About Hearts
Play a full four-player game against three computer opponents. Scores carry over from hand to hand until someone reaches 100 points. Your cards, the current trick and the scores are easy to follow, so you can focus on your next move.
How to play Hearts
Hearts is an avoidance game: you want the lowest score. Each heart you take costs 1 point, and the Queen of Spades costs 13.
Passing
Before each hand, pass three cards. The direction rotates left, right, across, then hold (no passing), before repeating.
The lead
The player holding the 2 of Clubs leads it to start the hand.
Following suit
You must play a card of the suit led if you have one. If you cannot, you may play another suit. On the first trick, you cannot play a heart or the Queen of Spades unless you have no other option.
Breaking hearts
You cannot lead hearts until a penalty card has been played on an earlier trick, unless you have only hearts left.
Shooting the moon
Take all 26 penalty points in one hand and you score 0, while each opponent scores 26.
Ending the game
When any player reaches 100 points, the game ends. The player with the lowest total wins.
Hearts strategy and tips
Create a void early
Passing away the last cards of one suit can leave you unable to follow that suit later. This gives you opportunities to discard dangerous hearts or the Queen of Spades onto tricks won by somebody else.
Judge high spades as a group
A lone Ace or King of Spades can be dangerous and may be worth passing. Several high spades can be safer because they give you more control over when you follow suit and when the Queen might appear.
Protect the Queen with low spades
If you retain the Queen of Spades, keep enough lower spades to avoid being forced to play her as soon as an opponent leads the suit. Those low cards provide valuable cover.
Count the spades already played
Tracking the suit helps you estimate when the Queen is likely to fall and whether another player may be vulnerable. Pay particular attention to opponents who stop following spades unusually early.
Duck beneath the winning card
When an opponent plays the highest remaining card of a suit, using your second-highest card can remove a future liability without taking the current trick. Saving only low cards is not always the safest approach.
Adapt to the passing direction
Passing left gives you information about cards held by the player who acts after you, while passing right affects the player who often acts before you. Across passes are less immediate, and a hold hand requires you to solve every weakness yourself.
Challenge a possible moon attempt
If one opponent keeps collecting hearts without concern, they may be trying to take every penalty card. Win at least one point yourself when possible, even if that would normally be undesirable, to prevent the attempt succeeding.
Hearts FAQs
What exactly breaks hearts?
Hearts are broken when a player who cannot follow the suit led discards a heart onto that trick. Simply leading or holding a heart does not break the suit. Once this has happened, players may lead hearts on later tricks; before then, they may do so only when holding hearts alone.
Why is the Queen of Spades worth so much?
The Queen of Spades is assigned a much larger penalty than any individual heart, making her the most dangerous single card in this version. Taking her can transform an otherwise successful hand into a poor one, so her location strongly influences passing, leading and decisions about whether to win a trick.
Can I lead the Queen of Spades before hearts are broken?
Yes, you may lead the Queen of Spades before hearts are broken because the restriction applies to leading hearts, not spades. She remains a penalty card, however, so she cannot be played on the opening trick unless you have no non-penalty card available.
What happens during a hold hand?
No cards are exchanged during a hold hand. You play the thirteen cards originally dealt to you, so weaknesses cannot be removed through passing and useful combinations cannot be strengthened with received cards. After that hand, the normal passing cycle begins again with passes to the left.
How does a game of Hearts end?
The game ends after a hand in which at least one player reaches 100 points or more. The player with the lowest cumulative score at that moment wins, which means the person who triggers the ending is not necessarily the winner. Tied low scores remain tied under the verified rules used here.
Is Hearts mostly skill or luck?
Hearts combines both. You cannot control your initial thirteen cards or the cards passed to you, but you choose what to pass, when to surrender a trick and how to interpret previous plays. Good judgement becomes especially valuable across multiple hands, where individual deals form part of a longer contest.