Hearts rules and strategy: how to avoid the Queen of spades

The Hearts rules, as Heartbreak plays them

Heartbreak uses the standard rules. Before the first trick you pick three cards and pass them: to the left, to the right, across the table, or not at all, depending on the hand. The player holding the 2 of clubs leads the first trick, and everyone must follow the suit that was led if they can. The highest card of the led suit takes the trick and leads the next one.

Two rules trip up newcomers. No points can be scored on the very first trick, so you can safely throw a heart or the Queen there if you have no club. And hearts can’t be led until a heart has been played on an earlier trick, which is called breaking hearts. The only exception is a hand that holds nothing but hearts. If you tap a card that isn’t allowed, Heartbreak shows a short note explaining why, and the cards you can play glow while the others are dimmed.

What to pass: the Queen, the high hearts, the short suit

The pass is your one free decision before play starts, and it decides more hands than any single trick. The game’s own advice is to pass the Queen of spades and high hearts, and there is a clear reason. A card you hold will eventually have to be played, and you can’t always choose when. A card you gave away is someone else’s problem.

The Queen deserves one caveat. If you hold few spades, she is hard to protect: you will be forced to play her the first time spades are led. If you hold many low spades, you can keep her safely, because you can always duck under the spade that was led. When in doubt about a thin spade holding, pass her on.

A second thing to pass is the tail end of a long suit. If you can leave yourself with only one or two cards in a suit, that suit becomes a void quickly, and a void is your best defensive tool, which the next section explains.

Void a suit early, then throw your points away

When you can’t follow the suit that was led, you may play any card. That is the moment to unload a heart or the Queen of spades onto a trick someone else is going to win. So the plan is to get rid of a whole short suit early. Once you have no cards left in it, every time that suit is led you get a free discard.

Planning this starts at the pass. A hand with only two diamonds can lose both on the first two diamond tricks and then dump hearts for the rest of the hand. Keep an eye on which suits have been led and how many cards of each remain, because the same logic works against you when an opponent runs out of a suit and starts handing you their points.

Play just under the winner

Taking a trick is only bad if it contains points, but you can’t always see that in advance. The safe habit is to play a card just below the current winner whenever you can. The trick then goes to someone else and you keep control of your high cards for later.

High cards are dangerous mainly in suits you must follow. An ace of clubs is harmless on a trick with no hearts, and it also lets you exit the lead safely. A king of spades is a time bomb until the Queen has gone. Keep track of the Queen: once she has been played, the high spades in your hand are safe, and you can stop worrying about them.

Shooting the moon: when it is worth the risk

Take all 26 points in one hand and the score turns around: the other players get 26 each and you get none. In Heartbreak the same rule applies. It sounds tempting, and it is the fastest way to turn a bad level around, but it only works with a hand that is already full of high hearts and stoppers in the other suits.

The practical test is simple. Count how many tricks you are sure to win with the hand you were dealt. If the answer is not nearly all of them, play defensively. A failed attempt leaves you holding a pile of points, and the computer players will happily hand you the rest. The opposite matters too: if an opponent suddenly takes every heart trick, don’t take the Queen of spades. One point in your pile stops them from shooting.

Levels, limits and the three stars

Each level is a single hand with a points limit: you pass if you finish with no more points than the limit allows. The limit starts at 10 points, tightens to 7, then to 5, and the computer players make fewer mistakes as you climb, so the early levels are where you learn the habits above.

Three stars go to a clean hand with no points at all. That is a different goal from simply passing, and it changes how you play: you pass more aggressively, void suits sooner and duck every trick that has a heart on it. If you only want to clear the level, a few points are fine. If you want the stars, treat every heart as a penalty.

More card games on crokocat

If you like thinking about which card to keep, crokocat has other quiet card games. Pyramid 13 is pyramid solitaire, where you pair open cards that add up to 13. Three Peaks is TriPeaks solitaire, and Open Cells is FreeCell, where every deal can be won.

Pyramid 13Pyramid solitaire — pairs that make 13Play now

Three PeaksTriPeaks solitaire — one up or one down, clear the three peaksPlay now

Open CellsFreeCell solitaire — four free cells, every deal can be wonPlay now

Frequently asked questions

Guides & tips

• Wild Eights: rules and how to empty your hand first
• Fool's Trump guide: how to win Durak against the computer
• Pyramid 13: solitaire rules and how to clear the pyramid

Play it here

• Heartbreak — Hearts — dodge the hearts and the Queen of spades
• Pyramid 13 — Pyramid solitaire — pairs that make 13
• Three Peaks — TriPeaks solitaire — one up or one down, clear the three peaks
• Open Cells — FreeCell solitaire — four free cells, every deal can be won