Section 1: Introduction
Hearts is a trick-taking game with an inverted goal: you are trying not to win tricks containing penalty cards. Every heart costs a point and the queen of spades costs thirteen, so the winner is the player with the fewest points when the game ends.
The twist is shooting the moon — taking every single penalty card, which flips the score onto everyone else. It turns an avoidance game into one where a losing hand can be played to win.
Section 2: The Deck
- One standard 52-card deck, no jokers.
- Cards rank ace (high) down to two within each suit.
- There is no trump suit.
- Penalty cards: each heart is 1 point; the queen of spades is 13.
Section 3: Setup & Deal
- Four players, each dealt 13 cards.
- Before play, each passes three cards face down to another player. The direction rotates each hand: left, right, across, then no pass (a "hold" hand), repeating.
- The holder of the two of clubs leads it to the first trick.
Section 4: Gameplay
Playing Tricks
- Play proceeds clockwise. You must follow suit if you can.
- If you cannot follow, you may play any card — this is how penalty cards get discarded onto other players.
- The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, and that player leads the next.
Restrictions
- No penalty cards on the first trick — hearts and the queen of spades may not be discarded there.
- Hearts cannot be led until they have been "broken" — that is, until a heart has been discarded on an earlier trick. The exception is a player holding nothing but hearts.
Section 5: Scoring & Winning
After all 13 tricks, each player scores the penalty cards they took:
- Each heart: 1 point
- Queen of spades: 13 points
Every hand therefore distributes exactly 26 points.
Shooting the Moon
A player who takes all 13 hearts and the queen of spades scores 0, and every other player scores 26. Some groups let the shooter instead subtract 26 from their own score — agree which before dealing.
Ending
The game ends when any player reaches 100 points. Lowest score wins.
Section 6: Variants & House Rules
- Jack of diamonds: taking it scores −10, giving a reason to win a trick.
- Three, five or six players: remove cards so the deck divides evenly — commonly the two of diamonds and/or two of clubs.
- Black Maria: the British relative, using the ace and king of spades as extra penalties.
- No passing: every hand is a hold hand.
- Cancellation: two decks and duplicate cards cancel each other out.