Card games
Hearts
Black Lady
Dodge the hearts, beware the Queen
Hearts is the card game generations of Americans grew up with — on the kitchen table and on the family PC. Four players each play for themselves, and the goal is to take as few points as possible: every heart costs a point and the Queen of Spades costs thirteen. When someone reaches 100, the lowest score wins.
- Players
- 4 players
- Length
- 10–25 min per game
- Type
- Card games
Play Hearts online with friends
Hearts needs four players, and Masa keeps the table full: invite three friends, or let bots fill the empty chairs — a friend can take a bot’s seat when the first hand starts or between two hands. Every pass and every trick plays out on a 3D table.
How to play
- 1
Four players get 13 cards each from a 52-card deck. Everyone plays for themselves, and there are no trumps.
- 2
Before each hand, everyone passes three cards: to the left, then to the right, then across. Every fourth hand, nobody passes.
- 3
The player holding the 2 of clubs leads it. On this first trick nobody may play a heart or the Queen of Spades unless they have nothing else.
- 4
Follow the suit led if you can; if you can’t, play any card. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, and its winner leads next.
- 5
Hearts can’t be led until a heart has been played on an earlier trick (hearts are “broken”), unless you hold nothing but hearts and the Queen of Spades.
Other versions of Hearts
Same table, other rules: each version is a game of its own at Masa, with its own tables, rules and stats.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play a heart on the first trick?
Only if you have nothing but hearts and the Queen of Spades. Otherwise the first trick stays point-free, even when you have no clubs.
When can I lead hearts?
Once a heart has been played on an earlier trick, or when hearts and the Queen of Spades are all you have left.
Does the Queen of Spades break hearts?
No. Only a heart breaks hearts at Masa’s tables, as in the classic rules. You can lead spades, the Queen included, at any time after the first trick.
What does shooting the moon mean?
Taking every heart and the Queen of Spades in one hand. It’s risky, but it hands 26 points to everyone else.
How is Hearts different from King?
Hearts plays the same penalty rules every hand, with a three-card pass before it; in King each hand has a contract that a different player chooses.
