Review

Hearts is a popular trick-taking card game commonly played by four people. This app by MobilityWare is a faithful recreation of the game featuring a very clean and unobtrusive presentation. The key to it being recommended over all of the many other versions available is the extensive range of accessibility options offered that allows the user to customize various aspects of the game's rules and design. These include customization of the card faces, card backs and screen background as well as the options to increase the difficulty of the virtual opponents, change the score required to end the game and choose the control method for card manipulation. Users can either choose to use a drag & drop motion to move the cards around, or a simplified tap motion to accomplish the same result.

There is a free, ad-supported version of the app which we recommend as the presence of adverts is minimal (only between games), however there is a premium version for those who would like to remove all adverts completely. We recommend that users have prior knowledge of the game as the rules are quite complex to learn and the app does not provide a tutorial option. There is currently no option to play against another human player (pass & play mode) and all games must be against the computer.

Tip: In-App Purchases do require a password before completion, but they can be completely restricted on your device, if preferred. For information on how to do this for the Apple iPad, read our step-by-step guide. For information on how to do this for the Android tablet, click here.

Recommended settings

Access the settings options by tapping on the wheel icon on the top left corner of the game screen. These are our recommended settings when introducing the game.

• Customize background (user preference)

• Customize card face (user preference)

• Customize card back (user preference)

Preferences

• Sound Control (user preference)

• Orientation (portrait/ landscape/ auto)

Game Rules

• Score to end (50, 100)

• Hard mode (On/ Off)

Visual Style

• Reduce animations (user preference)

• Right handed (user preference)

• Card sorting (low first/ high first)

• Show reactions (On/Off)