''Big Kahuna'' is a series of
puzzle video game
Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion.
H ...
s created by
Reflexive Entertainment
Reflexive Entertainment was a video game developer based in Lake Forest, California. The company was cofounded by Lars Brubaker, Ernie Ramirez, James C. Smith and Ion Hardie in 1997. They developed nineteen games independently (for Microsoft Wind ...
. Four games have been released in the series: ''
Big Kahuna Reef'', a tile-matching game, in 2004 for the PC; ''
Big Kahuna Words'', a
boggle
''Boggle'' is a word game invented by Allan Turoff and originally distributed by Parker Brothers. The game is played using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players look for words in sequences of adjacent letters.
Rules
One player begi ...
-style puzzle game released in 2005 for PC and 2008 for iOS; ''
Big Kahuna Reef 2'', a three in a row matchmaking game released in 2006 for PC; and ''
Big Kahuna Party'', a
WiiWare
WiiWare was a service that allowed Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications could only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii S ...
tile-based party game released in 2008. All of the games in the series feature a Hawaiian theme, with oceans, exotic fish, and tiki heads.
Around 7 December 2017, the official website that hosted all user-made levels and the forums for both the Ricochet (
Ricochet Infinity
''Ricochet Infinity'' is the fourth installment of the ''Ricochet'' video game series by Reflexive Entertainment. Similarly to its predecessors, ''Ricochet Xtreme'' (2001), ''Ricochet Lost Worlds'' (2004) and ''Ricochet Lost Worlds: Recharged'' (20 ...
,
Ricochet Lost Worlds
''Ricochet Lost Worlds'' was developed by Reflexive Entertainment and is the sequel to ''Ricochet Xtreme
A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by acci ...
and
Ricochet Lost Worlds: Recharged) and the ''Big Kahuna'' series were permanently shut down because they were no longer sustainable to run.
Games
''Big Kahuna Reef''
''
Big Kahuna Reef'' is a match-making casual game that involves breaking boxes in order to progress past each level. The game was released by Reflexive Entertainment in December 2004 for PC and November 2005 for Mac.
''Big Kahuna Words''
''Big Kahuna Words'' is a
boggle
''Boggle'' is a word game invented by Allan Turoff and originally distributed by Parker Brothers. The game is played using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players look for words in sequences of adjacent letters.
Rules
One player begi ...
-style puzzle game played on a
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
PC, and written and distributed by
Reflexive Entertainment
Reflexive Entertainment was a video game developer based in Lake Forest, California. The company was cofounded by Lars Brubaker, Ernie Ramirez, James C. Smith and Ion Hardie in 1997. They developed nineteen games independently (for Microsoft Wind ...
. In the game, one must break all the boxes by making words (akin to
Boggle
''Boggle'' is a word game invented by Allan Turoff and originally distributed by Parker Brothers. The game is played using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players look for words in sequences of adjacent letters.
Rules
One player begi ...
) in order to progress through the game. Released in November 2005, it was then later published by
Magmic
Magmic Inc. is an Ottawa-based developer and publisher of mobile entertainment and lifestyle software. Founded in 2002, they produce original and licensed apps for a variety of mobile platforms, including Java ME, BREW, Sidekick, Windows Mobile, ...
Games on
BlackBerry OS
BlackBerry OS is a discontinued proprietary mobile operating system developed by Canadian company BlackBerry Limited for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices. The operating system provides multitasking and supports specialized i ...
and
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
in May 2008 and December 2009 respectively.
''Big Kahuna Reef 2''
''Big Kahuna Reef 2'' is the sequel to the original ''Big Kahuna Reef''. This casual game is a three in a row matchmaking game. The player must make strings of objects in order to break the boxes beneath; when all of the boxes are broken the level is complete. Like the title before it, ''Big Kahuna Reef 2'' has thousands of user-made levels that can be downloaded in game, in addition to the standard levels made by the developer. ''Big Kahuna Reef 2'' also introduced power-ups (bombs), hence the extended title ''Chain Reaction''. The game was released by Reflexive Entertainment in June 2006 for PC and May 2008 for Mac.
''Big Kahuna Party''
''Big Kahuna Party'' includes a single-player mode and an up to 4 player multiplayer mode. Each level resembles oceanic holiday for players as they match up sea-themed objects. Players have to discover new and exotic fish and explore all 99 levels. Players can swap tiles using either just the
Wii Remote
The Wii Remote, also known colloquially as the Wiimote, is the primary game controller for Nintendo's Wii home video game console. An essential capability of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with ...
, or with both the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk. ''Big Kahuna Party'' also features
explosives
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
, which are created as players make matches of 5 or more. They will vary in sizes from little sticks of
dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...
to huge
nuclear bombs
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
used to clear out large sections of hard to reach level tiles. The game was released by Reflexive Entertainment in December 15, 2008.
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
cited that it's an "uninspired rehash" with little lasting appeal. Wiiloveit.com, however, stated that it has a nice party element, serving as "the main draw" of the release.
Wiiloveit.com Review
/ref>
References
{{Reflexive Entertainment Games
Amazon (company) franchises
Video game franchises introduced in 2004
Linux games
MacOS games
Tile-matching video games
Reflexive Entertainment games
Video games developed in the United States
Video games with underwater settings
Wii games
Windows games