Tips for Playing Games that Come with Windows XP

• Plan several moves ahead. Like chess, each move you make will affect the entire game. Don't just move one card at a time. Move cards to establish good long runs, move to clear columns, and move to bring home aces.
• Aim at low cards high in columns. When you see aces and deuces buried behind lots of other cards in a column, make it a priority to clear that column and get aces up on home cells early in the game. The fewer overall moves you make, the better your score.
• Keep free cells open. You can leave one card at a time on each free cell (on the left). Use these free cells to shift runs and columns back and forth. With more free cells, it's easier to move long runs and shift cards around quickly; having four cells free means you have temporary spots for four cards. Try to move cards in such a way that free cells stay free after the move is done.
• Clear whole columns whenever possible. Get every card off a column and start it over with a king and fill the column sequentially. If not a king, then start the column with as high a card as possible. Many players shoot for nothing lower than a 10.
• Right-click to reveal cards. Can't see exactly which card that is? Right-click anywhere in the pile for a peek at the suit and number of any card.

• Keep runs even. Don't let any one run get too far ahead of the others, if you can control it. This unbalances the field and makes it harder to move home.
• Turn cards first. Why play from cards you can see when you can start eliminating the unknowns and plan your strategy more certainly? Get cards turned over first whenever the option exists. Always finish overturning cards before playing more from the hand. You can even leave the top card in the hand down. You never know what you'll uncover later.
• Play from deeper piles. The more face-down cards, the better. Deeper piles give you a greater chance of making more plays—which may give you more chances to turn cards in the shorter piles.

• Clear space right away. Get a space open as soon as possible by turning over all the cards in a pile, and try to play cards on the space that will allow you to build the longest runs.
• Uncover cards. It may seem obvious, but bringing cards into play by turning them over within the piles opens up the possibilities for you very quickly. If more cards are in play before you deal from the hand, you have more possibilities for runs, and fewer "missing" cards to stall your runs.
• Don't lock down cards. When you play at more difficult settings, if you can help it, don't place lower cards on other cards of a different suit. That locks them out of play until the lower cards are moved.

• Try to mark all mines right away. If you know exactly where some mines are, take a second to mark them. Otherwise, you'll forget them by the time you get back from another part of the board. This takes time, but it's worth it in the end.
• Learn to recognize numerical patterns. If you see that three squares in a row display the numbers 2-3-2, then three mines sit next to that row of squares. If a square displays an 8, then you know every square around it holds a mine. Flag the obvious minefields as soon as you can, or you'll forget them.
• Explore the unexplored. If a set of squares doesn't reveal a pattern and you're not sure where to click next, clear out some unexplored territory. You're better off clicking in the middle of unmarked squares than clicking in an area where you know some mines await.

• Always be paranoid. Your best games—and usually the most fun you'll have—tend to come when you're always figuring out what the other players are doing, countering it, and countering their counter-measures. Hearts is the ultimate reaction card game. Not to mention the most talkative.
• Take tricks with your higher card. If you have to take a trick, use the higher of your cards to do it—you can use the lower card to lead the next one, and no one will be able to get under it.
• Keep the Ace of Hearts. Almost no other card gives you so much control over things like who shoots the moon.
• Dump the Two of Clubs. Don't pass it to the left, but pass it as soon as you can. You can't get rid of high clubs when you hold it, you can't lead into the second trick. It's a hopeless card. Pass it on.

• Hyper Space ramp. Catch the ball with the right flipper, send it into the launch ramp, and then with the left flipper head into the Hyper Space chute. Do this enough times and you'll get a center post, and an extra ball. Do this before you start pursuing specific mission objectives.
• Watch the Black Hole. When the Black Hole kicks out the ball, nudge the table by pressing the x key. With a little practice, you can save the ball from draining with this trick.