How to Play Hearts
Hearts is one of those card games everyone enjoys. It’s simple, easy to learn, and can be played with a regular deck of cards.
Hearts was such a popular card game it was standard with the Windows OS. Windows 7 was the last operating system to include Hearts. Hearts isn’t as well known since Windows switched to an online version. Which is too bad since Hearts is such a fun game to play. I never liked the online version since the first person to get the queen usually dropped out and by the end of the game you wound up playing computers anyway.
Whether you play computers or in person, Hearts is definitely a classic game everyone should try out.
What Type of Game is Hearts?
The goal of Hearts is to avoid taking points. Each Heart is worth 1 point and the queen of spades is worth 13 points. The game ends when the first player reaches 100 points.
Ideally, Hearts is played with 4 players, however, by modifying the deck you can play with 3 to 5 players.
How to Play
Start with an ordinary deck of 52 cards, no jokers. For four players no modification is necessary. If you have three players take out the two of clubs. If you have five players take out the two of clubs and the two of diamonds.
Choose a player to deal. There are several ways to choose, such as everyone drawing a card and the high card wins, youngest player, oldest player, player with the most recent birthday, etc. Shuffle the deck and deal out all the cards. The person to the dealers left starts the play.
They can lead with any Club, Spade, or Diamond in their hand. Hearts can’t be lead until Hearts are broken (explained later). Players have to follow the suit lead and the high card wins the trick.
The player that wins the trick now has the lead. The game continues as such until everyone is out of cards. Every player must follow the suit lead unless they don’t have any cards of that suit. Then they can throw whatever card in their hand they want.
The first time a player is able to throw a Heart into a trick, Hearts are broken. The player with the high card of the suit lead wins that trick and the points from that trick. The queen of spades qualifies as a Heart. Once Hearts are broken, Hearts can be lead.
Again, the high card from the suit lead always wins the trick. There is no trump. If the four of diamonds is lead and no other diamonds are played, then the four of diamonds wins the trick.
After all the cards are played it’s time to count the points. Each heart counts as one point and the queen of spades counts as 13 points. The game ends when a player earns 100 or more points. The winner is the player with the least amount of points.
Passing Cards
Another rule of Hearts is passing cards after they’re dealt but before the round begins. Each player takes three cards they don’t want and passes them to another player. The first pass is left, the second pass is right, the third pass is across, and there is no pass for the fourth deal.
So after the first deal, all players pass three cards to the left. The second deal players pass three cards to the right. The third deal players pass three cards to the player across from them. The fourth deal players hold their cards and don’t pass any. This passing (or no passing) continues until the game ends.
Shoot The Moon
Another rule of Hearts is shooting the moon. This is when a player takes all 13 hearts and the queen of spades. That player doesn’t get any points, instead all the other players get 26 points.
This isn’t easy. All a player has to do is take one heart to spoil another player’s run at the moon. Usually, it requires a lot of high cards or a very large portion of a single suit to shoot the moon.
Summary
Hearts is an easy game for all ages. It only requires a standard deck of cards. If you’re looking for a fun game then look no further than Hearts!
How to Play Hearts brought to you by: David M.
I’m David M. I’ve been playing video games a long time, my pong game was fire. Now, my kids run circles around me but we always have a good time. We mostly play party and family games. Strategy and battle games are still among my favorites. I like writing about games almost as much as I do playing them. My favorite games are: Moving Out 2, Out of Space and Overcooked All You Can Eat.
