Hearts

Objective

Avoid taking hearts and the Queen of Spades. The player with the lowest score at the end of the game wins.

Setup

Hearts is played with a standard 52-card deck and four players. Each player is dealt 13 cards.

Passing Cards

Before play begins, each player selects three cards to pass to another player:

• Round 1: Pass to the left
• Round 2: Pass to the right
• Round 3: Pass across
• Round 4: No passing (hold hand)

This cycle repeats throughout the game.

Playing Tricks

The player holding the 2 of Clubs leads the first trick. Play proceeds clockwise. Each player must follow the lead suit if possible. If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any card — with two exceptions:

• Hearts cannot be led until they have been "broken" (a heart has been discarded on a previous trick).
• No points may be played on the first trick — you cannot play a heart or the Queen of Spades on the very first trick.

The highest card of the lead suit wins the trick. The winner of each trick leads the next.

Scoring

At the end of each hand, players count the point cards they have taken:

• Each heart is worth 1 point
• The Queen of Spades is worth 13 points

The maximum points in a hand is 26.

Shooting the Moon

If a player takes all 26 points in a single hand (all 13 hearts and the Queen of Spades), they "shoot the moon." Instead of receiving 26 points, every *other* player receives 26 points and the shooter receives 0.

Winning

The game continues until any player reaches 100 points. At that point, the player with the lowest score wins.

Strategy Tips

Pass your high cards. In the passing phase, get rid of the Ace, King, and Queen of Spades if you have them. High cards in any suit can be dangerous.

Void a suit early. If you can eliminate all cards of one suit from your hand, you can dump point cards when that suit is led. Voiding clubs or diamonds is usually safest.

Count the Queen of Spades. Always be aware of whether the Queen of Spades has been played. If it hasn't, be cautious about winning tricks with high spades.

Lead low. Starting a trick with a low card forces other players to beat it or strategically dump. It keeps you out of danger.

Watch for moon shooters. If a player is taking every trick, they may be trying to shoot the moon. When you notice this, take a point trick yourself to stop them — even if it costs you a few points.

Don't break hearts too early. Breaking hearts gives opponents more options to dump point cards. Wait until you have a strategic reason to break.

Manage your spades carefully. If you hold the Ace or King of Spades without the Queen, try to play them before the Queen has been played to avoid getting stuck with it.

Count cards by suit. Keeping track of which suits have been exhausted by other players helps you anticipate when point cards will be dumped.

Mouse / Trackpad

• Click a card to select it for passing or playing
• Click the pass button to confirm your selected cards
• Cards that are valid plays will be highlighted

Touch

• Tap a card to select it
• Tap the pass button to confirm
• Invalid plays will be blocked automatically

Keyboard Shortcuts

• 1–9 — Select a card by position
• Enter — Confirm selection / play card
• N — Start a new game
• ? — Show all keyboard shortcuts

How many players are in a game?

Hearts is a four-player game. When playing on GameDeckHub, three AI opponents will join you at the table.

Is there multiplayer support?

Not yet — Hearts currently supports single-player against AI opponents. Multiplayer is on our roadmap.

What is shooting the moon?

Shooting the moon means collecting all 26 point cards in a single hand (all 13 hearts plus the Queen of Spades). If successful, you score 0 and every other player receives 26 points. It's high risk, high reward.

When can hearts be led?

Hearts cannot be led until they have been "broken." A heart is broken when a player discards a heart on a trick led by another suit (because they had no cards of the lead suit). After that, hearts can be led freely.

Is the deal fair?

Yes. Like all games on GameDeckHub, Hearts uses a deterministic pseudo-random shuffle. The same seed always produces the same deal. Every arrangement is equally likely.