Play Hearts Against the Computer

About Hearts

Hearts is the four-handed card game where the object is to score as little as possible, and this is the version you can play against the computer for free, straight in the browser. You take one seat, three computer opponents take the others, and they pass, duck and hunt the queen of spades the way real players do rather than throwing out whatever happens to be legal.

There is nothing to download, no account to make and no advert between hands. Every heart you win costs you a point, the queen of spades costs thirteen, and the moment anybody reaches a hundred the game stops and the lowest score wins. Close the tab mid-hand and the table is exactly where you left it when you come back.

How to play Hearts

1. Thirteen cards each, four seats. Before every hand you pass three cards: left, then right, then across, then hold, repeating in that cycle.
2. The two of clubs leads the first trick. Follow the suit that was led whenever you can.
3. The highest card of the led suit takes the trick and leads the next one.
4. No points may be played on the first trick, and hearts cannot be led until a heart has already been thrown.
5. Every heart taken scores one point and the queen of spades scores thirteen. Points are what you are trying to avoid.
6. Take all twenty-six and you shoot the moon: everybody else takes twenty-six instead.
7. When any player reaches 100 the game ends, and the lowest total wins.

Tips for winning

• Keep your low spades. They are what lets you follow a spade lead without being handed the queen.
• Pass the ace or king of spades when you hold fewer than four spades; with the queen still out they are a liability, not a weapon.
• Empty a short side suit early. A void is what lets you throw the queen or a high heart away later.
• Watch the table. If one player has taken every point so far, take a heart yourself before the moon lands on you.

Frequently asked questions

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