- Score sheets
- Family card games
- Love Letter
How to score Love Letter
Love Letter has no points, only tokens. Win a round and you take 1. In the 2019 edition, being the only player still in who played a Spy earns 1 more. The first player to hold enough tokens for your player count wins: 5 with three players.
- 2 to 4 players, 6 in the 2019 box
- About 20 minutes
- First to the token target
- 1 token a round
Tabletales is free on iPhone and iPad.
This is the real Scorepad, live. Each row is a round: 1 for the winner, 1 for a lone Spy, 0 for the rest.
Love Letter
- BGG #373
- 20 min
A tiny game of bluffing and deduction with just 16 cards. You hold one card, draw a second, and play one of them to guess, peek at or knock out a rival. The last player standing, or the one holding the highest card, wins the round.
Year, players, time and rank from BoardGameGeek.
How to play Love Letter, in brief
You hold one card at a time and try to be the last player in the round, or to hold the highest card when the deck runs out. Each round you win earns a favor token.
- Deal one eachShuffle the 21 cards, set the top one aside unseen (and 3 more face up with two players), and deal everyone 1.
- Draw one, play oneDraw a card, then play one of your two and do what it says. Each has a number, 0 to 9, and a power.
- Knock rivals outGuess a rival’s card with a Guard, beat it with a Baron, or make them discard the Princess, and they’re out of the round.
- Play to the targetA round ends when one player is left or the deck runs out. Play on until someone has enough tokens.
Win the round, take a token.
A round ends when only one player is left in, or when the deck runs out. Count tokens, not cards: nothing else carries from one round to the next. The 2019 edition adds the Spy, which can earn a token even when you lose the round.
Tokens needed to win
| Players | Tokens |
|---|---|
| 2 playersThe original 2012 edition needs 7 | 6 |
| 3 playersBoth editions | 5 |
| 4 playersBoth editions | 4 |
| 5 or 6 players2019 edition only | 3 |
- Find the round’s winnerThe last player left in wins. If the deck runs out first, the player holding the highest card wins. The winner takes 1 token.
- Settle a tie at the endIn the 2019 edition, every tied player takes a token. In the original, the tied player whose discards add up highest wins the round.
- Check the Spy2019 edition: if you are the only player still in who played or discarded a Spy, take 1 extra token, even if someone else won the round.
- Stop at the targetThe game ends as soon as a player holds enough tokens for your player count. In the 2019 edition, players who reach it together all win.
Round 10: Anya’s Countess takes it.
The 2019 edition with three players, so 5 tokens win. Going in: Anya 4, Sam 4, You 3. The deck runs out with all three of you still in, and you are the only one who played a Spy this round. This is hand 10 on the Scorepad above.
| Player | Why the token | Tokens |
|---|---|---|
| You | Holding a Guard (1) · played both SpiesThe only Spy player still in: 1 extra token, even for two | 1 |
| Anya | Holding the Countess (8)Highest card when the deck runs out: wins the round | 1 |
| Sam | Holding a Prince (5)No token this round | 0 |
Every token, round by round.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. In Love Letter, type each round’s tokens and Tabletales keeps the count, so nobody has to remember who had four.
- A row for every roundKeep Highest wins and switch to By hand. Go across each round: 1 for the winner, 1 for a lone Spy, 0 for the rest (hold 0 to zero everyone after).
- Your target on the padPick Play to a score and type your target: 5 for three players. The first total to reach it turns gold, and the trophy goes to the most tokens.
- A double win, called at the tableIn the 2019 edition, two players can reach the target in the same round, and both win. The Scorepad shares the trophy only when their totals match.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo from the table. Love Letter gets a history: how often you play it, who with, and who wins.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Love Letter, with its scores
Common Love Letter scoring mistakes
- Using the wrong targetIt depends on the player count and the edition: with two players, the original needs 7 and the 2019 edition 6.
- Counting the Spy token as a round winIt is an extra token. The round’s winner still takes theirs.
- Breaking a 2019 tie the old wayIn the 2019 edition every tied player takes a token. The highest-discards tiebreak belongs to the original.
Love Letter scoring, answered
- How do you score Love Letter?
- With tokens: the winner of each round takes 1. In the 2019 edition, the only player still in the round who played a Spy takes 1 more. The first to the token target wins.
- How many tokens do you need to win Love Letter?
- In the 2019 edition: 6 with two players, 5 with three, 4 with four, and 3 with five or six. The original 2012 edition needs 7 with two players, 5 with three and 4 with four.
- What does the Spy do in Love Letter?
- At the end of a round, if you are the only player still in who played or discarded a Spy, you gain 1 token, even if someone else won the round.
Love Letter score sheet
Print one for the table: six players and fifteen rounds, with the tokens each round, a running total, and the targets at the bottom.
Score another game
The original edition’s targets and tiebreak come from AEG’s 2012 rulebook, and UltraBoardGames’ copy of it agrees. Z-Man’s 2019 box also has a classic 16-card mode; its rulebook says the other rules are unchanged but does not say outright whether two players then play to 6 or 7, so agree before you start. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Z-Man’s rulebook, UltraBoardGames and Wikipedia. Love Letter is a trademark of Z-Man Games. Tabletales is not affiliated with Z-Man Games.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
