Hearts

How to play Hearts

Hearts is a classic trick-taking card game for four players. You play against three computer players, each for themselves. A normal 52-card deck is dealt out, so everyone gets 13 cards. Unlike most card games, you want to avoid points.

Goal

Every heart you take is worth 1 point and the Queen of Spades is worth 13. The game ends when a player reaches 100 points. The player with the lowest score wins.

Passing cards

Before each hand, choose three cards to pass. The direction changes every hand: to the left, to the right, across the table, and then a hand with no passing. Pass cards that are dangerous for you, like high hearts or the Queen, King or Ace of Spades.

Turn by turn

1. The player with the 2 of Clubs leads it to the first trick.
2. Each player in turn plays one card. You must follow suit if you can. If you can't, play any card.
3. The highest card of the suit that was led wins the trick. There are no trumps. The winner leads the next trick.
4. You may not play hearts or the Queen of Spades on the first trick, unless you have nothing else.
5. Hearts can't be led until a heart has been played on an earlier trick ("hearts are broken"), unless you only have hearts left.

Scoring and shooting the moon

After all 13 tricks, each player adds up the points in the tricks they won. There are 26 points in each hand. If one player takes all 26, they have shot the moon: they score 0 and every other player gets 26 points. If the game reaches 100 points and two players are tied for the lowest score, another hand is played.

Playing on this site

Click a card to play it. On a touch screen, tap once to lift a card and tap it again to play. Cards you can't play are dimmed. You can also use the arrow keys and Enter. Undo takes back your last card, and the game is saved if you close the page.

Strategy tips

• Make a void when you pass. Passing all your diamonds or clubs lets you throw away hearts and high spades when that suit is led.
• Keep low spades. If you hold the Queen of Spades with four or more small spades, it is often safer to keep it and wait.
• Lead low spades to hunt the Queen. If you don't have the Queen, King or Ace of Spades, leading small spades forces the Queen out early.
• Get rid of high cards early. On the first rounds of a suit nobody is void yet, so a high card wins a trick with no points in it.
• Watch for a moon shot. If one player has taken every point so far, keep one heart to win a trick and stop them.