Hearts is the classic four-player trick-taking card game where the goal is the opposite of most card games: you want to avoid points, not collect them. Played with a standard 52-card deck, every heart you take is worth one penalty point and the dreaded Queen of Spades (the "Black Lady") is worth thirteen. Whoever finishes with the fewest points wins. Known around the world as Black Lady, Queen of Spades, Chase the Lady, or Rickety Kate, Hearts is easy to learn but rewards memory, planning, and reading your opponents. DonkeyCat's Hearts Online lets you play this timeless classic for free — in real-time multiplayer against players worldwide, or offline against AI opponents. Pass cards, dodge the penalties, and if you're bold enough, try to "shoot the moon" by taking every heart and the Queen of Spades to flip the score on everyone else.

Also known as: Hearts card game, Black Lady, Black Queen, Queen of Spades, Chase the Lady (UK), Rickety Kate (Australia), Herzeln, Herzln, Schwarze Dame, Dame de Pique (French), Zwarte Vrouw (Dutch)

Features

• Free to play — 100% free to download and play, online or offline.
• Online multiplayer — real-time matches against real players worldwide; 4 players per table.
• Offline vs AI — play against AI opponents with no internet connection required.
• Play with friends — invite friends, create private games, add players as friends, and see who's online.
• In-game chat & emojis — chat and interact during games (chat can be turned off in Settings).
• Tournaments & leaderboards — daily, weekly, and monthly tournaments; global and local leaderboards.
• Rooms / stakes — multiple credit-stake rooms (e.g. 5 / 50 / 500 / 1000 credits) plus lower-stakes training rooms.
• Shoot the moon — full support for the classic "shoot the moon" rule.
• Customization — choose from different card decks and table backgrounds.
• Settings — toggle music, sound effects, vibration, and chat.
• Modern UI — clean design with fast animations, built for phones and tablets.

How to play

1. The deck & deal. Hearts uses a standard 52-card deck. Four players each receive 13 cards, so all cards are always in play.
2. Passing cards. Before each round, players pass 3 cards. The pass direction rotates: round 1 to the left, round 2 to the right, round 3 to the player across, round 4 no pass (hold). This cycle then repeats.
3. The first lead. The round begins with the player holding the 2 of clubs, who leads the first trick with it. Play continues clockwise.
4. Following suit. Players must follow the led suit if they can. A player who cannot follow suit may play any card.
5. Breaking hearts. Hearts are "broken" the first time a player plays a heart because they couldn't follow suit (or had no other legal card). Playing the Queen of Spades in that situation also breaks hearts. Once hearts are broken, they may be led at any time.
6. Winning a trick. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick; that player leads the next trick.
7. Scoring (penalty cards). Hearts and the Queen of Spades are the only scoring cards — all of them are penalties. Each heart = 1 point; the Queen of Spades = 13 points. (A full round of penalties totals 26 points.)
8. Shooting the moon. If a single player collects all the hearts and the Queen of Spades in one round, they "shoot the moon": they score 0 and every other player gets 26 points instead.
9. Winning the game. Play continues over multiple rounds until a player reaches or exceeds an agreed maximum score (in this app, e.g. 100 points in standard rooms; lower in training rooms). The player with the lowest total score wins.

Frequently asked questions