Power Hungry Pets by the
Exploding Kittens team is essentially
Love Letter, but in an
Exploding Kittens flavour.
Love Letter is such a staple in my collection that when I'm thinking about culling the collection it doesn't even make the pile for consideration to be considered for the pile that will be considered potentially to even look at culling. I think it is one of those games that sits well in being both easy to teach but has enough meat on the bones to make it worthwhile playing. My own copy of
Love Letter has been played so many times and through so many hands that when you see another company create a version of it, then I'm going to be concerned and potentially sceptical. It's like Pizza Hut announcing they are going to be making their version of a Big Mac. You know they have to get those Big Maccy flavours in, but at the same time, they also need to remind you that you're chomping down on the Pizza hut version.
Exploding Kittens is such a huge brand that if I go into my local supermarché, I'm actually more likely to see a copy of an Exploding Kittens game then I am a copy of Love Letter such is the coverage of the brand. Which puts us in the interesting situation that Power Hungry Pets is potentially going to be involved in that perfect storm, where fans of Love Letter will be interested in this game to see what the hell they've done. While EK fans are likely to want to try this based on the simple fact that it's another games from their stable.. or basket. (kittens see.)
Gameplay is simple. Every player is given a card. One card is placed face down in the middle of the table. Players then take turns picking a card from the draw pile and then playing one of the two cards they now have in their hand. You're ideally wanting to eliminate everyone else in the round, but you want to make sure you never play the highest King card, as this results in your elimination. Play continues until everyone is out except for one player, or draw deck is exhausted, where the player with the highest card wins. As you play your cards, then you'll have to action the effects on your selected play card. That can result in you trying to guess what card another player has, or swapping hands with someone, or even taking the lone card in the middle of the table. For those who have played Love Letter there's only a few changes to deal with but luckily the detailed rule sheet not only explains what the card do when they play, but also give hints and tips on potential strategies that you can consider employing. Its a clever touch that is very self aware of the existing Exploding Kittens audience, while as a seasoned Love Letter pro, I was grateful that the new card powers were explained fully and clearly. It's a reminder that this is very much a mass market game and in some ways is all the better for it.
It's a given that PHP is gong to run with the similar art work that Exploding Kittens is famous for. I was surprised at the increased card size that on offer here. It give the artwork a bit more space to breath and it makes me wonder if the original Love Letter with its sumptuous art would benefit from moving up to the bigger tarot sized cards. As already mentioned, the rule sheet and general production values are excellent.
The question here is ultimately whether or not Power Hungry Pets deserves a space on your shelf. That can be answered a number of ways, and it will depend on which side of the fence you are approaching from. If you're a fan of either Love Letter or Exploding Kitten, you might just pick this up to add to the respected collection. There's going to be those aware of both brands who will pick up the game based on the simple fact that it is an amalgamation of two properties they know and like. That however maybe insinuates that you'll not enjoy this game is you aren't a fan or have direct experience of either and detracts from the extremely solid game on offer here. It's easy to learn, take practically no time to play and looks good on the table. It also manages the fine balance of being a take that game but without the capital letters, so even if you lose, you'll still be having so much fun that it doesn't really matter. It's a buy and keep on the shelf kind of a game, where nothing else is grabbing you and you don't want to spend the first fifteen minutes relearning the rules. And for those in the know, it's ANOTHER Love Letter for goodness sake..
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This review is based on the retail version of the game provided to us by the designer and publisher. We were not paid monetary compensation for this review. We give a general overview of the gameplay and so not all of the mechanical aspects of the game may be mentioned.
The majority of the games that we are play are going to take a reasonable number of sessions and playthroughs to fully understand every possibility that they offer. We hope this write up gives you an idea of whether or not this game is something that you will consider playing or even add to your collection.
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