Hearts
Dodge the hearts. Fear the queen of spades.
- Players
- 1–1 players
- Time
- 15–40 min
- Ages
- 10+
- Where
- Same room or online
- You need
- Nothing but this page
How to play Hearts
- 1Four players get 13 cards each. Pass three cards to another player: left, then right, then across, and then no pass, in rotation.
- 2Whoever holds the 2 of clubs leads it. You must follow the suit that was led if you can, and the highest card of that suit takes the trick.
- 3No hearts or queen of spades can be played on the first trick, and you can't lead hearts until one has been played.
- 4Each heart you take scores 1 point and the queen of spades scores 13. Low scores are good.
- 5Take all 26 points in a round to shoot the moon: you score 0 and everyone else scores 26.
- 6When someone reaches the target score, the lowest score wins.
Dodge the hearts, fear the queen
Play against three computers. Each heart you take costs a point and the queen of spades costs 13. Take every point in a round to shoot the moon and hit everyone else with 26. Lowest score wins.
Variations
- Real cards: a standard deck and four players, with the same rules and a score sheet.
Tips
- Pass your high spades unless you hold plenty of low ones to protect them, and try to empty a whole suit so you can dump bad cards.
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