Hearts

Objective

Score as few points as possible. The game ends when any player reaches 100 points, and the player with the lowest total wins.

You score points by taking cards in tricks — but every point is bad. There's only one way to score positively: shooting the moon, which we'll cover later.

The Deal

A standard 52-card deck is dealt evenly: 13 cards per player. The four players sit at the compass positions — North, East, South, West.

The player holding the 2 of Clubs leads the very first trick.

Diagram: Initial deal

You are South, looking up at the table. Each opponent has 13 face-down cards; your hand is fully visible.

Card Values

Most cards are worth nothing. Only two suits matter for scoring:

• Each ♥ heart = 1 point
• ♠Q (Queen of Spades) = 13 points
• Every other card = 0 points

A full round distributes exactly 26 points between the four players (13 hearts + 1 Queen of Spades).

Passing Phase

Before each round (except every fourth), you pick 3 cards to pass to another player. The direction rotates:

Round	Pass direction
1	Left
2	Right
3	Across
4	Hold (no passing)
5	Left (cycle repeats)

All four players pass simultaneously — you don't see what others sent until the round begins.

Diagram: Passing phase

Tap three cards to lift them. The "Pass cards" button enables once exactly three are selected. Here, the Queen of Spades and two high hearts are about to be passed to North.

Playing Tricks

The player holding the 2 of Clubs leads the first trick by playing it. Going clockwise, each other player adds one card.

• Follow suit if you can. If the lead is a club, you must play a club.
• If you can't follow suit, you may play any card — including hearts and the Queen of Spades. (Exception: on the very first trick of a round, hearts and Q♠ are forbidden, even when you can't follow.)
• The highest card of the led suit wins the trick. Aces beat kings.
• The trick winner takes all four cards into their captured pile, and leads the next trick.

Diagram: The first trick — 2♣ leads

You hold the 2 of Clubs, so you led it to start the round. West plays next, then North, then East. Each must follow suit (play a club) if they can.

Diagram: Mid-trick — your turn to follow

West led with the 5♣, North follows with the Q♣ (winning so far), and East plays the 8♣. It's now your turn — you must play a club if you have one.

Diagram: Trick complete — winner takes all four

All four players have played. The Q♣ was the highest club, so North wins the trick and will lead the next one. Those four cards now sit in North's captured pile (no penalty cards in this trick — clean).

Heart-breaking

Hearts cannot be led until either:

• A heart has been discarded on a previous trick (because someone couldn't follow suit), OR
• The leader holds nothing but hearts.

This rule prevents players from immediately dumping low hearts to flush out the Q♠. Once "hearts are broken", anyone can lead a heart on a future trick.

When a heart is played as a follow on a trick where someone couldn't follow the led suit, that's the moment hearts get "broken" and the rule lifts for the rest of the round.

Diagram: Hearts get broken

West led the K♦. North had no diamonds, so they had to discard — and chose the 7♥. East then played the 8♦. From this trick onward, hearts are broken and any player may lead a heart on a future trick.

Shooting the Moon

If a single player takes ALL 13 hearts AND the Queen of Spades in one round, they "shoot the moon". They score 0 points and every other player gets 26.

It's a high-risk, high-reward play. To pull it off you need a hand strong enough to win every penalty card. If a defending player can grab even one heart or the queen, the moon-shooter takes all 26 themselves.

Diagram: North captures the Queen of Spades

North leads the A♠ to flush out the Queen, then wins her own trick — sweeping the round's biggest penalty card. With every heart still in play also funnelling toward North, the moon attempt is on.

Diagram: Defending against the moon

North has been sweeping every trick. They lead the K♣. East follows, then you (South) — but you have no clubs left, so you could legally discard anything safe. Instead you deliberately drop the 5♥, accepting a 1-point hit yourself to force a heart into North's pile. North still wins this trick, but now their score isn't zero — the moon attempt is dead.

Scoring and Game End

At the end of every round, each player tallies their captured cards:

• 1 point for every heart they took
• 13 points for the Queen of Spades, if they took it

These points are added to a running total. The game ends when any player's total reaches 100 or more.

The player with the lowest cumulative score wins. Ties are broken by the lower most-recent round score.

The sidebar in Playboard shows a row per round so you can see the per-round breakdown alongside the running total.

Strategy Tips

• Pass smart. Dump the Queen of Spades if you have her without several high spades to protect her with. Pass high hearts to dump risk.
• Watch the spades. When the Q♠ is in play, count the high spades held. If only A♠/K♠ are higher than the queen, the holder will likely "give" her on a spade trick.
• Stop the moon. If one player is sweeping every trick, sacrifice a small heart on a trick they're winning — better than letting them shoot.
• Play low when behind. If you're close to 100, ditch high cards early and play low to avoid taking the queen.
• Bleed the queen. Lead a low spade early to flush out the Q♠ before its holder sets up a clean shot.