About Hearts

Hearts is a very old and well-known trick-taking game that has become very popular today due to a good combination of complex mechanics, simple rules, and low random chance. It is so popular that numerous other apps and websites have been made for people to play Hearts on.

Rules

Setup: Free for all
Players: 4
Complexity: Low
Strategies: Several
Classification: Trick-taking
Cards Per Player: 13
Dealing Pattern: 1 card at a time in the clockwise direction
Playing Pattern: Clockwise
Card Hierarchy (from strongest to weakest): A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2


Objective:
• Get as few points as possible


Rules:
• On the 1st, 5th, 9th, 13th, etc. rounds; 3 cards are passed to each players' left.
• On the 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, etc. rounds; 3 cards are passed to each players' right.
• On the 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, etc. rounds; 3 cards are passed across.
• On the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, etc. rounds; no cards are exchanged.
• After cards are passed (if any), the 2 of clubs plays first.
• The lead suit must be followed, if possible. Otherwise, a player may play any card.
• No hearts can be played on the first trick, and the queen of spades cannot be played on the first trick.
• The highest card of the lead suit takes the trick.
• Whoever takes a trick begins the next trick.
• If a heart is played on a trick, then hearts become "broken".
• The first card of a trick cannot be a heart unless hearts have been broken or the player only has hearts.


Mechanics:
• There is a balance between ridding high cards and making sure other players can't shoot the moon (described below).
• The top priority is usually to avoid taking the queen of spades, and there are some cards that can be weaponized to give other players the queen of spades.
• High cards become more dangerous as a round progresses, but there is a risk that comes with trying to play high cards early.


Scoring:
• Whoever takes the queen of spades gets 13 penalty points.
• Each heart taken is worth 1 penalty point.
• Shooting The Moon: If a player takes all 26 penalty points, that player gets 0 points and everyone else gets 26 points.
• By default, the game ends when one player accumulates 100 penalty points. Whoever has the fewest penalty points at the end wins.