Hearts online

Pass three, dodge every heart and the queen of spades — or take them all and shoot the moon.

Players: 4 players
Length: 25–45 min
Difficulty: Medium
Energy: Calm, on your own screen
On a video call: Works well
Type: Cards · Tricks

About Hearts

Play Hearts online for free with 4 players. Pass three, dodge every heart and the queen of spades — or take them all and shoot the moon. Create a room, share the code, and play in a browser with no signup or download.

What playing it feels like

A hand of cards you hold close, played fast against a table that is watching your count.
Mostly quiet: the action happens on each player’s own screen.
Plays well on a video call — the talking happens on camera and the app does the rest.
One round and everyone has it.

Good for

Exactly 4 people
A proper evening rather than a filler
A video call, with everyone on their own screen

Maybe skip when

There are fewer than 4 of you
More than 4 of you want to play at once
You only have ten minutes

Hearts is the trick game where you are trying to lose. Every heart you take is a point against you and the queen of spades is thirteen, so most of the game is ducking: playing a low card under a high one, getting rid of a suit so you can throw your dangerous cards on someone else’s trick.

Before each hand everyone passes three cards — left, then right, then across, then a hand with no pass — so you start by handing your worst problems to a neighbour and finding out what they handed you. And there is the one way to win big: take every heart and the queen as well, and you score nothing while everyone else takes 26. Shooting the moon is the move a whole table remembers.

The app runs the pass so nobody sees what they are getting until everyone has chosen, opens on the two of clubs, keeps points off the first trick, and will not let hearts be led until they are broken. When someone reaches the limit the game ends and the lowest score wins.

How to play Hearts

1Create a room and share the code. Hearts is four players, each for themselves.
2Everyone is dealt 13 cards and passes three: to the left on the first hand, to the right on the second, across on the third, and no pass on the fourth.
3The two of clubs leads. Follow suit if you can, else play anything — but no heart or queen of spades on the first trick unless you have nothing else.
4You may not lead a heart until one has been played. There is no trump: the highest card of the suit led takes the trick.
5Each heart you take is 1 point and the queen of spades is 13. Take all 26 and you shoot the moon: everyone else takes 26 instead.
6When anyone reaches the limit (50 or 100, the host’s choice), the game ends after that hand and the lowest total wins.

Hearts FAQ

How many people play Hearts?

Four, each playing alone. The pass rotates left, right and across, with a fourth hand where nobody passes.

What is shooting the moon?

Taking every heart and the queen of spades in a single hand. You score nothing for that hand and every other player takes 26 — which is why a player collecting hearts on purpose is the most dangerous person at the table.

Why can I not lead a heart?

Hearts are not "broken" until someone has played one to a trick, usually because they could not follow suit. Until then you may not lead one unless your hand is nothing but hearts. The board shows when hearts are broken.

Does low or high score win in Hearts?

Low. Points are bad in Hearts. When someone reaches the limit, the game ends and whoever has the fewest points wins.

Can other players see what I passed?

Only the person you passed to, once everyone has passed. The board shows who has chosen their three, never which cards, and the swap happens all at once.