Hearts

Have the lowest total score when a hand ends with someone at 100 points or more. If the lowest score is tied, play another hand until there is one winner.

The game automatically deals one standard 52-card deck without jokers, giving 13 cards to each player. Your face-up hand is at the bottom; the three opponents’ hands are hidden. Aces are high, followed by King, Queen, Jack, 10 down to 2.

The center holds the current trick: one card played by each of the four players. The highest card of the suit led wins that trick. The score strip shows cumulative match scores, while the table also tracks penalties collected in this hand. There is no stock or drawing phase; all cards are dealt before play.

Passing before play

On the first hand, choose three cards to pass left to Robin. The next hand passes right to Sam, the third across to Alex, and the fourth holds all cards with no pass. This four-hand cycle repeats. All passes are chosen before anyone sees incoming cards.

Leading and following suit

The player with the 2 of clubs leads it to the first trick. Turns proceed clockwise. Follow the led suit whenever you have it. For example, if a club is led and you hold a club, you must play a club even if another card would be safer. When you have none of that suit, discard any card allowed by the first-trick restriction below. There is no trump suit: an off-suit card never wins.

Hearts and the first trick

You cannot lead a heart until a heart has been discarded on an earlier trick, unless your hand contains only hearts. This is called breaking hearts. The Queen of spades does not break hearts. On the first trick, if you cannot follow clubs, you must avoid hearts and the Queen of spades whenever you have a non-penalty card to discard.

Finishing a trick

The winner takes all four cards and leads the next trick. The game collects completed tricks automatically. After 13 tricks, the hand is scored; use Next hand to continue the match.

Penalty points

Each heart taken is 1 point, and the Queen of spades is 13. Other cards are 0, including the Jack of diamonds. Normally these penalties are added to the player who took them: three hearts plus the Queen means 16 points.

Shooting the moon

If one player takes all 13 hearts and the Queen of spades, that player receives 0 and each opponent receives 26 for the hand. This version applies that result automatically; there is no option to subtract 26 instead.

Ending the match

Scores accumulate across hands. When anyone reaches at least 100, the unique lowest scorer wins; tied low scorers require another hand. The finished match updates your statistics once. New match after you have begun making decisions in an unfinished match records a loss. Undo and Restart hand do not record losses.

If no card seems available, check whose turn it is, the led suit, and whether the game is paused or waiting for you to confirm the passed cards. A hint can help identify a legal choice; there is no solitaire-style blocked-board loss.

• Play cards: click or tap a legal card in your hand. For keyboard play, Tab into the hand, use Left/Right arrows or Home/End to focus a card, then Enter or Space to activate it.
• Passing: select three cards, then press the Pass button. Tap a selected card again to deselect it. Review the marked incoming cards and press Continue.
• Hint and review: Hint suggests a pass or card without playing it. Review tricks shows this hand’s completed tricks. Opening review, rules, or a restart/new-match confirmation pauses the table.
• Undo: returns to before your last decision and removes subsequent computer actions in the current hand. It can undo that hand’s scoring before you advance, but cannot cross into an earlier hand or change a finished match. It does not rewind the timer.
• Restart hand: repeats the current hand’s starting cards while keeping earlier hand scores and elapsed match time. It is available before the hand ends and does not count as a lost match.
• Pause and pace: Pause stops play and elapsed time until Resume. Relaxed or Quick changes how soon the computer acts and completed tricks clear.
• Saved match: progress, move history, timing, and statistics are stored in this browser when storage is available. Return to the same game and press Play to continue. New match replaces that saved match.

• Use the pass to shorten a suit when the tradeoff is reasonable. Running out of that suit later lets you discard a dangerous card instead of following it.
• Keep track of the Queen of spades. Winning a spade trick with an Ace or King becomes much safer after the Queen has already been taken.
• Preserve low cards as exits. They can let another player win when penalty cards appear in a trick.
• Watch for one player collecting every penalty. Taking a small penalty yourself may prevent that player from shooting the moon and giving you 26.

The Queen-of-spades version belongs to the Black Lady branch of Hearts, which added that penalty card and passing to the older game. Read more on Wikipedia.

For partnership play with bids and a trump suit, try Spades. Six-card Golf also rewards a low score but uses drawing and swapping instead of tricks.