HeartSwitch
HeartSwitch Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Deck
The new 60-card deck allows any number from three to six players to participate without having a kitty or unequal numbers of cards after all the cards are dealt out. The object still remains the same: The player with the lowest score wins. The deck consists of 52 regular cards and eight additional cards: four witches and four magicians.
The four witches (ranked above the 10 and below the jack in their respective suits) are easily identified by a color, a suit, and the "W" in the corner of each card. Witches affect the scoring for the player who takes them in a trick as follows:
- The "wicked" spade witch counts as 5 points.
- The "kind" club witch cancels or voids out either the spade witch and/or the spade queen.
- The "evil" heart witch, instead of counting as a point, doubles the point value of each heart taken (up to a maximum of 15 points).
- The "good" diamond witch deducts up to 5 points from points taken in the current hand.
The four magicians (identified by the letter "M" and a star in the corner of that card) have no point value or suit designation. A magician may be played at any time, even if you hold the suit led. You cannot win a trick with a magician (unless all players play a magician on the same trick); it can save you in many situations.
Passing of Cards
There is always a three-card pass in every hand (there are no keeper or "hold" hands). The rotation of the pass varies with the number of players in the game.
The Opening Lead
This rule represents a big change from Hearts. Instead of the standard club deuce lead used in Hearts, the player to the left of the dealer may lead anything! This includes a heart, a magician, a witch, or any other card. Players must always follow suit, unless they are void in the suit led or choose to play a magician.
Ending the Game
The game ends when one player reaches 70 or more points; whoever has the lowest score at that point wins. However, players may instead choose to play a fixed number of deals. In order to "shoot the moon," you must win all 14 hearts cards plus either the spade witch or the spade queen or both, resulting in a score of 20, 25, or 30, respectively, which is added to each opponent's score. You can create your own variations of Heartswitch, including a partnership game with two teams (in a four-person game), or three teams (in a six-player game).