Games Public domain, 1850
Hearts
A trick-taking game where the whole table is trying to take as little as possible.
About the game
Hearts is a trick-taking game played with a standard deck. Each round every player passes three cards on, then plays out their hand one card at a time.
The goal is to take as few penalty cards as possible. Every heart costs a point, and the queen of spades costs thirteen. A player who takes every heart and the queen in one round “shoots the moon” and gives the penalty to everyone else instead.
The round ends when the hands are empty, and the game runs to a set score, usually a hundred points.
A round, in order
- 1
Pass
Choose three cards and pass them to another player.
- 2
Play tricks
Follow suit if you can; the highest card of the led suit takes the trick.
- 3
Count penalties
Hearts score one, the queen of spades thirteen, and a moon reverses it.
Credits
- Design
- Traditional
- Publisher
- Public domain, 1850
- On this table
- Live
- Cover
- Cover: Mixolydian, after the traditional French deck.
- Trick-taking
- Hidden information