Hearts
Duck the hearts, dodge the Queen of Spades, and watch for the moon.
About Hearts
Hearts is a trick-avoidance game for four. Every heart you take costs one point and the Queen of Spades costs thirteen, and the lowest score wins — so the goal is to take as few of the wrong cards as possible. Before each hand you pass three cards, rotating left, right, across and then holding. The two of clubs always leads the first trick and no point cards may be played on it.
Follow suit when you can. Hearts cannot be led until one has been discarded, which is what "hearts are broken" means. The one exception to everything above is shooting the moon: take every single heart and the Queen and you score zero while everyone else takes twenty-six.
The three bots count cards rather than playing randomly, so the Queen does not simply fall into your lap. After the hand, the review screen shows which discards and which trick decisions actually cost you points.
- Players
- 4 players (you + 3 bots)
- Type
- Card game
- Price
- Free
- Account
- Not required
Hearts rules
- 1.Lowest score wins — each heart costs 1 point and the Queen of Spades costs 13.
- 2.Pass three cards before each hand (left, right, across, then hold).
- 3.The 2 of Clubs always leads the first trick, and no points can be played on it.
- 4.Follow suit if you can. Hearts cannot be led until a heart has been discarded.
- 5.Take every heart and the Queen to shoot the moon — you score 0 and everyone else takes 26.
How to win at Hearts
- Pass your danger, keep your exits
- The cards to pass are high spades above the Queen, and a whole short suit if you can void it. What you must keep is low cards in every suit — a two or three is an exit that lets you duck a trick you cannot afford to win.
- Count spades before you hunt the Queen
- The Ace and King of Spades are liabilities until the Queen has gone. If you hold them, lead low spades early to draw her out while the hand is still cheap.
- Void a suit deliberately
- Running out of a suit lets you discard hearts or the Queen onto someone else’s trick. One clean void is usually worth more than any amount of careful low-card play.
- Break up a moon in progress
- When one player has taken every point so far, take a single heart yourself — immediately. Costing yourself one point beats letting them score zero while you take twenty-six.
Hearts questions
- How does scoring work in Hearts?
- Each heart taken is one point and the Queen of Spades is thirteen. Points are penalties, so the player with the lowest total wins.
- What does shooting the moon mean?
- Taking all thirteen hearts and the Queen of Spades in one hand. The shooter scores zero and every other player takes twenty-six.
- When can hearts be led?
- Only after a heart has already been discarded on someone else’s trick. Until then, leading a heart is not allowed.
- Which direction do I pass?
- The passing direction rotates each hand: left, then right, then across, then a hold hand with no passing at all.