Secret Letter

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Playing a turn
5. End of a round
6. Winning the game
7. Tips for beginners
8. Variants

Overview

Secret Letter is a short game of deduction and nerve for 2–4 players. It uses only 16 cards, and you hold just one card in your hand. On your turn you draw a second card and play one of the two. Every card has a value from 1 to 8 and a power: you can guess another player's card, peek at it, duel them, swap with them or force them to throw their card away. A player who loses a duel or whose card is guessed is out of the round.

A round ends when only one player is left, or when the draw pile is empty – then the highest card wins. The winner of a round scores 1 point. The first to reach the target (4 points with 4 players) wins the game.

• Players: 2–4.
• You need: 16 cards from one standard deck including one joker (see below), and a few coins or paper and pencil to keep score.

Secret Letter is our own adaptation for an ordinary deck, inspired by Love Letter (Seiji Kanai, 2012). The card names, texts and some rules are our own. It has not been playtested yet.

The cards

Take these 16 cards out of the deck; the rest goes back in the box:

The joker counts as an Ace – value 1, power Guess. The suits do not matter; they only make it easy to find the cards.

Setup

1. Choose a player to start. They shuffle the 16 cards.
2. Put the top card face down aside without looking at it. Nobody knows this card – that is why you can never be completely sure who holds what.
3. With 2 players only: also lay the next 3 cards face up aside. They are out of the round, and everyone can see them.
4. Deal 1 card face down to each player. Look at your card and keep it hidden.
5. Put the rest face down in the middle as the draw pile.

Playing a turn

The start player begins, then play goes clockwise. On your turn:

1. Draw the top card of the draw pile. You now hold two cards.
2. Play one of them: lay it face up in front of you and carry out its power. Keep the other card.

Lay your played cards in a row, slightly overlapping, so that everybody can see which cards have been played and in what order. This row is the most important information in the game – watch it.

Choosing a player

Most cards let you choose another player.

• You may not choose a player who is out or who is protected by a Shield (their last played card is a 4).
• If every other player is protected, you still have to play a card. A card that needs another player then simply has no effect. A Reset must then choose you.
• You always have to play one of your two cards, even if its power hurts you.

The powers in detail

• Guess (1): name a value, not a card – "Do you have a 6?". You may not name 1. If you are right, that player shows their card, lays it in their row and is out. If you are wrong, they just say "no".
• Peek (2): the other player shows you their card so that nobody else sees it.
• Duel (3): you and the other player show each other your cards in secret. Whoever has the lower value lays their card face up in their row and is out. The winner's card stays secret. On a tie nobody is out.
• Shield (4): as long as the 4 is the last card in your row, nobody can choose you. The protection ends when your next turn begins.
• Reset (5): the chosen player lays their card face up in their row without using its power and draws a new card. If that card was the 8, they are out. If the draw pile is empty, they take the face-down card that was put aside at the start.
• Swap (6): you give your other card to the chosen player and take theirs.
• Veil (7): if you hold the 7 together with a 5 or 6, you must play the 7. Otherwise you may play it whenever you like – playing it without being forced is a good bluff.
• Letter (8): the most valuable card. Keep it, protect it – and never play it.

Out of the round

A player who is out lays their hand card face up in their row and takes no more turns this round. Their played cards stay visible.

End of a round

The round ends as soon as one of these happens:

• Only one player is left – they win the round.
• The draw pile is empty after a player's turn. Everybody still in the round shows their card. The highest value wins. On a tie, the tied player whose played cards add up to more wins. If that is also tied, all of them win.

Every winner of the round scores 1 point.

The winner shuffles all 16 cards and starts the next round. After a shared win, the tied player who comes first clockwise from the previous start player starts.

Example: Anna, Ben and Carla are playing. Anna holds a 3 and draws the 8. She wants to keep the 8, so she plays the 3 (Duel) against Ben. They show each other their cards: Ben has a 5 and loses – he lays the 5 in his row and is out. Carla now knows that Anna has a card higher than 5. She holds a 2 and draws an Ace. She plays the Ace (Guess) against Anna and says "8!" – Anna has to show her Letter and is out. Carla wins the round and scores 1 point.

Winning the game

The game ends when a player reaches the target:

If several players reach it at the same time, play another round among all players; the first of the tied players to score again wins.

Tips for beginners

• Count the cards. There are five 1s but only one 6, one 7 and one 8. Look at the played rows and the face-up cards (with 2 players) and work out what is still around.
• A Duel after a Peek is deadly: once you know someone's card, you know whether you will win.
• A high card makes you a target. Holding the 8 is great at the end of the round, but anyone who has worked it out will guess "8!".
• Guess what was just revealed. If someone swapped, peeked or duelled with you, you often know exactly what they hold.
• The 7 lies. Somebody who plays the 7 may hold a 5 or 6 – or may just want you to believe that.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Short game: play to 3 points, whatever the number of players.
• Everyone knows the gap: with 3 or 4 players, lay 1 extra card face up aside at the start, as with 2 players. The game gets a little more predictable.