Hearts

How to play Hearts

Hearts is a card game for four players, and here you play against three computer players: Anne on your left, Ben across the table and Carol on your right. The aim is simple and a little backwards: avoid points. Every heart you take costs you a point, and the Queen of spades costs 13. When someone reaches 100 points, the player with the lowest score wins.

Passing three cards

Each player gets 13 cards. Before play starts, you choose three cards to pass to another player, and someone passes three to you. The direction changes every hand: first to the left, then to the right, then across the table, and on the fourth hand nobody passes. Then the pattern starts again. Tap three cards to choose them, then tap Pass. The cards you receive stay raised in your hand until you play your first card, so you can see what you were given.

Playing a trick

• Whoever holds the 2 of clubs plays it to start the first trick.
• Going round to the left, everyone plays one card. You must follow suit: if a club was led and you have a club, you have to play one. Cards you can't play are shown slightly darker.
• If you have no cards of the suit that was led, you can play anything. That's your chance to get rid of a heart, or the Queen of spades.
• The highest card of the suit that was led wins the trick, and Aces are high. A card of another suit never wins, however high it is. Whoever wins the trick takes all four cards and leads the next one.

Two special rules

• No points on the first trick. Even if you have no clubs, you can't play a heart or the Queen of spades on the very first trick, unless that's all you have.
• Hearts must be “broken” first. You can't lead a heart until someone has played one on an earlier trick, unless your hand is nothing but hearts.

Keeping score

After all 13 tricks, everyone counts the point cards they took: 1 point for each heart and 13 for the Queen of spades, 26 points in all. The scores are kept for you and shown after every hand. Play continues hand after hand until someone reaches 100 points, and then the lowest score wins. In Settings you can choose a shorter game that ends at 50 points.

Shooting the moon

There's one way to turn the game on its head. If you take every heart and the Queen of spades in a single hand, you score nothing for that hand and every other player gets 26 points instead. It's risky: miss just one heart and you're left holding 25 points. And watch out for a computer player trying it on you.

Tips

• Pass the dangerous cards. The Queen, King and Ace of spades are the usual choices, then high hearts. If you have four or more low spades as well, you can keep the Queen: those spades let you avoid winning a spade trick.
• Try to run out of a suit. Passing your only two or three diamonds, say, means that whenever diamonds are led you can drop a heart or the Queen instead.
• Play the highest card that still loses. If the 10 of hearts is winning the trick, your 9 is a better choice than your 3. Keep low cards for later, when they're your safest way out of trouble.
• Keep track of the Queen of spades. If you don't have her, leading low spades can force her out of someone else's hand. If you do have her, wait for a trick you can't follow and drop her there.
• Stop a moon shot. If one player has taken every point so far late in a hand, taking a single heart yourself is often worth it. It costs you one point instead of 26.

Questions

Do the computer players cheat?

No. They only know their own cards and the cards that have been played, just as you do, and they follow exactly the same rules. They play a sensible, steady game rather than a ruthless one. In our own tests, a player following the hints wins about one game in four, which is what you'd expect at a table of four evenly matched players.

Is any money involved?

No. Hearts here is played just for fun: there's no betting, no prizes and no real money, and nothing to buy.

What does the Hint button do?

It suggests a card and explains why: for example, that a card is lower than the one winning the trick, or that you have no clubs so this is your chance to get rid of a high heart. When you're passing, it suggests three cards to pass.

How long does a game take?

A game to 100 points usually lasts about 11 hands, around 20 minutes at a relaxed pace. The 50-point game is about half as long. Your game saves itself after every card, so you can stop at any time and carry on later on the same device.

Can I take back a card?

Yes. Undo takes back your last card, or your pass, during the current hand. It isn't how you'd play at a real table, but it's a good way to learn.

What is the game number?

Every game has a number, and the same number always deals the same cards in every hand. Share the link to play the same game as a friend, or try today's game, which is the same for everyone.