Overview: The video game adaptation of the card game Love Letter.
20190727:
Yesterday I played Carcassonne: Tiles & Tactics, and today I decided to play Love Letter. As with Carcassonne, I already own the physical version of Love Letter, but I thought I would check out the video game adaptation and see how it compares. Of course, the obvious advantage is that I'm able to play against AI. Unfortunately, there's a lack of hotseat multiplayer, a feature I feel is necessary for any board game adaptation of a game.
Someone made a Reddit post similar to the strategy table I began writing for myself. I haven't read all of it yet, but I'll make a link to it and remember to get back to it.
Steam Game Time: 72 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Play against AI
+ Decent UI: stars to inform how many of each card is left and the information about how a specific card was used (e.g., which card was guessed by Guard, which card was seen by Priest, etc.)
Neutral:
~ One of the texts in the summary section is wrong
~ I'm not a big fan of Love Letter, because there's too much luck involved.
Minor Cons:
- While there are stars to inform the distribution of each card that has been played, I'm still required to run through the numbers 1 through 8 (e.g., if 2 is nowhere to be seen, I have to mentally note that there are two 2's still left in the deck).
- Similar to the previous, one can do some mental math to figure how many cards are left in the deck, but the game could have simply provide the user with the information.
- Having to press escape to exit certain screens. I should be able to click on something.
Cons:
- No hotseat multiplayer; playing with friends essentially requires one copy of the game per player and creating an online lobby
- No online community; that is, I tried queuing up for an online game and nobody joined.
Summary:
In my case, I have a physical copy of Love Letter and would be able to play with my friends. With that being said, the lack of a hotseat multiplayer feature for a video game adaptation of a board game, especially a simple board game such as Love Letter, is unfortunate. Empathizing with the developers, I can imagine a hotseat mode falling short of the real game. On the other hand, almost every video game adaptation's implementation of the hotseat feature will be inefficient compared to the corresponding real-life experience. But wait, I just thought of something! Games like The Jackbox Party Pack (PC) (2014) implement a simple system where every player connects to the computer with his/her own device (e.g., phone, tablet, or laptop) where he/she can make his/her own input. With Love Letter, the developers could have implemented a feature where players see their two cards on their devices plus other necessary interfaces such as interaction with other players, while seeing the global information on the host screen. As such, unless the player is satisfied solo play vs. AI or has friends willing to purchase the game separately, then I would recommend simply purchasing the physical game instead of this video game adaptation.
Love Letter (PC) (2018)
Relevant Links:
Love Letter (Wikipedia.org)
Love Letter (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Love Letter (Steam Store Page)
Love Letter (Board Game Geek)
Love Letter (card game) (Wikipedia.org)
20190727:
Yesterday I played Carcassonne: Tiles & Tactics, and today I decided to play Love Letter. As with Carcassonne, I already own the physical version of Love Letter, but I thought I would check out the video game adaptation and see how it compares. Of course, the obvious advantage is that I'm able to play against AI. Unfortunately, there's a lack of hotseat multiplayer, a feature I feel is necessary for any board game adaptation of a game.
 |
| The Princess |
Someone made a Reddit post similar to the strategy table I began writing for myself. I haven't read all of it yet, but I'll make a link to it and remember to get back to it.
Steam Game Time: 72 minutes
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Play against AI
+ Decent UI: stars to inform how many of each card is left and the information about how a specific card was used (e.g., which card was guessed by Guard, which card was seen by Priest, etc.)
Neutral:
~ One of the texts in the summary section is wrong
 |
| The discard piles to the top and left. The player's hand at the bottom right. |
~ I'm not a big fan of Love Letter, because there's too much luck involved.
Minor Cons:
- While there are stars to inform the distribution of each card that has been played, I'm still required to run through the numbers 1 through 8 (e.g., if 2 is nowhere to be seen, I have to mentally note that there are two 2's still left in the deck).
- Similar to the previous, one can do some mental math to figure how many cards are left in the deck, but the game could have simply provide the user with the information.
- Having to press escape to exit certain screens. I should be able to click on something.
Cons:
- No hotseat multiplayer; playing with friends essentially requires one copy of the game per player and creating an online lobby
- No online community; that is, I tried queuing up for an online game and nobody joined.
 |
| View the three cards which were removed at the start of the round. |
Summary:
In my case, I have a physical copy of Love Letter and would be able to play with my friends. With that being said, the lack of a hotseat multiplayer feature for a video game adaptation of a board game, especially a simple board game such as Love Letter, is unfortunate. Empathizing with the developers, I can imagine a hotseat mode falling short of the real game. On the other hand, almost every video game adaptation's implementation of the hotseat feature will be inefficient compared to the corresponding real-life experience. But wait, I just thought of something! Games like The Jackbox Party Pack (PC) (2014) implement a simple system where every player connects to the computer with his/her own device (e.g., phone, tablet, or laptop) where he/she can make his/her own input. With Love Letter, the developers could have implemented a feature where players see their two cards on their devices plus other necessary interfaces such as interaction with other players, while seeing the global information on the host screen. As such, unless the player is satisfied solo play vs. AI or has friends willing to purchase the game separately, then I would recommend simply purchasing the physical game instead of this video game adaptation.
Love Letter (PC) (2018)
Relevant Links:
Love Letter (Wikipedia.org)
Love Letter (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Love Letter (Steam Store Page)
Love Letter (Board Game Geek)
Love Letter (card game) (Wikipedia.org)
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