🖤 Hearts online — take the fewest points, or shoot the moon

Hearts is the rare card game where you would rather not win tricks. Every heart in your pile is one penalty point, the Queen of Spades is thirteen at once, and the player with the fewest points wins. A match runs until someone hits 50 — the moment that happens, the game ends and the totals are counted.

Before each deal you pass three cards to a neighbour, and the direction rotates: left, then right, then across, and every fourth deal is played with no passing at all. The two of clubs always leads, you must follow suit, and hearts can only be led once somebody has broken them. You get 30 seconds per move and 25 to choose the three cards you pass.

Play with three, four or five people — the deck adjusts to the table so the cards deal out evenly. Short on players? Add bots; they play to win. And keep the big gamble in mind: collect all 26 penalty cards in one deal and you have shot the moon — you score zero and everyone else takes 26.