How to play Hearts

Hearts is a classic trick-taking game for four players, and the aim is the opposite of most card games: you want to avoid winning certain cards. Every heart you take costs you a point and the queen of spades costs thirteen. When someone reaches 100 points, the player with the lowest score wins. Here you sit at the bottom of the table against three computer players, Lily on your left, Max across from you and Zoe on your right.

Hearts is a game of skill because every card is information: which cards you pass, when you duck under a trick, and spotting an opponent trying to collect every point all depend on remembering what has been played. There is also the bold option of shooting the moon: take every penalty card, and your opponents get the points instead.

How to play on skill.games

When you open the game, the settings popup appears. Choose a difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard or Crazy), check your record at that level and press PLAY.

• Passing: at the start of most hands the status line asks you to choose three cards to pass. Tap three cards to select them (a fourth tap replaces your first choice), then press the PASS LEFT, PASS RIGHT or PASS ACROSS button.
• Playing: when it is your turn, tap a card or drag it onto the table. If a card isn't allowed, it is refused and the status line explains why, for example "You must follow suit" or "Hearts aren't broken yet".
• The table: each opponent has a name tag showing their total score, with a red badge for the points they have taken in the current hand.

After each hand a summary shows everyone's points for the hand and the new totals. Press NEXT HAND to deal again.

The menu button in the top-left corner pauses the game, starts a new match or turns the sound off. The match is saved as you play, so you can close the page and press CONTINUE later. When the match ends, the results screen shows your place, everyone's final totals, the hands played and any moons you shot, along with your statistics for that level: wins, losses, win rate and streaks. Only first place counts as a win.

Rules

The deal. A standard 52-card deck is dealt out, thirteen cards to each of the four players. Aces are high.

Passing. Before play, each player passes three cards. The direction changes every hand in a cycle of four:

1. pass to the left,
2. pass to the right,
3. pass across the table,
4. no passing.

Tricks. The player holding the 2 of clubs leads it to the first trick. Play goes clockwise, and each player must follow the suit that was led if they can. If you can't follow suit, you may play any card (with the first-trick exception below). The highest card of the suit that was led wins the trick, and its winner leads the next one. Thirteen tricks make a hand.

Points. Each heart in your tricks counts 1 point and the queen of spades counts 13, so there are 26 points in every hand. Points are bad.

Special restrictions.

• The first trick: no hearts or queen of spades may be played on the first trick, unless a player holds nothing else.
• Leading hearts: you may not lead a heart until hearts are broken, meaning a heart has been played on an earlier trick because someone couldn't follow suit. The exception is a player who holds only hearts. Playing the queen of spades does not break hearts.

Shooting the moon. If one player takes all 26 points in a hand, that player scores 0 and every other player scores 26 instead.

End of the match. After any hand in which a player reaches 100 points or more, the player with the lowest total wins. If two or more players are tied for the lowest score, another hand is played to settle it.

Strategy tips

• Pass the danger. Good cards to pass are the queen of spades (unless you hold enough low spades to protect it), the ace and king of spades, and high hearts.
• Empty a short suit. If you have only one or two clubs or diamonds, passing them lets you discard on that suit later. Discards are where you get rid of the queen and high hearts.
• Duck under tricks. When following suit, play the highest card that will still lose to the card currently winning. You stay safe and get rid of a dangerous card at the same time.
• Flush out the queen. If you hold low spades and not the queen, leading spades forces whoever has her to play her eventually.
• Keep count. Remember which hearts and spades are gone and who is out of a suit; it shows you which leads are safe.
• Watch for a moon shot. If one player has taken every point so far, take a single heart yourself to stop them. Giving up one point is far better than everyone else receiving 26.
• Shoot the moon only with a strong hand: many high hearts, top spades and few low cards. A failed attempt usually costs you dearly.

Difficulty levels

• Easy: the computer players often throw a random legal card and pass without much thought. They make plenty of mistakes you can punish.
• Normal: the opponents pass dangerous cards away, duck under the winning card, and dump the queen of spades and high hearts whenever they can't follow suit.
• Hard: everything Normal does, plus they count the cards that have been played, track which suits each player has run out of, choose safe leads, try to flush out the queen, and take a heart to stop someone shooting the moon.
• Crazy: everything Hard does, plus they attempt to shoot the moon themselves with a strong enough hand, and in the last few tricks of each hand they look ahead through all the ways the remaining cards could fall before choosing a card.