''Hearts'', also known as ''Microsoft Hearts'', is a
computer game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
included with
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, based on a
card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific.
Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...
with
the same name. It was first introduced in
Windows 3.1
Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0.
Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series ran as a shell on top of MS-DOS. Codenamed Janus, Windows 3 ...
in 1992, and was included in every version of Windows up to Windows 7. Despite the name, the game rules correspond to those of
Black Lady
Black Lady is an American card game of the Hearts group for three to six players and the most popular of the group. It emerged in the early 20th century as an elaboration of Hearts and was initially also called Discard Hearts. It is named after ...
in which the
queen of spades
The queen of spades (Q) is one of 52 playing cards in a standard deck: the queen of the suit of spades (). In Old Maid and several games of the Hearts family, it serves as a single, undesirable card in the deck.
Roles by game
In the Hearts fa ...
is a penalty card, in addition to the cards of the heart suit that are the only penalty cards in the traditional card game of
Hearts. An online version, named ''Internet Hearts'' or previously ''The Microsoft Hearts Network'', was included in
Windows for Workgroups 3.1
Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was Released-to-manufacturing, released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0.
Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series ran as a Shell (computing), shell ...
,
Me and
XP.
History
''Hearts'' was first included in Windows with
Windows for Workgroups 3.1
Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was Released-to-manufacturing, released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0.
Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series ran as a Shell (computing), shell ...
, Microsoft's first "network-ready" version of Windows, released in 1992, which included a new networking technology that Microsoft called
NetDDE
In computing, Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) is a technology for interprocess communication used in early versions of Microsoft Windows and OS/2. DDE allows programs to manipulate objects provided by other programs, and respond to user actions affect ...
. Microsoft used Hearts to showcase the new NetDDE technology by enabling multiple players to play simultaneously across a
computer network
A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are ...
. This legacy could be seen in the original title bar name for the program, "The Microsoft Hearts Network" (although network play was removed in the Windows XP version).
''Hearts'' continued to be included in subsequent versions of Windows, but was absent in all
Windows NT
Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems sc ...
-based OSes prior to
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
including
Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 3.51, which was released to manufacturing on July 31, 1996, and then to retail ...
and
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It was the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), releas ...
. From the 'Help' menu, ''Hearts'' offered a quote from
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's famous play,
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
(act III, scene ii): "I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts...". Later versions of Windows starting with Vista removed this quote.
''Hearts'' is not included with
Windows 8
Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012; it was subsequently made available for downl ...
,
10 or
11. As part of the operating system, it is deleted upon upgrading to
Windows 10
Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...
from an earlier version.
On ''The Microsoft Hearts Network'' for
Windows for Workgroups 3.1
Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was Released-to-manufacturing, released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0.
Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series ran as a Shell (computing), shell ...
, the default opponent names are ''Anna'', ''Lynda'', and ''Terri''. In later versions, the three default opponent names, ''Pauline'', ''Michele'', and ''Ben'', were specified by the program's developer. One is the spouse of a Microsoft employee who found a program bug, one was a Microsoft employee who resigned in 1995, and one is an employee's child who frequented the Microsoft worksite.
The names are not used in the Windows Vista version of the game, instead favoring the three cardinal directions that the computer players pertain to depending on their side of the window ("West", "North", and "East"). This version of the game no longer prompts for a player name to be entered at startup, and instead uses the name of the currently logged-in user account as the player name.
Gameplay
Gameplay follows the standard rules of ''Hearts''. When the game is first loaded, the user is prompted for their name, and then the game begins. The computer uses all three hands against the player. The game ends when at least one player has 100 or more points at the end of a hand. The winner is the one who has the fewest points.
Before the hand
The user is given thirteen pseudo-random
playing cards
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...
, and selects any three of them to pass. For the first hand, cards are passed to the left; for the second, to the right; for the third, across; and for the fourth, the passing stage is skipped entirely, and the players keep (or "eat") their cards. On the fifth hand, the cycle starts again, passing to the left. In any case, after passing three cards, the players receive three cards, and play begins.
Tricks
As ''Hearts'' is a
trick-taking game
A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a ''hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such g ...
, the game progresses by tricks. Each player plays one card to a trick, which is won by the player of the highest card of the suit led. There is no
trump
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
suit.
The aim is to avoid gaining points, which are incurred by winning a trick including point cards, which are any Hearts and the Queen of Spades. Any Hearts taken incur 1 point each, and the Queen of Spades incurs 13 points.
For each hand, the player with the Two of Clubs leads first, and they must play that card. Subsequent leads are by the winner of the last trick. For tricks after the first, any card can be led, except that a Heart cannot be led until Hearts have been "broken". Hearts are broken with the first Heart played in the hand, which can be done in only two situations:
# A player who did not lead a trick may play a Heart to it if they cannot follow suit (and it is not the first trick in the hand);
# A player with only Hearts left in their hand may lead with a Heart.
Players must follow the suit led if able to (with any card of their choice in that suit) - otherwise they may play any card, except that a point card cannot be played to the first trick in each hand. Notwithstanding the above rules, in the highly improbable event that a player receives all thirteen Hearts as their hand, or twelve Hearts and the Queen of Spades, then a heart card may be played in the first trick.
The concept of revoking, failing to follow suit when able, does not exist in the computer version of Hearts. In real-life card play there is a penalty for any revoke that is discovered to have taken place; in the computer version the computer does not permit players to revoke and instructs the player to follow suit.
After the hand
Any players who took point cards incur the appropriate points for those, which are added to their previous score. But any player who succeeds in taking all point cards (worth 26 points) has successfully "shot the moon", and they incur no points, while the other players incur 26 points each.
After each hand, a scoreboard shows the current and previous scores of all four players, with the current leader's (or leaders') score written in blue. Each of the players has in front of them all of the point cards accumulated during the preceding trick, for easy identification of who got how many points (and a quick check to see if a player shot the moon). The game ends when one player reaches 100 or more points, and the winner is the player with the lowest score. A tie is possible if two or more players have the equal lowest score, and if the human player is one of them, the computer credits him or her as the winner.
When the game ends, the score of the winning player(s) is shown in red. A new game then begins.
See also
*
List of games included with Windows
Video games have been included in versions of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting from Windows 1.0x, all published by Microsoft. Some games that have appeared in ''Microsoft Entertainment Pack'' and Microsoft Plus! have be ...
References
External links
Example of a game being played with audio explanation.
{{Windows Components
1992 video games
Hearts
Video games developed in the United States
Windows games
Windows-only games
Digital card games
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