♥Hearts
Avoid every Heart and the Queen of Spades — or take them all and shoot the moon.
- 4 players
- ~20 min
- medium
- Free
Dealing…
How to play Hearts
Objective
Finish with the lowest score. The game ends when any player reaches 100 points.
Setup
- Four players each receive 13 cards.
- Before each hand, pass three cards left, right, across, or not at all (rotating).
Rules
- The holder of the 2♣ leads the first trick.
- You must follow the suit led if you can; otherwise play anything (no penalty cards on the first trick).
- Hearts cannot be led until a Heart or the Q♠ has been played on an earlier trick.
- Each Heart is 1 point; the Queen of Spades is 13.
- Taking all 26 points "shoots the moon" — everyone else gets 26 instead.
Strategy tips
- Void yourself in a suit early so you can discard the Queen safely.
- Keep low Spades to duck under the Queen.
- Watch for an opponent taking every trick — break up a moon shot early.
More trick-taking games
♠
Spades
Partnership bidding with nil bids, bags and a race to 500.
4P·22 min·medium
♣
Whist
The elegant ancestor of Bridge — no bidding, just pure trick-taking.
4P·18 min·easy
🎯
Oh Hell!
Bid your tricks exactly — no more, no less — as the hand size rises and falls.
3-6P·20 min·medium
🃏
Euchre
Fast 24-card partnership trumps, with the right and left bowers.
4P·15 min·medium
🂱
Bridge
The full auction, a dummy hand and declarer play, with standard scoring.
4P·30 min·hard