Hearts
Hearts is a game about losing. Every heart you take costs a point, the queen of spades costs thirteen, and the winner is whoever has collected the least by the time somebody reaches a hundred. The catch is that you cannot simply duck everything — if one player takes every single penalty card, they shoot the moon and the other three take twenty-six points each. So the player scooping up hearts is either losing badly or about to win.
The table is still being built. The rules below are the real ones — the order we build in is set by the vote.
Pass
Choose three cards and hand them over. Everyone does it at once, so you are guessing as much as they are.
Follow
The two of clubs leads the first trick. Follow suit if you can; the highest card of the led suit takes the trick — and everything in it.
Count
Each heart is one point, the queen of spades is thirteen. Fewest points wins, and the game ends when somebody hits a hundred.
Can I play Hearts on NowPlay yet?
Not yet. Hearts is on the workshop bench — the rules and the strategy guide are here now, and the table is still being built. The order we build in is set by the community vote on the shelf, so a vote for Hearts moves it up.
Can you lead hearts in Hearts?
Not until hearts are broken, which happens the first time somebody discards a heart on a trick they could not follow. The one exception is a player whose entire remaining hand is hearts — they may lead one, because otherwise they could not play at all.
How many points is the queen of spades?
Thirteen, against whoever takes the trick she falls on. Every heart is one more, so a full deck carries 26 points and all of them go to somebody every hand.
What does shooting the moon mean?
Collecting every single penalty card in one hand — all thirteen hearts and the queen. The 26 points then land on your three opponents instead of you, one lot each. It is all or nothing: fourteen cards out of fourteen, so twelve hearts and the queen scores you 25 and is simply the worst hand of the night.
Who leads the first trick in Hearts?
Whoever was dealt the two of clubs, and they must lead that exact card. No heart and no queen of spades may be played on that first trick, so nobody can be handed thirteen points before making a single decision.
Is Hearts a game of skill?
More than it looks. The deal decides a hand, but a game runs to 100 points over many hands, and the passing, the card counting and knowing when to take a heart rather than duck it separate players consistently. Four-player free-for-alls are also why this game is rated with TrueSkill rather than the two-player system the rest of the platform uses.