Play Hearts Card Game Online: Free Online Hearts Cards Video Game for Kids & Adults (2024)

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Play Hearts Card Game Online

Children and parents can play this free classic 4-player card game against the computer by clicking in the window below.

Alternatively kids and adults can play this online Hearts cards video game for free as a web application here.

Hearts Online Card Game Play Instructions

• Starting the Game
  • Click on the yellow PLAY button on the game’s welcome screen to start your game.
  • Games last to 100 points.
  • The welcome screen has a sound control button in the upper right corner.
• Game Controls
  • Desktop
    • Use your mouse left click on the cards you want to pass at the beginning of a hand.
    • Left click on a card to lay it.
  • Mobile
    • Use your finger like a mouse.
  • The game has buttons for sound control and bringing up the menu in the upper right corner. The menu has buttons to resume the game, start a new game or read game rules.
• Game Rules
  • Points
    • Whoever lays the highest card in the suit which led wins the hand.
      • If there are no Hearts and no Queen of Spades in the hand then no points are scored.
      • Whoever wins a hand leads the next hand.
    • If you win a trick and there is a Heart in it then you score a point.
    • Each Heart inside won tricks is worth a point.
    • The Queen of Spades is worth 13 points.
    • Each hand has a total of 26 points.
    • The winner is whoever has the least points at the end of a hand.
    • If a player manages to capture all 13 hearts and the Queen of Spades then they score zero points and all other players have 26 points added to their score. This is called “Shooting the Moon.”
    • Players continue to play new hands until someone hits 100 points. When someone hits 100 points the game is over and whoever has the lowest total score thusfar wins.
  • Passing cards
    • Each player is dealt 13 cards.
    • Before play begins players may be required to exchange 3 cards with other players.
    • Card exchange goes in a 4 hand cycle:
      • pass left
      • pass right
      • pass across
      • no pass
  • Suits & lay order
    • Players must follow the suit led when laying a card if they hold that suit in their hand.
    • Whoever has the 2 of clubs starts the game by laying it.
    • Players may not lay the Queen of Spades or any Hearts on the opening hand.
    • Players may not lead with a Heart unless either:
      • a Heart has already been laid & the suit is broken
      • they have nothing but Hearts remaining in their hand
• Game Strategy
  • The passing cards phase is almost as important as the order in which you lay cards.
    • When you pass left or right the person who receives them knows what you gave them & may be able to infer your strategy based on that.
    • Likewise the person who passes you cards knows that they sent you.
    • When you pass across the person both knowns what you sent them and what they sent you.
    • In general a great strategy to have is to try to have 3 or fewer suits if possible so that you have flexibility in laying off cards.
    • Try not to lay off low ranking Spades as someone may send you the Queen, King or Ace. Having a large number of low value Spades (anything below the Queen) lowers the odds you will get stuck eating the Queen of Spades.
    • If you have the Ace, King, or Queen of Spades & few low spades you should pass the high Spade cards unless you want to shoot the moon.
    • When swapping cards it is usually best to pass along Queen, King, or Ace of a suit unless you are trying to Shoot the Moon.
    • The Ace of Clubs is less risky than other Aces since you can lay it on the first trick and players are prohibited from laying any Hearts or the Queen of Spades in the opening hand.
    • If you have both the 2 of Clubs and Ace of Clubs you should pass one of them. If you are passing left you typically want to pass the 2 of Clubs.
  • Laying cards
    • The Queen of Spades
      • If you are not holding the Queen of Spades you typically want to lay in a fashion that allows you to get rid of your highest cards as soon as you can while giving yourself the most flexibility with future plays & not risking eating the Queen of Spades.
      • If you have no intent to Shoot the Moon and do not have the Queen, King or Ace of Spades & you have won the prior trick you should keep laying Spades until you force someone to eat the Queen.
    • Shooting the Moon
      • If you get stuck eating the Queen of Spades try to lay some of your middle value Hearts to force people to either eat the points or let you have them & try to end off with a suit you have many of where you know others do not have any to complete your shot at Shooting the Moon.
      • If you think someone is trying to Shoot the Moon and they have already ate the Queen of Spades then keep high cards in your hand to try to win control of the deal to prevent them from Shooting the Moon.
      • If possible, try to get rid of your weaker cards before eating the Queen of Spades.
      • If you have a Heart valued in the middle of the deck and want to Shoot the Moon try to lead a hand with it early so you force others to decide to eat 4 points or let you book the trick.
    • Deal Order Tips
      • If the person to your left won a trick then on the next hand you get to lay last so do not risk any surprises from other players dumping cards on you, so get rid of the highest card you possibly can without taking the deal. If you have the Ace or King of Spades it may be beneficial to lay them and get rid of them then follow up either by laying low in another suit or laying another Spade below the Queen.
      • Only take the deal if the Queen of Spades has already been laid, you are sure someone else will book the next trick, you have the ability to keep laying Spades until someone else eats the Queen of Spades, or you are trying to Shoot the Moon.
      • If the Queen of Spades still has not been dumped on anyone yet try to avoid winning tricks so you do not lead the deal. If you are not holding the Ace, King or Queen of Spades keep leading lower Spades with the deal to try to force someone else to eat it.
    • Breaking Hearts
      • You typically want to break Hearts as early as possible unless you have the ability to throw an off suit Ace, King or Queen of Spades on someone else’s hand.
      • When you break Hearts you typically want to throw your highest value Heart on the stake unless you are trying to shoot the moon (in which case you wouldn’t break the suit!)
    • Protecting a suit
      • If you have a hand with many cards of the same suit in it that gives you a lot of flexibility:
        • Many of one suit means few or none of another suit.
        • Many of one suit makes it easier to either try to Shoot the Moon or score no points.
        • Be sure you track what cards remain in a suit if you are determining if you should try to go high or low with it.
• Target Audience
  • This game is fun for card game fans of all ages.
    • Older kids and adults would probably like it more than younger kids, but the rules of Hearts are simple enough that fairly young kids can be taught strategy rather quickly & easily.
  • There are no adult topics in this game.

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Plays.org published this Card on August 13, 2021 / 2 Comments