Hearts Unblocked — Play Free Online

Hearts is the classic trick-taking card game, and the twist is that you are trying to lose. Every heart you collect costs you a point, and the queen of spades costs thirteen, so the winner is the player with the fewest points when the game ends. It is a calm, thinking-heavy change of pace from the rest of A Dance of Fire and Ice, where almost everything is about reflexes.

A hand is played against three computer opponents. Each round you are dealt thirteen cards, and the play is a series of tricks: one card from each player, with the highest card of the suit that was led taking the trick. Whoever takes it also takes any hearts or the queen of spades that landed in it. A session can be a single quick hand or a full game, which makes it a good fit when you only have a few minutes.

How to play

The game uses the mouse or touch: click a card to pick it up, then click again to play it. Some builds of these card games include undo and hint buttons, so look around the table if you get stuck.

The standard rules apply. You must follow the suit that was led if you can. If you have none of it, you may discard anything, which is your chance to unload dangerous cards such as high hearts or the queen of spades. Hearts cannot normally be led until a heart has already been played on an earlier trick, which is often called breaking hearts. Check the table for how this version handles the opening pass of cards and the end-of-game score.

Tips

• Get rid of high cards early. An ace or king in a long suit is a liability, because sooner or later you will be forced to win a trick you did not want.
• Keep track of the queen of spades. Until she has been played, avoid leading spades above her; low spades are safe to lead.
• Short suits are useful. If you run out of a suit early, every later lead in it lets you discard a penalty card onto someone else.
• Count the hearts as they fall. Once most are gone, the remaining ones are far less threatening.
• Be wary of one opponent collecting everything. Taking all the hearts and the queen of spades, known as shooting the moon, is a gamble that can flip the scores in the rules of most Hearts games.

Similar games on A Dance of Fire and Ice

If you want something just as simple to start but with fast reactions, try Two Button Bounce or Color Tunnel, both of which are about timing rather than planning. Circloo is another short, one-input game, while Level Devil is a trial-and-error platformer in which the level keeps changing under you. Hearts is the slow, deliberate option in the list.

It suits anyone who enjoys card games on a break: it runs in the browser with nothing to install, works with a mouse or a touchscreen, and a round can be paused simply by leaving the cards where they are.