A trick-taking game turned upside down: here points are penalties, and the goal is to avoid taking tricks with hearts and the Queen of Spades. The very game that comes with Windows.
The main rule is reversed: points here are penalties, and taking them is bad. The winner is whoever has the fewest points at the end. Penalties come from tricks containing hearts and the Queen of Spades, so players try to avoid them.
The whole 52-card deck is dealt evenly — 13 cards to each of the four players. Before play there is a mandatory pass of three cards: each player picks three unwanted cards and gives them to an opponent. The direction rotates by round: round 1 — pass left; round 2 — right; round 3 — across; round 4 — no pass; then the cycle repeats. You may look at the cards you receive only after passing your own.
The first trick is led by the player holding the two of clubs, and they must lead exactly that card. After that, whoever won the previous trick leads.
Players play one card each in turn, with two key limits: you must follow suit; with no card of the led suit you may discard anything. The trick goes to the highest card of the led suit (there are no trumps), and the winner leads next. You may not lead a heart until hearts are “broken” — until someone has discarded a heart into another’s trick — unless you have nothing else.
A total of 26 penalty points are “dealt” each round (13 hearts + the Queen). Tricks without hearts or the Queen score nothing.
A risky play: if one player takes all the hearts and the Queen of Spades, they “shoot the moon” — they score 0 and each of the other three gets 26. It is a way not to lose but to punish everyone at once — but the slightest slip and all the penalties are yours. Taking every trick in the round is “shooting the sun”, worth even more by agreement.
Rounds are played until someone reaches 100 or more penalty points. At that moment the game ends and the player with the lowest score wins.
Three or two players: with three, remove the two of diamonds so cards deal evenly; with two, use a shortened 36-card deck. Jack of diamonds: an optional rule where it removes 11 points from whoever takes it — adding tactics.
Each heart taken = 1 point, the Queen of Spades = 13. Points are penalties, so aim for as few as possible.
If one player takes all the hearts and the Queen in a round, they score 0 and each opponent gets 26.
The player holding the two of clubs, leading exactly that card.
No — you may lead a heart only after hearts are “broken”, unless you have nothing else.