Difference between revisions of "User:Brian/Chinese Hearts"

Revision as of 23:29, 26 December 2014

Chinese Hearts is a card game played according to the following rules:

1. Chinese Hearts is played with a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards. The ranks, in increasing order, shall be 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A.
2. Gameplay proceeds in a series of rounds. All rounds shall be played according to an identical set of rules, to be given in the following paragraphs. At the beginning of the first round of a game, all players are assigned a score of zero. At the end of each round, points are awarded.
3. A round begins with the distribution of an equal number of cards to each player, if possible. Cards are dealt face-down from a shuffled deck. If the number of players does not evenly divide fifty-two, (fill this in)
4. Cards shall not be transferred from one player's hand to another's.
5. At the beginning of a round, if a player holds the Queen of spades, the Jack of diamonds, the Ace of hearts, or the ten of clubs, that player may expose the card. No other cards shall be exposed, nor shall any cards be exposed once the first trick has begun. A player exposes a card by immediately placing it face-up in front of themselves, leaving it in this position until it is played. A player who holds two or more of the aforementioned cards may choose to expose none, any, or all of them. Cards may be exposed in any order, and players need not take turns in exposing cards. The exposition phase ends when all players have no more cards they are willing to expose. [1]
6. The round proceeds in a series of tricks. The first trick of each round is led by the player who holds the two of clubs. Play proceeds clockwise [2] with each player playing one card in turn, starting with the leader. The trick ends when each player has played one card.
7. The two of clubs shall be played during the first trick of each round. During each subsequent trick, any card may lead.
8. The suit of the card that begins a trick is called the leading suit. Subsequent plays in the trick shall follow suit, that is, they shall be of the leading suit, except when the player to play is void in that suit. Furthermore, the first lead in a given suit in a given round shall not be followed by an exposed card of the leading suit, unless the player has no other cards of that suit. [3] A player void in the leading suit can play any card from their hand.
9. A trick is won by the player who played the highest card of the leading suit during that trick. The player who wins a trick shall collect all cards played during that trick, without adding them to their hand. The player who wins a trick shall lead the next trick in the round, if any.
10. A round ends when all players have played out their entire hands. At that point, each player is awarded points based on the content of the cards they collected by winning tricks.
11. The following cards have nonzero base values: the Queen of spades (-100), the Jack of diamonds (+100), the Ace of hearts (-50), the King of hearts (-40), the Queen of hearts (-30), the Jack of hearts (-20), and the hearts in the ranks of five through ten, inclusive (-10 each). All other cards have a base value of zero.
12. The value of a card in a given round is computed as follows:
    1. Begin with the card's base value V.
    2. If a card with the same suit is exposed, double V.
    3. If the player who played the card has collected all thirteen hearts, and the card is a heart or the Queen of spades, change the sign of V. [4]
    4. The final value of V is the value of the card for the player who collected it.
13. The number of points the player is awarded in this round (to be added to the player's total score so far) is determined by the following rules:
    • If the player collected the ten of clubs and neither the Queen of spades, nor the Jack of diamonds, nor any heart that is worth points (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A): then the following rule applies: the player receives 100 points if the ten of clubs is exposed, or 50 otherwise.
    • If the player collected the ten of clubs as well as either the Queen of spades, the Jack of diamonds, or at least one heart that is worth point, or any combination thereof, then the following rules applies: the player receives four times the total value of the cards they collected during the round if the ten of clubs is exposed, or twice the value otherwise.
    • If the player did not collect the ten of clubs, they receive the total value of the cards they collected during the round.
14. The game ends if any player's score becomes -1000 or less. When the game ends, the player with the highest score wins.

[1] Under the rules of this paragraph, it is legal for one player, Alice, to wait for another player, Bob to expose his card before she exposes her own. However, if Alice and Bob are both waiting for each other, then the exposition phase may simply end with neither card being exposed, as there is no turn order to determine who exposes first. Likewise, it's legal for Alice to expose one card, wait for Bob to expose another, and then finally expose another one of her own cards.

[2] i.e. "Western" turn order, as opposed to the traditional counterclockwise order in China

[3] That is, if, say, Alice exposes the Queen of spades, she can't follow with it the first time spades becomes the leading suit---unless it's her only spade. If she did not expose the queen of spades, this restriction does not apply. Alternatively, if she leads, she can play the queen of spades whenever she wants (except the first trick of the round, when she has to play the two of clubs). Likewise, if she's void in the leading suit, there are no restrictions on her play.

[4] That is, if you successfully shoot the moon, the negative point cards become positive.