# Hearts

> Dodge the hearts and the queen of spades.

Three café regulars, one deck, and a queen of spades nobody wants. Pass three cards, follow suit and keep your points low, or take every heart and the queen to shoot the moon. Work your way from the Window Table to Flo's Table, where the house champion counts every card.

- Play: https://sidekickarcade.com/play/hearts/ (in the browser, phone or computer, free, no sign-up needed)
- Neighborhood: [Card Café](https://sidekickarcade.com/category/card/index.md)
- Controls: Tap, drag, mouse or keys
- Best on: portrait screens
- Coins for goals: 2 per 1 stars, up to 12 a run

## How to play

1. Each hand, pass three cards, then play 13 tricks. Follow the suit that was led if you can; the highest card of that suit takes the trick. Hearts can't be led until one has been played.
2. Every heart you take is 1 point and the queen of spades is 13. Take all 26 and you shoot the moon: everyone else gets 26 instead. When someone reaches 50 or 100, the lowest score wins.
3. Tap a card to lift it and tap again to play it, or drag it to the table. To pass, tap three cards, then Pass. Last trick shows what was just played.
4. Keys work too: the arrows pick a card and Enter plays it or picks it to pass. P passes, X shows the last trick and Z the scores. Esc pauses.

## Tips

- Pass the queen of spades unless you hold plenty of spades to hide her behind; the ace and king of spades are risky to keep too.
- Use the pass to empty a short suit. Once you're out of clubs or diamonds, you can drop hearts and high cards on other players' tricks.
- Count the spades. Once the queen has been played, your high spades are safe to lead.
- Watch for a moon shot. If one player is taking every point, take a single heart yourself to stop them.
- Lead low cards in suits where the others still hold higher ones, so someone else takes the trick.

## Questions

### Is it free?

Yes. Hearts is free in your browser, with no download and no sign-up needed. Coins you earn are for fun and can never be bought.

### How does shooting the moon work?

Take all 13 hearts and the queen of spades in one hand. You score 0 for that hand and the other three players each get 26.

### When can hearts be led?

Once a heart has been played on an earlier trick, or when you have nothing but hearts left. The queen of spades can be led any time after the first trick.

### Can I play a shorter game?

Yes. Pick To 50 or To 100 on the start card, and your choice is saved for next time.

### Is there a daily deal?

Yes. One hand a day with the same cards for everyone, and a par to beat.

### Can I play on a phone?

Yes. It's built for touch first and plays the same on a phone, a tablet or a computer.

## Achievements

- **Pull up a chair** (bronze, 10 coins): Play a hand.
- **Lowest wins** (bronze, 10 coins): Win a game.
- **Deal of the day** (bronze, 10 coins): Play the daily hand.
- **Café regular** (silver, 25 coins): Play 100 hands.
- **Better seats** (silver, 25 coins): Win a game at the Jukebox Corner or a tougher table.
- **Over the moon** (silver, 25 coins): Take every heart and the queen of spades in one hand.
- **Secret achievement** (silver, 25 coins): Keep playing to find it.
- **Flo's Table** (gold, 60 coins): Win a game at Flo's Table.
- **Thirty deals** (gold, 60 coins): Play 30 daily hands.
- **Reads the table** (gold, 60 coins): Reach a rating of 1050.
- **Thirty wins** (gold, 60 coins): Win 30 games.
- **Secret achievement** (gold, 60 coins): Keep playing to find it.
- **House favorite** (diamond, 150 coins): Earn 25 table wins at Flo's Table. Earns the title "Café Champion".
- **A hundred deals** (diamond, 150 coins): Play 100 daily hands. Earns the title "Daily Regular".

## More to play

- [Rummy](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/rummy/index.md): Collect sets and runs before the regulars do. (Card Café)
- [Crazy Eights](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/crazy-eights/index.md): Match the suit or the number, and save your eights. (Card Café)
- [Go Fish](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/go-fish/index.md): Collect books of four. Remember who asked for what. (Card Café)
- [Solitaire](https://sidekickarcade.com/play/solitaire/index.md): The classic one-player card game. (Card Café)