What Is Hearts?

Hearts is a trick-taking card game for 4 players. Unlike most card games, the objective is to avoid taking certain cards — specifically hearts and the Queen of Spades.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck, and each player receives 13 cards.

Card Rankings

Cards rank from Ace (high) to 2 (low) in each suit:

A > K > Q > J > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 3 > 2

There are no trump suits in Hearts. The suit led must be followed.

Point Cards

Card Points
Each Heart (♥) 1 point
Queen of Spades (Q♠) 13 points
All other cards 0 points

Total points available per round: 26 (13 hearts + Queen of Spades).

Lower score is better. The game ends when someone reaches 100 points, and the player with the fewest total points wins.

The Pass

Before each round, players pass 3 cards to another player. The passing rotation:

Round Pass Direction
1 Pass left
2 Pass right
3 Pass across
4 No pass (hold)

Then the cycle repeats.

Passing Strategy Basics

  • Pass high cards you don’t want to get stuck with (high hearts, Queen/King/Ace of Spades)
  • Keep low cards in suits where you’re strong
  • Try to void a suit (empty it) so you can dump points later

Playing a Round

Step 1: The Opening Lead

The player with the 2 of Clubs leads the first trick. They must play it.

Step 2: Following Suit

Going clockwise, each player must play a card of the same suit that was led:

  • If you have that suit, you must play it
  • If you don’t have that suit, you can play any card (including hearts or the Queen of Spades)

Step 3: Winning the Trick

The highest card of the suit led wins the trick. The winner collects the four cards and leads the next trick.

There are no trumps in Hearts. Only cards of the led suit compete for the trick.

Step 4: “Breaking Hearts”

Hearts cannot be led until one of these happens:

  • A heart has been played (discarded when someone couldn’t follow suit)
  • A player has nothing but hearts left

Once hearts have been played, they are “broken” and can be led freely.

Step 5: Queen of Spades

The Queen of Spades can be played anytime you’re following the spade suit or discarding on another suit. There’s no restriction on when she can appear (unlike hearts).

Scoring

After all 13 tricks are played:

  1. Each player counts the hearts they took (1 point each)
  2. Add 13 points if they took the Queen of Spades
  3. Add the round’s points to their running total
  4. If someone has reached 100 points, the game ends

The player with the lowest total score wins.

Shooting the Moon

If one player takes ALL 26 points (all 13 hearts + Queen of Spades), they “shoot the moon”:

  • That player gets 0 points
  • Every other player gets 26 points

Shooting the moon is risky but can dramatically change the game. If you fail (miss even one heart), you’re stuck with a massive point total.

Quick Rules Summary

  1. 4 players, 13 cards each
  2. Pass 3 cards before each round (left, right, across, hold)
  3. 2 of Clubs opens the first trick
  4. Follow the led suit if possible; play anything if you can’t
  5. Highest card of the led suit wins the trick
  6. Avoid taking hearts (1 pt each) and Queen of Spades (13 pts)
  7. Hearts can’t be led until broken
  8. Game ends at 100 points; lowest score wins
  9. Shoot the moon (take all 26 points) to penalize opponents instead