Hearts is a trick-taking card game for four players where the aim is to take as few points as you can. Every heart you win costs you a point and the queen of spades costs thirteen, so most of the game is spent ducking under other players' cards and slipping your dangerous ones onto someone else. Here you play against three computer players, and a game runs over several hands until someone reaches 100 points.
Hearts rules
- Four players each get 13 cards from a standard 52-card deck. You sit at the bottom of the table, with West on your left, North across and East on your right. Play goes clockwise, to the left.
- Before each hand, everyone passes three cards: to the left on the first hand, to the right on the second, across on the third, and no passing on the fourth. Then the cycle starts again.
- Whoever holds the 2 of clubs leads it to start the first trick.
- Everyone must follow the suit that was led if they can. If you have none of that suit, you may play any card.
- The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, and aces are high. Cards of other suits never win, because there are no trumps in Hearts. The winner of a trick leads the next one.
- On the first trick no one may play a heart or the queen of spades, unless their hand holds nothing else.
- Hearts cannot be led until a heart has been played on an earlier trick, which is called breaking hearts. The exception is a hand with only hearts left.
- At the end of the hand, each heart you took scores 1 point and the queen of spades scores 13, for 26 points in all.
Shooting the moon
If one player takes all 13 hearts and the queen of spades in the same hand, they have shot the moon. Instead of scoring 26 themselves, they score nothing and every other player scores 26.
It is a gamble. You need strong cards in several suits, and if another player takes even one heart, you are left holding most of the 26 points yourself.
How the game ends
Hands keep going until at least one player has 100 points or more at the end of a hand. Then the player with the lowest total wins. If two or more players are tied for the lowest score, one more hand is played to settle it.
How to play on this page
- At the start of a hand, tap three cards to pick them, then press the pass button. Cards you pick rise up, and a second tap puts one back.
- When it is your turn, tap a card to play it. Cards you are not allowed to play are grayed out and hatched, so you can always see which ones are legal.
- Cards passed to you carry a yellow mark until the first trick is over.
- After each trick, the cards stay on the table for a moment, with the winning card highlighted. The trick history in the side panel lists every trick of the hand, with who led and who took it.
- When a hand ends, its scores appear on the table. Press "Next hand" to deal again. The score sheet keeps every hand of the game.
- Choose Easy, Medium or Hard for the computer players, and turn on Fast play if you want shorter pauses. Your game is saved in this browser, so you can close the page and carry on later.
Tips for winning at Hearts
- Pass the cards that are hardest to get rid of: the queen, king and ace of spades if you have few low spades, and high hearts.
- Try to empty a whole suit early, usually clubs or diamonds. Once you are out of a suit, you can drop your dangerous cards whenever that suit is led.
- Keep a few low cards. A 2 or a 3 lets you duck under a trick full of hearts late in the hand.
- If you do not hold the queen of spades, leading low spades can force out whoever does.
- Count the hearts and remember who has run out of which suit. It tells you when it is safe to win a trick and when someone is trying to shoot the moon.
- If one player has taken every point so far, take a single heart yourself to stop them shooting the moon. One point is much better than 26.
About the computer players
The computer players only know what a player at a real table would know: their own cards, the cards they passed and were given, and every card played so far. They never look at your hand or anyone else's.
Easy plays loosely and is good for learning the rules. Medium follows the usual habits of a careful player. Hard keeps track of every card played and who has run out of which suit, imagines many ways the hidden cards could be spread, plays each one out in its head, and chooses the card that works best on average.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the queen of spades a heart?
- No. She is a spade, so she follows the spade suit like any other spade. She is simply worth 13 points to whoever takes her, which is why everyone tries to pass her on or drop her on someone else.
- Does playing the queen of spades break hearts?
- Not here. Only a heart breaks hearts. Some home games also count the queen, but the more common rule, used on this page, is that hearts stay unbroken until a heart itself has been played.
- Why can't I play a heart on the first trick?
- The first trick is kept free of points, so nobody starts a hand with bad luck before they have had a chance to play. If your hand is nothing but hearts and the queen of spades, you may play one of them.
- What happens when someone shoots the moon?
- The player who took all 26 points scores 0 for the hand, and each of the other three players scores 26. It can swing a game completely, so watch out when one player is taking every heart.
- Who wins when someone reaches 100?
- The game ends after the hand in which someone reaches 100 points. The lowest total wins. If two or more players are tied for the lowest total, one more hand is played to settle it.
- Do the computer players cheat?
- No. Each one is given only its own view of the table, the same information you would have in its seat, and the game's automated tests check that its choices never change when the hidden cards are dealt differently.
- Is there money, betting or chips?
- No. Hearts is played for points only, and this page has no betting, chips or prizes of any kind.
- Can I play Hearts with friends online?
- Not yet. For now you play against three computer players. Your game and your record are saved in this browser, with no account needed.