Lovecraft Letter: How To Play With Strategy Tips and Other FAQ

The original game of Love Letter is a quick card game that has elements of deduction, strategy and luck and plays 2-6 players.

Amazon lists it as a party game, but I don’t know that I would call it that. Still, it’s super simple and only takes about 20 minutes to play. I love this game because it’s so well-balanced.

The main goal of this light game is to win the favor of a princess and deflect love letters from competing suitors. What does that mean?

Basically, players will have two cards in their hand. Each turn, they will choose one to play and the last person standing with the highest card is the winner of the round.

The best part? There are variations of the game so you can basically pick your flavor or make it slightly more complex.

Some of the variations of the Love Letter engine include Jabba’s Palace (a Star Wars theme), Infinity Gauntlet (a Marvel them), Loot Letter (a Munchkin theme) and Lovecraft Letter (a Cthulhu theme).

The Lovecraft Letter variation

The background isn’t necessarily important for knowing how to play the game, but if you wish to know the story behind a game, it goes as follows:

Lovecraft Letter is set up in the 1920s in the chaos of the first World War.

In this game, you have arrived to Egypt to help your cousin, who has encountered strange figures that come to life and letters that contain unreadable texts and strange symbols.

The cousin goes missing and now it’s your turn to investigate.

Players discover a series of clues, some of which contain forbidden secrets that are protected by supernatural beings. Some of these cards/clues are riskier than others and could get you eliminated.

During the game, you hold one secret in your hand at a time that will help you uncover frightful truths and evil schemes.

Players try to finish the round with the highest value clue card.

This variation of the game is based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, who is best known for the creation of Cthulhu Mythos.

The game plays 2-6 players. It also includes high-quality win tokens and custom card sleeves, which is a very nice touch.

Setting up the Lovecraft Letter game

Before you begin, make sure you set aside the Mi-Go Braincase card. Shuffle the remaining cards and form a face-down deck in the center of the table.

Remove the top card of the deck (without looking) and set it aside, face down.

If you are playing a two-player game, remove another five cards from the deck and set them aside, face up.

Then, each player draws one card from the top of the deck. This serves as the player’s hand.

Determine a starting player however you wish.

How to play Lovecraft Letter

The game is played in a series of rounds.

Players take turns drawing a card from the top of the deck. Then, you will choose one of the two cards to play/discard.

When a card is discarded, it is revealed face up in front of you. Apply the card effect that is written on the bottom of the card. After the effects play out, that card is now in your discard pile. You must apply the effect even if it is bad for you.

As cards grow in your discard pile, stack them in a way that they are visible to yourself and other players.

Once the effect resolves, the next player (to the left) takes a turn.

Card effects in Lovecraft Letter

The cards in Lovecraft Letter are numbered 1-8 just like in the original Love Letter game.

Lower numbers are generally weak and higher numbers are more powerful. However, the highest number will make you the most vulnerable and more likely to get kicked out of the round.

For example, the “2” lets you look at another player’s card. The “6” lets you trade hands with another player.

Each card will have a different ability. It’s a good idea to keep your reference cards handy.

You want to make it to the end the game with a high number.

Sane and Insane cards

You will notice that there are “green” versions to each card in the game. Namely, the numbers will have a green background and there will be a green text effect at the bottom of the card. These are the Insane cards.

Insane cards have two effects. The first effect is written with a tan background and the insane effect is written with a green background. The Insane effects have a special power that is generally more powerful than its Sane counterpart.

But being “insane” comes with its disadvantages. It will make you more vulnerable to being kicked out of the game.

So how and why would you play Insane cards?

The first time you play/discard an Insane card, you will take the normal (tan) effect. However, once you already have an Insane card in your discard pile (for any reason), you may begin taking the Insane effect.

It’s worth noting, though, that you do have a choice on which effect to play.

There is also a downside. An Insane player must do a Sanity check on their next turn.

How to do a Sanity Check

To do a Sanity Check, at the start of your turn (and for each turn going forward), flip over the top card of the draw deck for each Insane card in your discard pile.

For example, if you have two Insane cards in your discard pile, flip over two cards from the draw pile (face up).

If any card that you flip over is an Insane card, you are knocked out of the round. You’ve gone insane. There’s a glitch in the Matrix. Wait til your next turn.

If players cannot do a Sanity Check for lack of cards, the round is over and the player with the highest value card wins the round.

If you pass the Sanity check, the cards are discarded with no effect and the player draws and takes a turn as usual.

Remember, sometimes you will not have a choice but to go Insane.

Read Also: These are the best 2 player cooperative board games

Do you show your card when you discard in Lovecraft Letter?

Yes.

The game often refers to discarding cards. Unless it’s a Sanity Check, discarding means you add the card from your hand to your discard pile, face up.

Unless otherwise specified, you must apply the effect on the card.

Getting knocked out of the round

When a player is knocked out, they discard their hand face up (without applying the effect) and that player will not take another turn until the next round begins.

How to win Lovecraft Letter

When you’re playing Lovecraft Letter, players will most likely be knocked out of a round before making it to the end of the round.

However, if more than one player remains when there are no more cards left to draw, the player with the highest single card will win the round. If multiple players have the same number, they are knocked out.

The winner of the round gains a token, either a Sane token or Insane token depending on whether or not they went Insane.

In Lovecraft Letter, you win the game by having either three Insane tokens or two Sane tokens that look like poker chips. You can have a mixture of both, but they cannot be combined for the win total.

For example, if you had two Insane tokens and one Sane token, you would need one more token of either type to win the game. You need to have enough tokens of the right type.

It is also possible to win due to the Insane effects of the Cthulhu.

Read Also: What are the best 3 player board games? My top 5, ranked

When you can lie, when you can’t

While this game is one of deduction, it is not a social deduction game. Therefore, you can’t lie while playing if you want to play correctly.

If someone guesses your card when playing with an Investigator, you are out. If you are holding both a “7” (the Silver Key) and a “5”, you must discard the 5.

Can you play regular Love Letter with Lovecraft Letter?

I mean, sure. The games are a little different but the mechanisms are the same. The main difference will be the fact that you have an added Insane version of each card.

If you wish to simply ignore the insane effects, you could play as if it’s a normal Love Letter base game, but with more cards.

Or better yet, remove the Insane cards and the game will act like the original Love Letter game.

Strategy tips for Lovecraft Letter

Try to avoid going Insane too early. It’s quite difficult to survive multiple Sanity Checks.

Also, you will play well if you have a good memory. If you look at someone’s card, try to remember it.

This seems obvious, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone make a poor strategic decision because they simply forgot important game information.

Remember, toward the end of the game you can usually figure out who has what based on what has already been revealed.

Also, some cards work as a nice little combo if you play them right.

For example, if you have a “8” and a “3”, you can compare cards with someone and get them knocked out. That is, unless, they also have an “8” in their hand.

Lastly, if you have a “4”, don’t hang on to it for too long. You’ll be surprised how many people get knocked out in the first or second round.

Overall, this is a great game and one of my favorite quick games to play.

It’s currently on Amazon for $28. The original Love Letter game is only $12.

Have you played this card game? Let me know in the comments below.