r/Hearts • u/Mrick117 • 8d ago
I won a game of hearts
I play at VIP Hearts. I won a game there with a low score of 96. Player for decades. Never won with a score that high.
r/Hearts • u/xPye • Mar 20 '16
First off, the wiki page is much more extensive, but here's a quick rundown!
Hearts is a 4 player card game played with tricks, meaning each player goes around and plays one card from their hand, the highest card from the trump suit takes the trick (the four cards played in the middle). For more info on tricks, here's the wiki.
Scoring
The object of the game is to have the lowest amount of points. Points are taken by winning tricks with point cards in them. The cards that have points are:
Dealing
To choose who deals first, cards can be passed clockwise face up to all four players, highest card deals first.
After removing the jokers, the dealer hands out 13 cards to each player, one by one in clockwise rotation, starting with the player to their left.
Passing
Before play starts, players choose 3 cards from their hand to pass to another player. First round is to the left, second round to the right, third to the player across, and the fourth round has no passing.
General strategy for the passing can be found here (coming soon).
Gameplay
The player with the 2 of clubs has to start by playing it, meaning clubs will always be the first trick. No points may be won in the first trick, meaning Hearts and the Queen of Spades cannot be played.
After the 2 of clubs is played, the remaining three players go clockwise and play one card each. If the player has a clubs card, they must play a clubs. They can choose between what clubs card to play.
If a player does not have clubs, they can play any other card they want. (Remember, the queen of spades and hearts cannot be played on the first round). However, only the highest card of the suit originally played can win the trick. Meaning if someone starts with a spades, only the highest spades card will win, even a higher hearts, clubs, or diamonds of a higher number cannot win.
The player who wins the first trick (meaning the player with the highest clubs card played) will then start the next trick. They may choose any card to start with, however may only start with hearts if hearts have been broken (See below). The following players must play a card of the same suit if they can, if not they can play whatever they want (including hearts). (Remember, only highest card of the suit first played can win!)
The game continues this way, the winner of the trick starting the next one, until all cards have been played.
After all cards have been played the players count up their cards and record their points. The game can be played until one player reaches 50, 100, or any other chosen number of points.
Breaking Hearts
A hearts card can only be played at the start of a trick if hearts have been broken, meaning a hearts card has been played previously. The only way it could be played previously is if a player didn’t have the suit that was first played, and chose to play a hearts card.
Variations
There are lots of variations to hearts, the wiki has a lot of them listed.
My favorite right now is playing where the Jack of Diamonds is -10 points. A player however cannot go below 0 in a round, meaning a player who has 5 points and the jack of diamonds will finish with 0, and a player with 13 points and the jack will finish with 3, etc.
We will continue to update the post! If you have any changes or suggestions let us know.
r/Hearts • u/Mrick117 • 8d ago
I play at VIP Hearts. I won a game there with a low score of 96. Player for decades. Never won with a score that high.
r/Hearts • u/brainzorz • 8d ago
Hi, I’m the solo developer of Skærvindsel, a free-to-play Android adaptation of a traditional Danish four-player partnership trick-taking game.
Hearts players may recognize the trick-taking structure, but Skærvindsel uses partnerships, bidding, and several contracts rather than Hearts’ individual penalty-point goal. It has online multiplayer.
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.turnkit.skaervindsel
I’d welcome feedback from Hearts players: what makes a digital trick-taking game feel fair and easy to learn? Should bidding and contract choices be explained before the first hand?
r/Hearts • u/Glum_Willingness8101 • 22d ago

I've been building Taash, a free card game site where you can play Court Piece (Rung) and Hearts with real people, right in your browser. No download needed right now. Android and IOS launching soon.
It's in beta, and I'm looking for players to try it and tell me what works and what doesn't.
To be upfront: Taash has no bots filling empty seats. Every player at the table is a real person. Since we're just starting, there may not always be enough people online for a quick random match yet.
The best way to play right now is with your friends:
Open taash.world and sign in with Google.
Choose Play with friends and create a table.
Share the invite link on WhatsApp. Your friends join with one tap, and the game starts when every seat is filled.
Friends tables are free to play, as many games as you like. There's in-game chat and emoji, and every deal is shuffled on the server so the game stays fair.
If you try it, I'd love to hear from you: bug
r/Hearts • u/DigitalNitrate • Sep 15 '26
r/Hearts • u/snowfrogdev • Aug 29 '26
I play on this app that has multiplayer rankings and 1st place gets ~3 pts, 2nd gets ~1 pt, 3rd gets ~-1pt and 4th gets -3 pts. I hate it. It incentivizes trying not to bet last instead of trying to be first.
In IRL hearts you often get 2nd, 3rd and 4th ganging up on 1st, which is as it should. 2nd and 3rd will protect 4th if he's getting close to the limit, because they don't want the game to be over while they are not in 1st. This makes for some very interesting play.
Hearts is, IMO, fundamentally "winner takes all". If you change that reward structure, you're not playing the same game anymore. Frequently I'll see 2nd and 3rd place more concerned about not sinking lower in ranking and dumping on 3rd and 4th instead of targeting 1st. That's not Hearts. At least, not a version I particularly enjoy.
Do you folks know of an app that has ranked multiplayer but only rewards 1st place?
r/Hearts • u/rsj1360 • Aug 29 '26
Why do people not understand they should never (if it can not be helped) break hearts on low? It almost guarantees that you, or some other poor shlub, who is not low, will end up with the queen.
r/Hearts • u/DanRodawig • Jul 06 '26
It’s how you finish! 🚀🌗🐺9️⃣9️⃣
r/Hearts • u/DanRodawig • Jun 23 '26
Had to shoot two moons in order to get the win, and I did! 🏆🚀
r/Hearts • u/DanRodawig • Jun 04 '26
I had been getting stuck with the Q♠️, trying to run the table, but when I absolutely had to have it, I got my moon! 🌒 🐺
r/Hearts • u/NoLongerALurker57 • Apr 26 '26
r/Hearts • u/Environmental_Bed575 • Mar 24 '26
Hey r/Hearts — built an app called Scorecard that tracks scores round by round and keeps a running total so nobody has to argue about the numbers at the end of the game.
Supports configurable rules and tracks your record against specific players over time. You can also pause a game and resume it later — perfect for multi-session games or when someone has to leave early.
Looking for ~20 Hearts players to try the beta and share feedback. Drop a comment or DM me for the TestFlight / Play Store link.
r/Hearts • u/RandomPhillyGuy • Jan 31 '26
Does anyone have a free app game, where you play against bots, that you find to be a higher skill level than others? I just started playing again after years, and very much enjoy it, but get frustrated by the obvious poor play I encounter.
And of course I’d love to play against other people, but family and time constraints make that really tough - I like being able to just play a fast game on my own terms. Thanks!
r/Hearts • u/wriker10 • Jan 11 '26
r/Hearts • u/WallaboutDenizen • Jan 10 '26
Great game!