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Hearts Card Online

Description

Welcome to King of Hearts. You’ll be playing against 3 artificial computers.

“Hearts” is a classic trick-taking card game typically played with four players. The objective is to avoid capturing certain cards that carry penalty points, primarily hearts and the queen of spades, while aiming to collect as few points as possible. Players take turns playing cards from their hands, following suit if possible, with the highest card of the led suit winning the trick. The game continues until all cards have been played, at which point players tally their points. The player with the fewest points at the end of the game wins. “Hearts” is known for its strategic depth, requiring players to carefully manage their hands and anticipate opponents’ moves to avoid accumulating penalty points. It has remained a popular card game both in casual settings and as a digital game.

Before beginning a round of Hearts, players engage in a card exchange phase known as “passing.” During this phase, players pass three cards to one of their opponents according to a predetermined rotation. On the first deal, players pass three cards to the player on their left. On the second deal, cards are passed to the player on their right. On the third deal, cards are passed across the table (opposite direction), and on the fourth deal, no cards are exchanged.

Once the passing phase is complete, the player holding the 2 of clubs starts the game by playing that card. From there, the game proceeds with each player in clockwise order playing a single card from their hand. Players must follow suit if possible, meaning they must play a card of the same suit as the leading card if they have one. If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any card from their hand.

The player who plays the highest card of the led suit wins the trick and leads the next one. However, there are special rules regarding the penalty cards:

Hearts: Normally, hearts cannot be led until they have been “broken” by a player who cannot follow suit and plays a heart instead. After hearts are broken, they can be led in subsequent tricks.
Queen of Spades: This card carries penalty points and is typically undesirable to capture. The player who wins a trick containing the queen of spades scores penalty points.

Players continue playing tricks until all cards have been played. At the end of the round, players tally their scores based on the number of hearts and the queen of spades they have captured. The player with the fewest points wins the round, and the game can continue with subsequent rounds if desired.