Microsoft Hearts
A trick-taking card game included with Windows until Windows 7.
Microsoft Hearts is a trick-taking computer game included with Microsoft Windows, based on the card game Hearts. It was introduced in Windows 3.1 in 1992 and appeared in every version of the operating system until Windows 7. Originally designed to showcase Microsoft's NetDDE networking technology, the game follows the Black Lady variant of Hearts.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Microsoft
- Released
- 6 April 1992
- Operating system
- Microsoft Windows
- Genre
- Computer game
Facts from the source article.
History
Hearts was first included with Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Microsoft's first network-ready version of Windows, released in 1992. It showcased Microsoft's new NetDDE networking technology by enabling multiple players to play simultaneously across a computer network. The original title bar name was "The Microsoft Hearts Network," though network play was removed in the Windows XP version. Hearts was absent from all Windows NT-based operating systems prior to Windows XP, including Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. From the Help menu, Hearts offered a quotation from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (act III, scene ii): "I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts..." Later versions starting with Windows Vista removed this quotation. Hearts is not included with Windows 8, 10, or 11, and is deleted upon upgrading to Windows 10 from an earlier version. On The Microsoft Hearts Network for Windows for Workgroups 3.1, the default opponent names were 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 Windows Vista version uses the cardinal directions West, North, and East instead, and no longer prompts for a player name, using the logged-in user account name.
Gameplay
Microsoft Hearts is a computer adaptation of the Black Lady variant of Hearts. When the game starts, the player enters their name, and the computer controls all three opposing hands. The game continues until any player reaches 100 or more points at the end of a hand, and the winner is the player with the lowest score. The player receives thirteen pseudo-random cards and chooses three to pass. In the first hand, cards go to the left; the second hand, to the right; the third hand, across; and the fourth hand, no passing occurs—players keep their cards. The cycle repeats starting with the fifth hand. After passing, each player gets three new cards, and play begins. Hearts is a trick-taking game with no trump suit; the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. Points come from winning tricks that contain Hearts (1 point each) or the Queen of Spades (13 points). The goal is to avoid these points. The player holding the Two of Clubs leads the first trick and must play that card. After that, the winner of each trick leads the next one. Hearts cannot be led until they are broken. Hearts break when the first Heart is played in a hand, which can happen in two ways: a player who did not lead a trick may play a Heart if they cannot follow suit (and it is not the first trick), or a player with only Hearts left may lead with one. Players must follow the suit led if they have a card of that suit; otherwise, they may play any card, except that point cards cannot be played to the first trick. In the rare case that a player receives all thirteen Hearts, or twelve Hearts plus the Queen of Spades, a Heart may be played in the first trick. The computer version does not allow revoking—failing to follow suit when able—and will instruct the player to follow suit instead, unlike real-life card play where revoking carries a penalty.
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