New Game Round-up: Emanuele Ornella Self-Publishes Again, Kanai Creates a Love Letter & Kramer/Kiesling Head to Italy for Marble

In 1477, the French king Louis XI created the royal mail service. Within a century it evolved into a complex postal and merchandise delivery system. Several post offices, warehouses, and a delivery network based not only on carriages and horses but also on fluvial boats quickly arose. The main stream of commerce and information flowed through the Loire Valley, located in Central France and the middle stretch of the Loire River. It was a period of development and wealth for the villages and cities that bordered this body of water.

Who will become the richest merchant or messenger in the France of the 15th century? Who will cover all the streets along the Loire Valley? Who will build the richest palace, the more prosperous abbey? Who will have at his service the mightier personalities?

La Loire is a wonderful challenge for one – yes! face yourself! – to four players, a passionate struggle of resource management!

In Die Paläste von Carrara, players want to buy the marble from this famous region of Italy as cheaply as possible – but any reduction in price will benefit opponents as well. Maybe you'll find it profitable to instead invest in the buildings created from this marble? Maybe it'll be more worthwhile to grab the expensive raw material when bigger buildings in town turn out to be not so lucrative?

Love Letter is a game of risk, deduction, and luck for 2–4 players. Your goal is to get your love letter into Princess Annette's hands while deflecting the letters from competing suitors. From a deck with only sixteen cards, each player starts with only one card in hand; one card is removed from play. On a turn, you draw one card, and play one card, trying to expose others and knock them from the game. Powerful cards lead to early gains, but make you a target. Rely on weaker cards for too long, however, and your letter may be tossed in the fire!