Gong Zhu
HeartsRules summary
Goal
Avoid scoring points. The game ends after the round in which a player reaches 100 points or more, or sinks to −100 or less. Those players lose, and the player with the lowest score among the others wins. A player who takes every point card in one round wins the game at once.
Cards
Use a standard 52-card deck without Jokers. With 3 players, take out the 2♣, leaving 51 cards.
Ranking
In each suit the Ace is highest and the 2 is lowest. There’s no trump suit.
Starting hand
Deal out all the cards. With 4 players everyone gets 13, and with 3 players everyone gets 17.
Play
- Pass 3 cards. Every player chooses 3 cards to pass, and nobody looks at the cards they receive until everybody has chosen. In the first round everybody passes to the left, in the second to the right, and in the third across the table. The fourth round is a hold round with no pass, and then the cycle starts again. With 3 players there’s no pass across, so the third round is the hold round.
- Expose cards. Anyone holding the A♥, the Pig Q♠, the Goat J♦, or the Transformer 10♣ may expose it by showing it to the table. Everybody decides in secret, and all the exposed cards are shown together.
- The 2♣ leads. Whoever holds the 2♣ leads the first trick and can lead any card. With 3 players the holder of the 3♣ leads.
- Follow suit if you can. Play goes to the left. If you have no card of the suit led, play any card. The highest card of the suit led takes the trick, and whoever takes it leads the next one.
- Hold exposed cards back. You can’t play an exposed card on the first trick, or on the first trick in which its suit is led, leading it included, unless it’s your only card of that suit. On any other trick you can play it, including as a discard.
- Keep point cards face up. Every heart, the Pig Q♠, the Goat J♦, and the Transformer 10♣ you take stay face up in front of you.
- Play until every card has been played. Then score the round and deal the next one.
Scoring
At the end of each round, add up the point cards in the tricks you took and add the result to your score. Positive points are bad.
| Card | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| 2♥ 3♥ 4♥ | 0 | they still count toward taking all 13 hearts |
| 5♥–10♥ | 1 | each |
| J♥ | 2 | |
| Q♥ | 3 | |
| K♥ | 4 | |
| A♥ | 5 | 20 points of hearts in all |
| Pig Q♠ | 10 | |
| Goat J♦ | −10 | a bonus |
| Transformer 10♣ | ×2 | doubles the rest of your round |
Add the hearts, the Pig Q♠, and the Goat J♦ first, and then the Transformer 10♣ multiplies the total.
| Special case | Becomes | |
|---|---|---|
| All 13 ♥ | −20 | the hearts count for you instead of against you |
| All 13 ♥ and the Pig Q♠ | −30 | the Pig turns to −10 with them |
| The Transformer 10♣ with no other point card | −5 | a bonus instead of a multiplier |
| Every point card | win | the game ends at once |
An exposed card changes its value for whoever takes it, which need not be the player who exposed it.
| Exposed | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
| A♥ | ×2 | every heart is worth double, for every player |
| Pig Q♠ | 20 | −20 with all 13 hearts |
| Goat J♦ | +10 | a penalty instead of a bonus |
| Transformer 10♣ | ×4 | −10 with no other point card |
A score can go below 0. When the game ends, players tied for the lowest score share the win.
Examples
Point cards taken in one round, with nothing exposed, and what they score. Positive points are bad.
- 30 points The hearts are 4 + 1 + 0 = 5 and the Pig is 10, so 15. The Transformer doubles that.
- −18 points The heart is 1 and the Goat is −10, so −9. The Transformer doubles a bonus too.
- −5 points The Transformer with no other point card is a bonus. The 8♠ and the 2♦ aren’t point cards.
All 13 hearts, the Pig, and the Transformer: the hearts count −20 for you and the Pig −10, and the Transformer doubles the −30 to −60 points.
Playing with your own deck
You need paper and a pencil to keep score. Write one numbered line for each round, with every player’s points for that round and their new total.
How this version differs
- Every round starts with a pass of 3 cards. The published rules have no passing: everybody plays the cards they’re dealt.
- An exposed Goat J♦ is a penalty of 10. In the published rules, exposing the Goat doubles its bonus.
- Sinking to −100 also loses. In the published rules only reaching 100 penalty points ends the game.
- Taking every point card in one round wins the game. The published rules score those cards like any others.
- An exposed card is also held back on the whole first trick. The published rules hold it back only on the first trick of its own suit.
- The 2♣ leads the first trick of every round. The published rules have the 2♠ lead the first round, and the player who took the Pig Q♠ lead each round after.
Strategy tips
- Decide what the Transformer 10♣ is for before you take it. It doubles whatever your round comes to, good or bad. Taken with no other point cards at all it’s −5 instead.
- The Pig Q♠ is 10 and the hearts are 20 between them. Keep high diamonds for one job: winning the trick the Goat J♦ falls in.
- The A♠ and K♠ are liabilities without small spades. They win every spade trick they meet, and one of those has the Pig Q♠ in it. Small spades to duck with make them safe.
- Exposing is a blind bet. It magnifies the card and locks it on the first trick and the first lead of its suit. Expose the Goat J♦ only when you expect to lose it: exposing turns its −10 bonus into a +10 penalty for whoever captures it.
- Voids cut both ways. A void lets you throw the Pig Q♠ at somebody, and it also stops you winning the trick the Goat J♦ falls in.
- Both ends of the score lose. Reaching 100 loses and so does sinking to −100. Taking every point card at once wins the match on the spot, so watch for it on somebody else’s side of the table.