How do you play Hearts?
Hearts is a game where four players hold 13 cards each, play one card per trick, and try not to win tricks that contain hearts or the queen of spades. Each heart is worth 1 point, the queen of spades 13, and as soon as somebody reaches 100 points the player with the lowest total wins.
You sit at the bottom and three computer players (Mia, Leo and Noa) sit left, top and right. Play goes to the left. If you hold the suit that was led you must follow it, and the highest card of that suit takes all four cards. Only when you are out of the suit may you throw in anything else, and that is exactly when you unload a heart or the queen on someone.
What are the official rules used here?
This version uses the full standard rule set: rotating passes, the 2 of clubs leads, no penalty cards on the first trick, no leading hearts until they are broken, and shooting the moon.
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Passing | At the start of a round choose 3 cards to pass. Round 1 passes left, round 2 right, round 3 across, round 4 has no pass, then the cycle repeats. |
| Opening lead | Whoever holds the 2 of clubs must lead it to the first trick. |
| First trick | No hearts and no queen of spades may be played on the first trick, unless a hand holds nothing else. |
| Breaking hearts | Hearts are broken the first time someone discards a heart because they cannot follow suit. Until then you may not lead a heart, unless hearts are all you have. |
| Scoring | Each heart 1 point, the queen of spades 13 points, 26 points in total per round. |
| Shooting the moon | A player who takes all 26 points scores 0 and the other three players score 26 each. |
| End | When any player reaches 100 or more, the game ends and the lowest total wins. |
Which cards should I pass?
Usually the ace, king and queen of spades, high hearts, and high cards from your shortest suits. The queen of spades will eventually be forced out by spade leads, so unless you hold five or more spades it is safer to pass her on.
Emptying a suit entirely (a void) lets you dump hearts or the queen every time that suit is led. Passing the high cards of a two card suit is the classic way to create one. Low cards, on the other hand, are your shield against winning tricks, so keep them. You may pass the 2 of clubs, but that hands the opening lead to somebody else.
How do I avoid the queen of spades?
If you do not hold the queen, lead low spades to flush her out; if you do hold her, drop her on a trick where someone has already played the ace or king of spades. The ace and king of spades are the most dangerous cards in your hand while the queen is still unplayed.
- Lead low spades: with spades like the 2, 3 or 5, lead them so the player holding the queen is forced to play it eventually.
- Hide under the ace or king: once an ace or king of spades is on the table, the queen can be played without winning the trick.
- Use the last seat: when you play fourth and the trick has no points, taking it with your highest card costs nothing and clears a dangerous card.
- Discard on a void: if you cannot follow suit, throw the queen immediately. Whoever wins that trick takes 13 points.
When should I shoot the moon?
Shoot the moon only when high cards such as the ace, king and queen of hearts and the ace and king of spades make up more than half your hand. Missing a single point leaves you with 25 points, so attempt it only with several high hearts and almost no low ones.
On the Hard level the computer judges from its hand whether to go for the moon, and when another player seems to be collecting every point it deliberately takes a heart to stop them. You should do the same: if one player keeps taking hearts, win one trick with a high heart to avoid a 26 point bomb.
How do the computer levels differ?
There are three levels. Easy plays a random legal card, Normal uses basic tactics like passing high cards and unloading the queen, and Hard counts every card that has been played.
| Level | What it does |
|---|---|
| Easy | Follows the rules and otherwise plays at random, though it knows to dump penalty cards when void. |
| Normal | Passes high spades and high hearts, ducks tricks with the highest safe card, and takes point free tricks when playing last. |
| Hard | Remembers played cards and each player's voids to pick safe leads, tracks the queen of spades and flushes her with spade leads, and decides when to shoot the moon or block one. |
Tips for taking fewer points
- Spend your high cards early. Winning point free tricks in the first rounds with aces and kings keeps you safe when hearts start pouring in.
- Create a void. Once a suit is empty you can discard penalty cards whenever it is led.
- Check whether hearts are broken. The status strip at the bottom right shows broken or closed. While closed, low hearts are still safe to hold.
- Count the cards. Once the queen of spades is gone, the ace and king of spades are no longer dangerous.
- Plan the last two or three tricks. With few cards left you know almost exactly who holds what, so arrange your plays so no high card is stranded at the end.
Controls
- Mouse: hover a card to lift it and click to play. Cards you cannot play are shaded.
- Phone and tablet: tap a card once to select and again to play, or flick it upward. In portrait your hand sits at the bottom with the three opponents above and at the sides.
- Passing: at the start of a round tap three cards to raise them, then press the yellow button or the P key. The three cards you receive glow gold for a moment.
- Keyboard: ← → to choose a card, Enter or Space to play it, P to pass, M to toggle sound. On the score screen Enter starts the next round.
The scoreboard appears after every round, and your record and chosen level are saved only in this browser. Card faces and sounds are drawn and synthesized in code, so nothing is downloaded.