs out.
But because this is the Princess Princess edition, the classic cast has been swapped out for some incredibly charming characters:
- The Ogre (9) replaces the traditional Princess. It's the highest card in the deck, but if you're forced to play or discard it, you're immediately knocked out.
- Princess Sadie and Princess Amira (6) act as the Chancellors. They let you draw extra cards to filter your hand, but they have a lovely cooperative twist: if two players manage to play a Princess and both survive the round, they both get a favour token.
- Claire the Spy (0) gives you a sneaky bonus. If you are the only person to have played or discarded a Spy card and you survive the round, you get a bonus favour token in addition to whatever else is scored.
- Oliver The Dragon (4) is your shield, protecting you from being targeted until your next turn, while the Librarians (3) force a classic card duel where the player with the lower value is instantly eliminated.
You play across multiple quick-fire rounds, collecting these lovely, heavy acrylic "favour tokens." The first person to reach the target number of tokens (which varies depending on player count) wins the Princess’s heart and the game!
Tips and Tricks
- The Ogre Trap: Hoarding the Ogre (9) early on is a high-risk strategy. If someone targets you with Prince Vladric (5), you’ll be forced to discard it and instantly crash out of the round. Sometimes it’s safer to let it go if the heat gets too high.
- The Spy Gamble: Don't ignore Claire the Spy. Getting a free bonus token just for surviving after discarding a 0-value card is a proper Brucie bonus. If you see your opponent discard a Spy, try to hunt them down so they can't claim that solo bonus!
- Watch the Princesses: Since Sadie and Amira can hand out "mutual" victory tokens, keep a close eye on who is playing them. If your partner has played one and is looking strong, it might actually be in your best interest to let them survive so you can both reap the rewards.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes
- The Production Value: Instead of cheap cardboard punches or wooden cubes, the game comes with these chunky, satisfying, blue acrylic tokens. They feel proper premium.
- Tarot-Sized Cards: The cards are massive, which really lets Wendy Xu’s gorgeous, heartwarming artwork shine.
- The Princess Twist: The addition of the Spies and the Princess Sadie/Amira cooperative scoring adds just enough tactical depth to elevate this above the original 2012 version.
- Inclusive and Heartwarming: It’s just a lovely, positive theme. My wife absolutely adores the art style, and it makes for a very cozy, light-hearted gaming session.
Dislikes
- The Sleeve Struggle: Because the cards are tarot-sized and premium, finding the right sleeves for them can give a protective nerd like me slight heart palpitations. You'll definitely want to protect them because they get shuffled a lot!
Two Player Aspects
This game is just as satisfying for two people as it is for me. It routinely gets taken on holiday with us. Its as satisfying catching the light of your life with an ogre in your hand as it is your best mate.
Final Verdict
Love Letter: Princess Princess Ever After is an absolute cracker. It takes a game that was already brilliant, injects it with modern, beautiful representation, and packages it in a box that fits easily into a coat pocket.
It is the perfect game to throw into your bag for a weekend away, a quick 15-minute filler while you're waiting for the pub grub to arrive, or a light-hearted battle of wits with the missus over a brew. If you don't own a copy of Love Letter yet, this is absolutely the version you should buy! I love games like this that force you to think and bluff your way to victory. And this game is small enough to take on a plane and has few enough components that you can play it out and about.
