By Neal Taparia - 6/13/2024
The free Hearts game is a classic online card game and one of the most popular digital games for elderly people and players who want to find a fun, cost-free game they can play on any device in any location. New players should familiarize themselves with the terms and phrases often used during gameplay–such as ‘trick-taking,’ ‘shooting the moon,’ and ‘picking a suit’ to start!
Let’s clarify all the most used terms in Hearts, ensuring you're well-versed in the phraseology and can focus on your game.
Hearts is a card game people have played and enjoyed since the 1880s. The first term to understand is a ‘trick’, which refers to the four cards from one suit, one from each player’s hand, that are set down on the table:
If you're new to card games, a ‘hand’ means the set of cards each player holds at any moment. The suit is either Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, or Hearts. Once the game begins, you'll work in rounds, broken down into thirteen tricks played throughout the game.
Because there are four suits in a deck of cards, you'll play with the same suit more than once. The 'go around' refers to the number of times a trick within one suit has been played, or the number of times it has gone around.
Onto the gameplay itself, and you might have a long or a short suit, depending on the number of cards you have in your hand that belong to the same suit. A ‘long suit’ refers to seven or more cards held by one player in the same suit. In contrast, a ‘short suit’ normally means two or fewer cards.
‘Taking a trick’ refers to a play when a person plays the highest card in the trick–they are then the player who leads on the next trick. If you find yourself under ‘siege,’ a player who doesn't have the Queen of Spades in their hand tries to force you to set her down by leading over and over with Spades.
This strategy tends to happen earlier in a game of Hearts, and a player with the Ace or King of Spades is less likely to want to lead with Spades.
Depending on the lead card, you might respond with:
Another play is an ‘out card,’ which helps you pass the lead to another player. There are three out cards in a suit: cards two, three, and four. Like the transition between toppers, once those lowest cards have been played, the numbers above them turn into out cards.
Finally, you’ll need to understand these terms to become a great Hearts player:
Throughout the game, you could hear the Queen of Spades called the ‘Unlucky Lady’ and a myriad of other terms–this is because this card is worth thirteen points, and having her in your hand means you're unlikely to end up with the lowest points and be declared the winner.
Ready to try a hand of Hearts? Play for free at Hearts.co now!