About the Game of Hearts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Players choose 2-3 cards to pass to another player

Depending on the ruleset, this will either be two or three cards. Either way, the player having cards passed to them changes each round, then on every fourth round, there is no passing at all.

Answer: 2 of clubs

Whoever has the 2 of clubs must immediately place it down when play begins. It is uncommon but possible for another player to have no clubs cards in their hand, in which case, they would be permitted to use a diamonds or spades card of any kind. However, it is not permissible for any players to use any hearts cards of any kind during this sequence.

Answer: A situation where each player plays one card

During a trick, each player will play one card from their hand. The type of card played must follow suit with the very first card played; so if I play a 2 of diamonds as the lead card of the trick, everyone else must also use a diamonds card if they have one to hand. If they do not have a card that follows suit, they are permitted to "break suit" by playing a different card entirely.

A "round", in contrast, pertains to players going through their entire hand of cards. A trick is simply each card being played individually.

Answer: Lose

This may seem counterintuitive, but you are best off playing small cards as to "lose" a trick by undercutting your opponent. This is especially the case if someone plays the queen of spades, as "winning" the queen of spades is extremely bad.

Additionally, if someone else "wins" the trick, they have to lead the next trick. This gives you the opportunity to break hearts or use the queen of spades against someone else, rather than force you to hold onto those nasty cards.

The only situation where it is best to "win" the trick comes if players are abiding by the Omnibus ruleset. In this setting, the jack of diamonds is actually a great card to "win". Games not featuring the Omnibus ruleset will not make the jack of diamonds special however, rendering it just another card.

Answer: Play the very first heart suit card

If a situation happens, in which a lead card for a trick is of a suit someone doesn't have any cards of, they are permitted to play a hearts card. Until this happens, it is not permitted to lead a trick with a hearts card unless the player only has hearts cards.

To sum it up: the very first time anyone plays a hearts card for any reason, this is considered 'breaking hearts'. Note that it is impermissible for one's very first card played in a round to be a hearts card; they must wait until at least the second trick to do this.

Answer: They gain thirteen points

To win Hearts, you want a low score. Each individual card attached to the hearts suit gives one point if you "win" it, but the queen of spades gives thirteen points all by itself. This, of course, makes "winning" this card very, very bad.

Answer: Alec

In this situation, because I led with a 2 of spades, the other three were required to play any spades cards if they had any to hand. In this scenario, Jeremy and Alec did have spades cards, but Michael did not, so he was permitted to break suit. If you break suit, you cannot "win" that particular trick no matter what. So, even though 10 was the highest valued card, because it broke suit, it was ineligible. Therefore, the highest card that did not break suit was Alec's 4 of spades, as it beat Jeremy's 3 of spades as well as my 2 of spades.

This mechanic is a nasty way to force the queen of spades card onto someone else. If someone plays a clubs, diamonds or hearts card, and you don't have a card that can follow suit, this is a prime opportunity to unleash the queen of spades. Doing this ensures you will not be saddled with those nasty thirteen points.

Answer: Reduction of ten points

The jack of diamonds stands tall as the only card players actively want to "win" if following Omnibus rules. If using that moveset, the jack can massively help a player swing their score, especially if someone else was saddled with the queen of spades.

Answer: Be the only person who accumulated points that round

By "winning" the queen of spades and literally every single hearts card played, the player can execute what may be referred to as a "moon play", officially known as shooting the moon. If a single player is the only person to accumulate any points, which would be a total of 26, shooting the moon entails their opponents instead getting those 26 points, while the moon-shooter does not get any.

It is an extremely risky strategy to try and execute, as all it takes is one single trick going poorly to ruin the entire strategy. As well, it is pretty obvious to tell when someone is trying to shoot the moon to a trained individual, and players are likely going to even accept minor setbacks to themselves in the interest of not allowing the moon play. It would be extremely bad if someone tried to shoot the moon, only to end up accumulating 25/26 of that round's points, while one other player got the other one point.

Answer: Michael

This is a game where you want a lower score. Your score increases when you collect either hearts cards or the queen of spades. You collect these cards by "winning" a trick.