Hearts

How to play Hearts

Four players, each for themselves. A standard 52-card deck is dealt, 13 each. The game ends when anyone reaches 100 (or pick 50 or 150); the lowest score wins. If two or more are tied for lowest when someone reaches the target, play another hand.

Passing

Each hand, pass 3 cards: first left, then right, then across, then a hold hand with no passing, and the cycle repeats. Everyone picks at the same time. Nothing is traded until every player has pressed Pass. Selected cards lift, get bigger, and glow gold, with 1, 2 and 3 badges in the order you tapped them. After the swap, you are shown the 3 cards you received (only you see them), labeled From the player who passed them. Tap OK, or in an invite room the view continues after about 4 seconds.

Playing

• The 2 of clubs leads the first trick.
• On the first trick you may not play a heart or the Queen of spades unless you have nothing else.
• Follow suit if you can. You may not lead a heart until hearts have been broken (a heart has been played), unless your hand is all hearts.

Scoring

• Each heart is 1 point. The Queen of spades is 13. Taking all 26 is shooting the moon: you score 0 and everyone else scores 26.

During the hand

A large badge shows the pass direction (or Hold) and whether hearts are broken. A running tally shows everyone’s points this hand. When a trick with points is taken, a +N pops up next to the winner. Tap Last trick to see only the most recent completed trick, with each card, who won it, and the points. At the end of the hand, the score screen shows who shot the moon (if anyone), this hand’s points, and the running totals.

Robots and friends

Tommy Bot, Pinky Bot and DJ Shuffle play from skill 1 (beginner) to 100 (near perfect). Tap Invite friends to play by link or 6-letter code; robots fill any empty seats. Each person shows their own name and look.

In an invite room, every play and trick appears on everyone’s screen automatically (a finished trick stays up about a second and a half). There is no Next button with real players. In solo vs robots, Pause after each robot move (Next button) is off by default — robots play at a readable pace. Turn it on in Settings if you want to step through. The setting is saved on this device and is the same for Spades, Hearts, Euchre and Pinochle. Passing is simultaneous for every human at the table. If you leave mid-game, you can rejoin your seat with the same invite.