Hearts is a four-player card game. The object of Hearts is to have the fewest points at the end of the game.
- At the start of the game, each player is dealt 13 cards. Each player selects 3 cards from their hand to pass to another player. In turn, they each receive 3 cards that another player has passed to them.
- Now the play begins. The player holding the 2 of Clubs plays that card to start each round.
- Play continues clockwise. When it is your turn, you must play a card. You must play a card of the same suit as the first card (the card that was led), if you can. If you don't have any cards in the suit that was led, you can play any card.
- When each player has played a card, the person who played the highest card in the suit that was led wins these cards and receives all of the points for that "trick." Aces are the highest cards.
- The player who won the trick now leads a card.
Play continues in this manner for each trick. The current round lasts until all 4 players have played all of their cards and a new deck is dealt. The game ends once any player hits 26 points. The winner of the game is the player with the fewest points. Different game modes will slightly change the aforementioned rules.
You cannot lead with a Heart until Hearts have been broken. Hearts are broken when someone plays a Heart or the Queen of Spades.
Play the game at the highest level of difficulty (Advanced) to attain user rankings and have your gameplay stats tracked!
Main Menu
- Quick Play: immediately puts the user into a Hearts game using the rules from Classic mode.
- Single Player: The Single Player menu allows the user to begin a game using one of several Hearts game modes:
Classic modeOmnibus modeCut Throat modeCustom mode
- Pass N’Play: This mode allows up to four players to play against each other on the same handset. Pass N’Play offers all of the game modes available in Single Player mode and utilizes AI players when four human players aren’t available.
- My Stats: This menu allows the user to track their progress and rankings within each game mode that has been played at Advanced difficulty.
- Settings: Within this menu the user can adjust difficulty; toggle sound, music, and vibration on and off; configure AI chat text; and reset user statistics.
- Help: The Help section contains a full description of all key commands and a full description of all gameplay rules and functionality.
- About: This section describes the game’s copyright information and lists customer support contact info.
Modes of Play
Hearts by JAMDAT offers many diverse modes of Hearts gameplay, including a customizable game mode:
- Single Player:
- Quick Play – immediately puts the user in a game using the Classic mode rules
- Classic Mode – Game ends at 26 points, the Queen of Spades breaks Hearts, points cannot be played on the first trick, the Jack of Diamonds has no value, the 2 of Clubs must start each round, and no passing occurs at the start of the fourth round.
- Omnibus Mode – Game ends at 26 points, the Queen of Spades breaks Hearts, points cannot be played on the first trick, the Jack of Diamonds is worth -10 points, the 2 of Clubs must start each round, and no passing occurs at the start of the fourth round.
- Cut Throat Mode - Game ends at 26 points, the Queen of Spades breaks Hearts, points can be played on the first trick, the Jack of Diamonds is required to shoot the moon (and is worth -10 points), the player to the left of the dealer starts each round, and cards are scatter-passed at the start of the fourth round.
- Custom – Players can create their own gametype by selecting from the following pool of options:
- Left Dealer Start: The player to the left of the dealer begins each round.
- 2 Club Start: The player with the 2 of Clubs must start each round by playing the 2 of clubs.
- No 4th Pass: No cards are passed at the start of the 4th round.
- Scatter 4th Pass: Each player passes one card to every other player at the start of the fourth round.
- Q BRK Hearts ON: Hearts can be led after the Queen of Spades is played.
- Q BRK Hearts OFF: The Queen of Spades does not break Hearts.
- PTS #1 Trick ON: The Queen of Spades can be played on the first trick of the round. Hearts can be played (but not led) on the first trick of the round.
- PTS #1 Trick OFF: No point cards can be played during the first trick.
- Jack D: Shoot: The Jack of Diamonds is required to Shoot the Moon and is worth negative 10 points.
- Jack D: 0 PTS: The Jack of Diamonds has no point value.
- Jack D: -10 PTS: The Jack of Diamonds is worth negative 10 points.
- Max Points 14, 25, 50, 100: Once the maximum point limit is reached, the game ends.
- Pass N’Play:
- Pass N’Play offers all of the game modes available in Single Player mode.
- Up to four players can play against each other on the same handset.
Scoring:
The scores for the current round are not available to any player until the end of the round.
- Hearts = 1 point each
- Queen of Spades = 13 points
- Other cards = 0 points
- Shoot the Moon = 26 points for each of the other players
- In Omnibus and Cut Throat modes, the Jack of diamonds = negative 10
Rankings:
Rankings and user statistics are attained and recorded only when the user is playing at the highest level of difficulty (Advanced).
The following metrics are recorded during Advanced gameplay:
- Total number of games played
- Win / Loss / Tie Percentages
- Percentage of times player has shot the moon
- Percentage of times player has taken Queen of Spades
- Percentage of forfeited games
The user can increase their ranking by winning consecutive games at the highest level of difficulty. Losing a game will reset the user’s progression towards earning a new rank, but will still allow the user to retain the rankings that they have previously attained.
The rankings are as follows:
- Enthusiast
- Novice
- Amateur
- Pro
- Master
- Grand Master
