Classic Hearts Game

Classic Hearts is a straightforward digital take on the four-player trick-taking card game: you play against three computer opponents, everyone gets dealt 13 cards from a standard 52-card deck, and the goal is to end the game with the lowest score rather than the highest. Every Heart you take is a penalty point, and picking up the Queen of Spades costs you thirteen at once.

Each round opens with a pass — you choose three cards to hand to an opponent, with the direction rotating left, right, and across before a round with no pass at all. Whoever holds the two of clubs leads the first trick, and you have to follow the suit that was led if you can; if you're out of that suit, you're free to dump a penalty card instead. Play continues trick by trick until the deck runs out and scores are tallied.

Controls

Everything is click or tap: select a card from your hand to pass it or play it. There's no keyboard involved.

Tips

• Try to void yourself of an entire suit early through your three-card pass, so you have a safe card to dump whenever that suit gets led later.
• Don't hold onto a high Spade unless you also have the Queen — leading lower Spades early can flush her out of an opponent's hand before she lands on you.
• If an opponent starts scooping up every Heart they can, they may be going for Shoot the Moon — taking a low Heart yourself early in the round is usually enough to break their run.

A round moves quickly since there's no timer pressure beyond your own turn, which makes it easy to fit in one hand or several in a sitting.