This project is a redesign of a card game I enjoy, known as Love Letter.

This was a personal passion project, as I have a deep love for tabletop gaming, and minimalist design. I challenged myself to recreate the game in a simple and highly readable form. My first experience with this game was with a couple friends, and I quickly noticed a few problems that were leading to gameplay slowing down, and being less interactive and strategic than it could be with some minor changes. As much as I enjoy the original game as I played it, I had to create my own version.

The first challenge was to nail down an aesthetic. I chose to really simplify the cards to the essentials. One of the main issues I ran into in my first few games with friends was not being able to recognize which cards were being played, without someone saying the name of the card outright. I wanted to make this very clear in my version.

Each card has it's numerical value and name printed clearly at the top of the card.
In addition, rather than relying on full-colour illustrations on each card, I created a series of simple pictograms for each card type. In doing this, it made for very quick and simple recognition of each card as it's played.

I also chose to make some changes to the gameplay, particularly the number 7 card. In the original game this card must be discarded if you happened to be holding it in your hand at the same time as one of two other cards, but had no effect when played otherwise. What this boiled down to, is that if you were unlucky enough to end up having to discard this card, you then often end up revealing crucial information about your hand and losing the round soon after. My solution to this issue was to give this card a powerful effect, and allow the player who plays it to glean extra information that the other players wouldn't have. This gives the player who plays this card an advantage, rather than putting them at a great disadvantage with the card's former, passive effect.

In my testing, this results in much more strategic gameplay, as the 7 card is of high value to hold onto, but also of high value to play from the player's hand. It also makes the player who draws this card feel good for playing it or keeping it, rather than feeling bad for having kept it, as was the case many times with the old ruling.

I went through a couple printed iterations of the game for testing purposes, one of which notably used a solid black background for the cards. However, the cardstock I had used to print the set of cards was translucent enough to reveal to the other players which card you were holding if held up to the light in the wrong way, even through a solid black backing.

To fix this issue, I reprinted the set using cardstock of slightly better quality, and a piece of my art with a complex linework pattern as the common backing for the cards. The art helps to break up any silhouettes of the front face that may still be seen through any transparency of the cardstock.

After playtesting in person, I implemented my new version as a free add-on in the game Tabletop Simulator. This has allowed me to play with my friends online, and much to my delight, many of them have opted to add the game to their personal add-on libraries.

I'm happy with the iteration I've landed on, and have been playing the game with friends, family, and co-workers. The game has had an excellent reception so far, and I've had a great time learning how people use different cards in ways I hadn't anticipated.

Thanks for your interest!