How to play
Maça Kızı means “the queen of spades”, and in Turkey it’s the everyday name for the card game English speakers call Hearts. It’s a game of ducking. Four players each play alone, and in every hand you want to end up with as few penalty cards as possible. The single most dangerous card in the deck is the one the game is named after.
You sit at the bottom of the table. The other three seats (Right, Top and Left) are computer players. A standard 52-card deck is dealt out, 13 cards each. Aces are high, there is no trump suit, and play moves clockwise.
Passing three cards
Before any card is played, each player chooses three cards from their hand to give away. The direction rotates with each hand:
- Hand 1: pass to the left.
- Hand 2: pass to the right.
- Hand 3: pass across, to the Top player.
- Hand 4: no passing.
Then the cycle starts over. Tap three cards to select them and press the pass button, which names the direction (“Pass to Left” and so on). The three cards you receive are shown when the hand begins, so you know exactly what was handed to you.
Playing the tricks
Whoever holds the two of clubs must lead it to the first trick. After that, each player in turn adds one card. You have to follow the suit that was led if you can; if you can’t, any card is allowed. The highest card of the led suit takes the trick, and whoever took it leads next. The cards you’re allowed to play are highlighted, so you never have to work out the restrictions in your head.
Two restrictions are specific to this game:
- First trick is clean. If you can’t follow clubs on the opening trick, you still may not throw a heart or the queen of spades, unless your hand holds nothing else.
- Hearts must be broken. You can’t lead a heart until a heart has been discarded on an earlier trick. A “Hearts broken” note appears once it has happened. The exception is a hand made of hearts only. Note that playing the queen of spades does not break hearts here; only a heart does.
The queen of spades herself can be led at any time.
Scoring
Each hand hands out 26 penalty points:
| Card taken | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Each heart | 1 point |
| Queen of spades | 13 points |
There’s one big exception. If a single player wins all thirteen hearts and the queen of spades in the same hand, that player scores nothing and the other three each take 26. Turkish players call this kafa atmak; in English it’s “shooting the moon”.
Points add up from hand to hand. As soon as anyone reaches 100 or more, the match is over and the player with the lowest total wins. If two players tie for lowest, they share the win.
Strategy
Think about the queen when you pass. Holding the queen of spades with only one or two small spades to protect her is risky, so she’s a natural card to pass. If you don’t have her, the ace and king of spades are also dangerous: when she lands on a spade trick, those are the cards that win it.
Empty a suit. Passing away all your diamonds, say, means that every diamond lead lets you discard a penalty card on someone else. A void early in the hand is the most useful thing you can create.
Duck under. When following suit, play the highest card that still loses the trick. You get rid of a dangerous high card without taking anything.
Count spades. Thirteen spades go round. Keep track of how many have been played and whether the queen is gone. The computer players avoid leading high spades while the queen is still out, and so should you.
Stop the moon. If one player has collected most of the hearts and the queen, they may be going for all of them. Taking just one heart costs you a point but saves you 26.
Shoot it yourself, rarely. Going for the moon works only with a very strong hand: long, high hearts and control of spades. Most attempts end with you holding 20-odd points.
If you like Turkish penalty games, King mixes penalty hands like this one with trump hands across a whole match, and Batak is the bidding game played on the same 52 cards.
If you enjoy Maça Kızı, try Papaz Kaçtı or Partnership Batak next.
