Where does Hearts come from?

Hearts is built on a delightfully backwards idea: the tricks everyone else fights to win are the ones you want to avoid. That idea is older than the game itself, and its road to the office computer is a good story.

Quick answer: Hearts grew out of Reversis, a European card game from the 1600s in which players tried to avoid winning tricks. The modern American game took shape in the 1880s, the Queen of Spades penalty was added around 1900, and Microsoft shipping Hearts with Windows in 1992 introduced it to hundreds of millions of players.

The Reversis roots

In the 1600s, players in Spain and France enjoyed a game called Reversis, where the goal was flipped: you scored by avoiding tricks instead of taking them. This family of 'evasion' games spread across Europe over the next two centuries. Hearts inherited its core DNA from Reversis - dodge the dangerous cards, and let your opponents choke on them.

Hearts takes shape in America

The game we now call Hearts appeared in the United States in the 1880s, with each heart costing one point. Around 1900, a variant known as Black Lady added the twist that defines the modern game: the Queen of Spades, worth a painful 13 points on her own. Passing cards before each hand came later still, and by the mid-1900s the version played today - the one on our rules page - was the American standard.

Windows and the digital boom

Microsoft shipped a Hearts game with Windows for Workgroups 3.1 in 1992, and it stayed in Windows for decades. For millions of people it was their first card game against computer opponents, and it made Hearts one of the most-played games in history. Today you can play the same classic game free against three AI opponents, no install required.

Play the classic - Hearts

Related questions

How many types of Hearts are there?

Dozens of Hearts variants have been documented, all built on the same idea: avoid penalty cards, lowest score wins. The best known are classic American Hearts, Omnibus (with the Jack of Diamonds bonus), Spot Hearts (pip-value scoring) and Britain's Black Maria - all four of which you can play here.

Is Hearts good for your brain?

Hearts gives your brain a genuine workout: you hold the fallen cards in memory, plan the pass and the endgame, weigh risks trick by trick, and read three opponents at once. It is not a proven medical treatment for anything, but it is rich, engaging mental exercise.

What is Black Maria?

Black Maria is the British version of Hearts, named after the Queen of Spades herself. Three spades carry penalties - the Ace costs 7, the King 10 and the Queen 13 - on top of the 13 hearts, making 43 points per hand. Passing is always three cards to the right.