Hearts

Four players, thirteen tricks, and one rule above all: stay away from hearts and the Queen of spades. You play South against three computer players.

How to Play Hearts

Hearts is a trick-taking card game for four players. The aim is not to win tricks but to avoid the ones that hold penalty cards.

The Objective

Take as few penalty points as you can. When the game ends, the player with the lowest score wins.

The Deal

One 52-card deck is dealt out in full, 13 cards to each player. Aces are high, and there is no trump suit.

You sit at South, at the bottom of the screen, with West on your left, North opposite and East on your right. Play goes clockwise: you, then West, North and East.

Passing Cards

Before each hand, everyone passes three cards, in a repeating cycle:

1. First hand: to the left, to West.
2. Second hand: to the right, to East.
3. Third hand: across, to North.
4. Fourth hand: no passing.

Tap or click three cards, then press the Pass button. Everyone passes at once, so you choose before seeing what you get. The cards you receive are highlighted briefly.

Playing Tricks

Whoever holds the 2 of clubs leads it to start the first trick. Each player in turn plays one card, and you must follow the suit that was led if you can. If you can't, you may play any card, with one exception: on the first trick you may not play a heart or the Queen of spades unless you have nothing else.

The highest card of the suit that was led wins the trick, and the winner leads the next one. If West leads the 5 of diamonds and North plays the Ace of spades, the highest diamond still wins.

Hearts and the Queen of Spades

Each heart counts 1 penalty point, and the Queen of spades counts 13. Every other card is worth nothing, so each hand holds 26 points.

Breaking Hearts

You may not lead a heart until hearts are broken, meaning a heart has been played on an earlier trick, usually by a player who couldn't follow suit. The exception: if you have only hearts left, you may lead one.

The Queen of spades may be led at any time, and playing her does not break hearts.

Scoring

After the 13th trick, everyone scores the penalty cards they took, and the points go on their running total. If West took the Queen of spades and two hearts, North seven hearts, East four and you none, the hand scores West 15, North 7, East 4 and you 0.

Shooting the Moon

If you take all 13 hearts and the Queen of spades, you shoot the moon: you score 0 for the hand and every other player scores 26. It's a gamble. Take the Queen and 12 hearts but miss the last one, and you score 25.

End of the Game

The game ends when anyone has 100 points or more at the end of a hand. The lowest total wins, and if two or more players tie for lowest, they all win.

Hearts Scoring Table

Hearts Strategy Tips

1. Pass high spades you can't protect. While the Queen is still out, the Ace and King of spades can be forced to win her. If you hold the King and Ace of spades but only two small spades to protect them, pass the high ones.
2. Pass the Queen when your spades are short. With only one or two other spades, a few spade leads will force her out, often onto a trick she wins herself. With four or more spades behind her, keeping her is usually safer.
3. Empty a short suit. With only two or three clubs or diamonds, pass them all. Once you have none of a suit, you can throw away a heart or the Queen whenever it is led after the first trick. Pass the King, 9 and 4 of diamonds, for example, and you are void in diamonds unless someone passes some back.
4. Get rid of high cards early. Since no one may play a heart or the Queen of spades on the first trick, it almost never carries points, which makes it the cheapest place to play your Ace or King of clubs. Save your 2s and 3s for later, when tricks fill with hearts.
5. Lead spades to flush out the Queen. If your highest spade is the Jack or lower, you can't win a spade trick she is played to. Leading spades is safe for you and strips away her protection until she has to come out.
6. Drop the Queen on the leader. If you hold her, part with her when you can't follow suit, ideally on a trick the lowest-scoring player is winning. Late in the game, watch the totals: if North has 92 points, giving North the Queen ends the game after that hand, which is good news only if your total is lowest.
7. Watch who runs out of a suit. A player who discards instead of following suit has none of that suit left. Lead it again and they can throw hearts, or the Queen, onto whoever wins the trick, which may be you.
8. Shoot the moon only with the right hand. You need high hearts such as the Ace, King and Queen, long suits headed by high cards, and the Queen of spades or a high spade to capture her. Decide before you pass, so you keep those cards.
9. Stop a moon shot by taking one heart. If one player has won the Queen of spades and every heart played so far, win one trick with a heart in it, even if it costs you a few points, and their moon is gone. Keep a high heart back for this if you can.

Playing Hearts on Solitaire Parlor

Play Hearts online here for free, against three computer players, with no sign-up and nothing to download.

• Tap or click a card to play it. Cards you can't legally play are dimmed, and tapping one shows the reason.
• Hint highlights the card the computer would choose for you, or the three cards it would pass.
• Restart replays the same deal from the first hand.
• New Game starts a new numbered deal. The number is shown above the table. Add ?deal= and the number to the page address to replay or share it.
• Daily Deal gives everyone the same game each day.
• Stats tracks games played, games won, win rate, your lowest final score and your win streaks.
• Settings changes the table color and card backs, turns on four-color suits, and switches sounds on or off.

Your game saves in your browser as you play, so you can close the tab and pick up where you left off. Stats stay in your own browser too, not on a server.

A Short History of Hearts

Hearts belongs to a family of card games in which you try to avoid certain cards rather than win them. Its ancestors include Reversis, an older European game built on the same idea. The version most people play, with the Queen of spades worth 13, is sometimes called Black Lady.

For many people, Hearts is the card game that came with Microsoft Windows, alongside Klondike Solitaire and FreeCell. Early versions could even link players across an office network. The rules here are the standard ones, so if you learned on Windows, they should feel familiar.

Hearts FAQ

Does the Queen of spades break hearts?

No. Only a heart breaks hearts. You can lead the Queen at any time, and playing her never breaks them.

Do the computer players see my cards?

No. Each one plays from its own hand and the cards that have already been played, just as you do.

Is there an Undo button?

No. As at a real card table, a card stays played once it's down. If you're unsure, press Hint first. Restart replays the whole deal from the first hand.

Can a friend and I play the same deal?

Yes. Share the page address with ?deal= and your deal number on the end, or both play the Daily Deal. You'll be dealt the same cards in every hand, so you can compare final scores.

Are my game and stats saved?

Yes, in your browser. If you clear your browser data or switch to another device or browser, they won't come with you.