Hearts Card Game Rules

Object of the game

The object of the game is to score as few points as possible. The game ends when any player has 100 or more points. The winner is the player with the least points.

Passing cards

At the beginning of most hands, you pass 3 of the cards you have been dealt to another player. In the first hand, you pass to the player on your left. In the second, you pass to the player on your right. In the third, you pass to the player across from you. In the fourth, you don't pass any cards. This sequence of passing cards is repeated for subsequent hands.

Starting a hand

The player with the 2 of clubs leads by playing that card. The other players must play a card in the same suit if they can. If they can't follow suit, they may play a card from another suit. In the first round, you may not play a heart or the queen of spades.

Taking a trick

The player who played the highest card of the suit that was led takes the trick. The 2 card has the lowest rank. The ace has the highest rank.

Broken hearts

You may lead a heart at the beginning of a round only if you have only hearts in your hand or if hearts have been broken. Hearts are broken when anyone plays a heart when they cannot follow suit.

Scoring

You score 1 point for each heart you take. You score 13 points if you take the queen of spades.

Shooting the moon

When a player takes all the heart cards and the queen of spades, this is know as shooting the moon. The player's score for that hand is 0 and 26 points are added to the scores of the other players.