Many of the world’s most popular card games have existed for centuries, so knowing where to start in creating a new card game can be a daunting proposition. Canadian game lover Sean Ross took inspiration from his Scottish heritage to create a modern card game that does stand out from its more seasoned counterparts. Ross created a climbing-card game that offers a timeless balance of competition and strategy while giving it a quintessentially Scottish name: Haggis.
Card games and board games are very much in fashion, which makes creating something original an even more difficult task. There are plenty of gaming options in Glasgow alone. The award-winning Bon Accord whisky pub offers board games as part of their cosy atmosphere. The inclusion of tabletop gaming at the yearly Play Expo Glasgow reinforces that, despite all of the technology at our fingertips, there’s something perennially alluring about classic board and card games.
Here is the story of how Ross managed to make his mark in the card gaming market.
The history of Haggis
In an extensive and revealing interview with Board Game Geek, Ross explains the complete process behind the production of Haggis. Like many of the best inventions, it didn’t entirely happen by design. A keen card player, Ross turned his passion into creativity by devising his own trick-taking game. Upon testing the game with a fellow player of Scottish heritage, Ross uncovered two key things. Firstly, his game didn’t really work. Secondly, it’s fun to say the word ‘haggis’.
A year later, Ross had the first iteration of a card game that did work and decided to call it Haggis. That was a serendipitous choice. In that interview with Board Game Geek, Ross declares that Haggis is ‘a design stuffed full of the guts (mechanisms and scoring) of all of the other climbing games.’ Not only did Ross come up with a name that perfectly matches his card game, but he also found a way to pay tribute to his Scottish roots. Publisher Indie Boards & Cards loved his idea, turning it into a commercial game in 2010.
The rules of Haggis
You can find a full explanation of the rules in the online guide from UltraBoardGames, but we’ve got an overview of how the game works here for you:
· The overall aim of the game is to get rid of all of the cards in your hand quicker than your opponent(s) while trying to capture scoring cards throughout the round.
· Each round of Haggis lasts several tricks, in which players look to place down any of the valid card combinations.
· A set is a group of cards of the same value. There’s no limit as to how big or small that group can be (for example, you could play one ‘2’ or two ‘5’s as a set).
· A sequence is a group of three or more consecutive cards of the same colour (for example, you could play a red 4, red 5 and red 6).
· A bomb is a special combination of point cards. There are different strengths of bombs, and a bomb can only be beaten by a stronger bomb (the strongest bomb of all is the Suited Bomb, a run of 35-7-9 in the same colour card).
Points are accumulated by capturing tricks and by leaving cards in opponents’ hands. Players can also increase their points haul by betting that they will be first to shed their cards. It might sound a little complex, but some of the best card and board games do: Hasbro’s Monopoly is hardly a simple concept, but its popularity is undeniable.
How does it compare to other games?
In comparison to other card game staples, Haggis has more in common with poker than it does with blackjack. As with poker, there is value to gain from card colours and the ways of winning a trick are ranked. The relative complexity of how to win a hand is why poker can be difficult at first for a beginner, and the same is also true of Haggis. This contrasts starkly with blackjack and its more simplistic game mechanics. Blackjack may have many different varieties, but the Betway blackjack guide compares its variations – Atlantic City, European, Classic and more – acknowledging that they share the same core objectives: try to score 21 and don’t go over. Variants of solitaire also share similar goals that are easy to grasp. While there are distinctions between Klondike, Spider and FreeCell – variations we’ve seen pre-installed on many Windows computers through the years – the card-sorting aspect of gameplay translates naturally.
Haggis may not yet have that wide base of understanding, but it naturally shares strong similarities with the most popular card shedding games. Ross has spoken of how the classic Chinese game Tichu shaped his development of Haggis.
Tichu is a climbing game that doesn’t rely on single-card tricks, thereby increasing its unpredictability. Ross was also influenced by its points scoring and contract-based play, although Haggis clearly stands apart as a game distinct from its influences.
With 811 backers raising $16,410 on Kickstarter for a reprint in 2013, it is clear that those who have played Haggis enjoy the game. So, next time you’re looking for a bit of friendly competition on Burns Night, why not partner haggis the food with Haggis the game?