| Players | 2, 3 |
|---|---|
| Setup time | 1 minute |
| Playing time | 45 minutes |
| Chance | Medium |
| Age range | 13+ |
| Skills | Strategic thought |
Haggis is a shedding card game similar to Tichu, Zheng Fen, and other East Asian climbing games.[1] Haggis has received praise for being the first to successfully create a climbing, trick-taking game, designed from the start for two to three players, where most previous games required four players or more.[1] The evenly distributed, face card "bombs" are a notable innovation for the genre, helping even out hand strength enough to make two-person play workable, and enhancing the strategic element of the game.[2]
The game's designer, Sean Ross, developed Haggis over a period of several years, with first publication in late 2010 by Indie Boards and Cards. The game was named after haggis partly in a nod to Ross' Scottish heritage, but also because the game brought together the "guts" (scoring and play mechanisms) of several other climbing games. Haggis was a nominee for "Best Card Game" in the 2010 Golden Geek Awards by BoardGameGeek.[3]