Free Hearts score sheet online, and how to make your own

How Hearts scoring works

Hearts is usually played by four people. You try not to win tricks with hearts in them, or the Queen of spades. At the end of each hand, each player counts what they took: 1 point for every heart and 13 for the Queen of spades, so every hand adds up to 26. When someone reaches 100, the game ends and the lowest total wins.

Passing: with four players, you pass three cards to the left in the first hand, to the right in the second, across in the third, and not at all in the fourth, then start again. The score keeper reminds you each hand. If you enter 26 for one player and 0 for everyone else, it treats that as shooting the moon and gives the others 26 each, unless you switch that rule off.

Your own Hearts score keeper

You'll describe the score keeper to a free AI assistant, paste what it writes into a file, and open it in your browser. Then add the game's own rules, the winner, saving and printing, one step at a time.

• A score sheet with a column for every player and a row for every hand
• A check that each hand adds up to 26, so mistakes get caught straight away
• Shooting the moon worked out for you
• A reminder of which way to pass each hand
• Standings with the lowest score on top, a winner at 100, undo, saving and printable blank sheets

Good for: four friends at the kitchen table, families teaching Hearts to kids, and anyone who has ever forgotten which way to pass.

What you need

Build it in five steps

Step 1 gives you a simple version that works, and each step after it adds more. The score keeper at the top of this page is roughly what you'll have once you've done every step. Yours will look a bit different, because the AI writes its own version each time.

1. Ask for a simple Hearts score sheet

   Copy this prompt into your AI assistant:

   Copy this promptCopy

   I don't know how to code. Please make me a Hearts card game score keeper that runs in a web browser, for my family to use instead of a paper score sheet.
   
   Requirements:
   - ONE single HTML file (HTML, CSS and JavaScript together), no external libraries, no internet needed. I will save it and double-click it.
   - At the top, a list of players with a name box for each, an "Add player" button (up to 8 players) and a small remove button. Start with two players called "Player 1" and "Player 2".
   - Below, a score table with one column for each player and a new row for each hand. Under each score, show the player's running total in smaller text. Start with four players.
   - At the end of each round, a big number button next to each player's name. Tapping it opens a number pad to type their score. A "Save round" button adds the round to the table once everyone has a score.
   - A "Total" row at the bottom. In Hearts the LOWEST total wins, so highlight the lowest total.
   - Big, clear, friendly design with a dark background and buttons big enough to tap on a phone.
   
   Please give me the complete file in one code block, then tell me in simple steps how to save and open it.

   Copy the code, paste it into your text editor, and save it as hearts.html. Double-click it, type your family's names and add a couple of hands.

2. Check the hand and spot shooting the moon

   Every Hearts hand adds up to 26, which makes it easy for the page to catch mistakes.

   Copy this promptCopy

   That works, thank you. Please add:
   - In the number pad, quick buttons for "+1 (a heart)", "+13 (Queen of spades)" and "26 (took everything)".
   - Under the score buttons, add up this hand's points. If they don't come to 26, show a gentle warning like "This hand adds up to 24, but it should be 26", but still let me save.
   - Shooting the moon: if one player has 26 and everyone else has 0, give that player 0 and everyone else 26 when I save, and show "Shot the moon!". Add a setting to switch this off.
   - With four players, show which way to pass this hand: left, right, across, then no passing, and repeat.
   
   Send me the complete updated file.

   Always ask for the complete file. Replace everything in hearts.html, save, and refresh the tab (F5 or Cmd+R).

3. End the game at 100 and crown the winner

   Now it knows when a game of Hearts is over.

   Copy this promptCopy

   Please add:
   - A "Standings" list next to the table, sorted from lowest total to highest, with a place number for each player.
   - A thin progress bar under each player's name showing how close they are to 100.
   - When anyone's total reaches 100 or more after a hand, the game is over: the lowest total wins (or a tie). Show it in a big friendly message with a "Play again" button.
   - A setting to end the game at 50, 100 or 150.
   
   Send me the complete updated file.

4. Save the game, add undo, and print score sheets

   Someone always types the wrong number, and someone always closes the tab. This step fixes both, and gives you paper sheets for when you'd rather use a pencil.

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   Please add saving, undo and printing:
   - Save the players and the game in localStorage after every change, so refreshing or closing the page doesn't lose anything. Add a note saying "Your game saves in this browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere." and a "Clear saved game" button that asks first.
   - An "Undo" button that takes back the last change, however many times I press it. Keep a copy of the whole game before each change to make this simple.
   - Let me tap any score in the table to change it, and work all the totals out again.
   - A "Print" panel with a choice of "A4" and "US Letter" paper, and buttons to print:
     1. A blank score sheet that fills one page, with six player columns (a score and a running total for each), a row for every round, and the scoring rules in a box at the bottom.
     2. The game being played right now, with everyone's scores filled in.
   - When printing, show only the sheet, with no buttons, using a print stylesheet and @page with the right paper size and 10 mm margins. Every sheet must fit on exactly one page.
   
   Send me the complete updated file.

5. Make it look and feel finished

   Last of all, the touches that make it nice to pass round the table.

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   Please finish it off:
   - Coloured animal avatars for players, which I can change, and up and down arrows to change the order.
   - A strip of player cards across the top showing each player's total, with a crown on whoever is winning.
   - A big celebration with confetti when someone wins, and a "Play again" button that keeps the players.
   - A "Keep the screen awake" tick box using the Wake Lock API, hidden or greyed out if the browser can't do it.
   - On a phone, stack everything in one column, make every button at least 44 pixels tall, and let the score table scroll sideways inside its box, never the whole page.
   
   Send me the complete updated file.

Quick fixes

Questions people ask

Twist it into something else

Players, rounds, undo, saving and printing work for almost any game with a score pad. Change the first prompt to make:

Your rules, your table, no adding up

Score pads go missing and the adding up always lands on one person. Yours checks every hand adds up and never forgets which way to pass, works on any phone or tablet, keeps the game if someone closes the tab, and never sends your scores anywhere. It's also a great first "real" app: buttons, tables, saving and printing, all in one small file you understand.

What to build next