Hearts is a trick-taking game where the goal is to avoid winning hearts and the queen of spades. The player with the lowest score at the end wins.
Deal the full deck evenly — 13 cards each for 4 players. The player holding the 2 of clubs leads the first trick.
The leader plays any card. Each player must follow suit if they can; otherwise they may play any card. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick, unless a heart was played on a non-heart lead.
Each heart is worth 1 point and the queen of spades is worth 13. The winner of each trick collects its cards. When someone reaches 100 points, the lowest score wins the game.
If one player captures all 13 hearts and the queen of spades, they "shoot the moon" — scoring 0 while every opponent scores 26.
Early game, dump high cards and the queen of spades. If you must take hearts, consider going all-in for the moon rather than taking a few.
You score 0 and every other player scores 26 points. It is a high-risk, high-reward play.
Hearts cannot be led until a heart has already been played ("broken"), unless a player holds only hearts.
13 points — as much as every heart combined.