Hearts
- 👤 Players:
- 3-7 (Best at 4)
- ⏱ Time to play:
- 30 minutes
- ♟ Equipment:
- Standard cards
- 🧠 Designer(s):
- Public domain
QR Code
Hearts differs from other trick-taking games in that there is no bidding, no trumps, and you're generally trying to AVOID winning tricks (unless you're Shooting for the Moon)
Object #
Avoid scoring points. The player with the lowest points after another player has reached 100 points is the winner.
Setup #
Deal all cards out to players to start a round.
Each round, Players will pass 3 cards from their hand in a rotating pattern:
- To the Left
- To the Right
- Across
- No passing
The pattern continues until the end of the game is reached.
Play #
The player with the 2♣︎ must lead the first trick with the 2♣︎. Scoring cards (Hearts, Queen of Spades) cannot be played on the first trick ("no dirt") unless the player has no other option.
In clockwise order from the leading player, each player must play a card from the leading suit. If they don't have the suit, they can play any card (except for the no scoring card restriction on the first trick).
The player with the highest card in the leading suit wins the trick. They lead the next trick with a card of their choice.
Hearts cannot be the leading suit unless:
- The player has nothing except Hearts in their hand.
- Hearts have been played in a previous trick (this is known as 'Breaking Hearts')
When all players have no cards left, this ends the round and all players tally up points from the tricks they won. A new round begins.
Scoring #
Each heart is worth 1 point. The Queen of Spades is worth 13 points. There's a total of 26 points in a round.
Shooting the Moon #
If a player manages to win all 26 points (all Hearts and the Queen of Spades) they score 0 but all other players score 26 points.
Ending #
The game ends when one player reaches 100 points and the player with the lowest score is the winner.
Variants #
For a 3 player game, remove the 2♦︎ and deal the rest of the cards out.
Nathan's Notes: Hearts side-steps some of the mental load of other trick-taking games by not having partnerships or bidding strategies, making it easier to teach and get going. There's still a lot of depth in play, especially since you're trying to AVOID taking tricks—it feels like a game of Dodgeball with the Queen of Spades lurking in someone's hand. Shooting the Moon is very tough, as it can easily be broken if someone notices what you're doing, but exists as a nice REVERSE-SUPLEX if you can pull it off.
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