The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 2nd Day
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
Two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game.
2 Letters to Santa
Letters to Santa is a game of risk, deduction, and luck for 2–4 players. Your goal is to get your letter into Santa’s hands so he puts you on his Nice list and fills your stocking with games instead of coal. To accomplish this, you either need to be the last player in the game or have the highest valued card in your hand when the deck runs out.
There are only sixteen cards in the deck. After shuffling the cards, put one aside facedown and deal one card to each player. On your turn, you’ll draw one card, then play one card. There are multiple of some cards, but only one of others. Each card has a special ability. For example, Krampus, of which there are five, allows you to pick a player and guess what card she’s holding. If you’re correct, she’s out of the game. The Gingerbread Man lets you compare the card in your hand with that in another player’s hand – the player with the lower number is out of the game.
Letters to Santa sample cards
Not all of the cards immediately knock another player out of the game. The Reindeer lets you see another player’s card, which could be useful information for your next turn. If their card is higher than yours perhaps you can play Toys on your next turn and force that player to discard and draw a new card. Or you might play the Elf to swap cards hands with them. Of course, another player might try one of those strategies on you unless you just played the Snowman and are protected. The highest valued character is Santa. While he may grant you the win if you still have him in hand at the end of the game, you’ll be immediately eliminated if you discard him. The winner is the last player remaining or the player with the highest card in their hand when the deck runs out.
Letters to Santa is one of the many spin-offs of Love Letter. It’s worth having, even if you already own the original Love Letter or Love Letter Premium. The graphics are adorable and the theme is appropriate to the season.
2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, can play Letters to Santa or Love Letter in about 20 minutes.
Copyright © 2018 by Tina G. McDuffie. All rights reserved.
Photo rights retained by their respective copyright holders.
Related Posts:
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 1st Day
Christmas is just around the corner and I’ve got board games on the brain – again. I like to give and get games for Christmas. This morning I woke up with a variation of the classic Twelve Days of Christmas playing in my head, so I put together this little ditty, followed up by a few details on the games […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 2nd Day
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 2 Letters to Santa Letters to Santa is a game of risk, deduction, and luck for 2–4 players. Your goal is to get your letter into Santa’s hands so he puts you on his Nice list and fills your stocking with games […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 3rd Day
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Three Dice Sets, two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 3 Dice Sets You can never have too many dice! I don’t know what it is about them exactly… they just draw your attention like sparkling gems. Some even sparkle like gems when you roll them. Maybe that’s […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 4th Day
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Four Games for Two, three Dice Sets, two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 4 Games for Two While snuggling on the couch together in front of a roaring fire can make for a warm Christmas, playing games together can make for a fun Christmas. Here are […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 5th Day
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Five Zombie Dice!, four Games for Two, three Dice Sets, two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 5 Zombie Dice Zombie Dice is a simple push-your-luck dice game, that’s small enough to take and play anywhere – or stuff in a Christmas stocking. Your goal is to roll as many […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 6th Day
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Six sets of Card Sleeves, five Zombie Dice!, four Games for Two, three Dice Sets, two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 6 Sets of Card Sleeves To sleeve or not to sleeve, that is the question when most gamers open a new game. For some, it’s not […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 7th Day
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Seven Exit: The Games, six sets of Card Sleeves, five Zombie Dice!, four Games for Two, three Dice Sets, two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 7 Exit: The Game The EXIT: The Game and Unlock! series of games let you enjoy and solve an Escape Room […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 8th Day
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Eight Unlock! escape games, seven Exit: The Games, six sets of Card Sleeves, five Zombie Dice!, four Games for Two, three Dice Sets, two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 8 Unlock! Escape Games Like the EXIT games just mentioned, the Unlock! series of games were inspired by Escape […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 9th Day
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Nine Catan expansions, eight Unlock! escape games, seven Exit: The Games, six sets of Card Sleeves, five Zombie Dice!, four Games for Two, three Dice Sets, two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 9 Catan Expansions Catan is a modular board game of exploration, trading, and building. […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 10th Day
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Ten Ticket to Ride games, nine Catan expansions, eight Unlock! escape games, seven Exit: The Games, six sets of Card Sleeves, five Zombie Dice!, four Games for Two, three Dice Sets, two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 10 Ticket to Ride Games Ticket to Ride is one of my […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 11th Day
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Eleven Pandemic co-ops, ten Ticket to Ride games, nine Catan expansions, eight Unlock! escape games, seven Exit: The Games, six sets of Card Sleeves, five Zombie Dice!, four Games for Two, three Dice Sets, two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 11 Pandemic Co-ops Pandemic, designed by Matt […]
The 12 Game Gifts of Christmas: 12th Day
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Twelve Stefan Feld games, eleven Pandemic co-ops, ten Ticket to Ride games, nine Catan expansions, eight Unlock! escape games, seven Exit: The Games, six sets of Card Sleeves, five Zombie Dice!, four Games for Two, three Dice Sets, two Letters to Santa and a Hanabi co-op card game. 12 Stefan Feld Games Stefan […]