Everyone loves an excellent trick-taking card game, don’t they? Heartswitch is a fun (some would say modern) twist on the classic trick-taking formula. While it might be filed as a board game, this game just uses cards and would make a great addition to a family game night.
What Is The Heartswitch Card Game?
If you enjoy trick-taking card games like Bridge, Spades, and of course Hearts, you’ll be sure to enjoy this game. In Heartswitch, you use a classic deck of cards but with some extra additions, namely the magicians and wizards.
The game follows the same basic rules as Hearts. One player will lead the round, and each player must try to follow the lead suit. The highest value card played in the round will win the trick.
The trick winner will lead the next round, and the same rules apply. However, what makes the gameplay of Heartswitch unique is the new cards. For example, a magician is essentially a null card you can play if you don’t have a matching suit card.
Or would simply like to keep your other card for later on. For example, a magician can never win a trick unless everyone plays a magician, but it can save your potentially valuable cards later on.
The witch cards have numerous benefits, and some can even have adverse effects! We’ll discuss how these cards work in the rules section below. But before we look at the rules, you need to know; let’s talk about what you’ll need to play this fun card game.
What You’ll Need To Play?
All you need to play is a card set. Heartswitch was first released in 2013, so it might be a little tricky to find in stores these days. However, you can find a Heartswitch game set quite easily online.
Rules And Gameplay
The Aim Of The Game
In Heartswitch, you win by scoring the lowest amount of points! You’d be surprised by how many people forget this and end up scoring more points than they intended. The game can also end in two different ways.
You can either play until one player scores 70 points; when this happens, the game stops, and each player increases their score. Or you can decide on the number of rounds before the game begins; ten rounds is usually a good starting point.
The Cards
In Heartswitch, you use a regular deck of 52 cards, meaning no Jokers. But there are eight unique special cards, meaning four magicians and four witches. Let’s take a look at how they work.
1. Magician
Magician cards are essentially null cards. This means you can play the cards whenever you like, and they can help you save other cards for later on and avoid taking a lousy trick you don’t want.
2. Witches
The Witch cards are a little more complex; for one thing, there is a witch card for each suit, and each one does something different. The witch of Spades is worth five points if it’s taken in a trick.
The witch of clubs cancels out any other Spades card; trust us, this is very valuable! The witch of Diamonds is the opposite of the witch of Spades because it deducts five points from your score. Finally, we have the witch of Hearts; this card will double the value of any heart card in the trick, up to a maximum of fifteen.
3. Point Cards
In Heartswitch, every Heart card is worth its face value. The number cards are easy to understand, while the Jack is worth eleven points, the Queen is worth twelve points, the King is worth thirteen points, and the Ace is worth one point.
But you also have to look out for the Queen of Spades! This special card is worth thirteen points if taken in a trick. Finally, we need to talk about “Shooting The Moon”— this is a special combination of cards that can help you a lot!
If you collect all the Hearts cards and the Queen of Spades, your score resets to 0. Meanwhile, every other player scores twenty points! So, getting one or two Heart cards can be a problem; things can work in your favor if you manage to get them all.
The Set-Up
The first thing to do is choose one player to be a dealer. The dealer should begin by shuffling the deck then deal out the deck equally to each player. Heartswitch is designed for between three to six players, but we think it could make a fun two-player card game too
The dealer will also lead the first trick; some people consider the game should be silent when playing tricks. But this is a rule you can ignore, especially if you play the game with children.
Playing Heartswitch
Since the idea in Heartswitch is to score the least points, you’ll want to avoid Hearts cards whenever possible. However, don’t forget that the Queen of Spades and certain witch cards will earn you points.
If you win a trick by playing the highest value card, you collect the cards and put them next to you. At the end of each round, players should tally up their scores to keep track of things easier.
Before playing, you can decide how the game ends. Under traditional rules, the game ends automatically when one player reaches 70 points. When this happens, all players tally up their score, and the lowest scoring player wins.
However, if you prefer, you can simply play an agreed-upon number of rounds. Choosing five or ten rounds is usually the best option. So, that’s a look at this fun twist on traditional trick-taking card games.
Heartswitch – A New Take On Trick-Taking!
If you enjoy trick-taking card games like Fox in the Forest or are simply looking for a new family game to play, Heartswitch would be a great choice. This fun card game is sure to be hours of fun for everyone!
