Complex Hearts Variant of Hartenjagen

People all around the world know Richard Garfield to be the brains behind the popular collectible card game known as Magic the Gathering. However, few know of the fact that he has also made a significant contribution to the card game hearts, the American version of the popular card game better known to many as Hartenjagen. This version of Hartenjagen utilizes the complex number system where the addition of the new rule also adds new twists to game play. In fact, ever since its inception, this variant has developed a quite large fan base as veteran players looking for something new to add into the mix as a means to keep things interesting usually play the variant.

Complex hearts is a great way to spice up the game due to the fact that even seasoned Hartenjagen players will have to rethink their strategies in order to win. In complex hearts, the addition of the revised scoring scheme literally forces players to swim on new waters. The new mechanics of this variant mainly revolves around ten of clubs. The Complex hearts ruling states that whosoever takes the ten of clubs in a round gets his end round score multiplied by 2*i. This means that even significant threats in Hartenjagen like the queen of spades, given the right situation, may become a blessing, as it could potentially offset any points you might acquire. However, this also means that the Jack of diamonds, which is normally a blessing as it removes penalty points, may just do the opposite and add more points when combined with the ten of clubs.

Even Hartenjagen’s special rule of shooting the moon becomes riskier than usual as the ten of clubs has the potential to put you ahead by a long run, if your gamble pays off, or put you behind for a number of rounds, if it doesn’t. Though some players might find these changes to be nothing like the Hartenjagen they know, they can rest assured knowing that complex hearts is not a far cry from the original Dutch game as it still follows all of the original rules. Players familiar with Hartenjagen’s rule of passing three may even be delighted to know that the dynamics and card to card interactions during this phase of the game have never been more crucial and significant to the outcome of the game.

To sum it all up, complex hearts adds a whole new positive dimension to Hartenjagen. While it is still unclear whether or not this variant will undergo new evolutions in the future, the only thing that’s certain is that it is still gaining popularity among veteran players.
Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about hartenjagen and hartenjagen online