Big Kahuna comes from Microgaming, and it’s a game of theirs that focuses on the world of tribal chiefs and on a tropical island with an erupting volcano on it. It feels like a vacation themed slot machine, but that’s probably because of the various tropical fruits which are used inside. Its African/wildlife theme is appealing, and even though it’s not that original, it can still make for an interesting way to spend some time.
The slot’s 5 reels have 9 paylines on them, and among the features and symbols it has, you will discover a couple of bonus games, a wild and a scatter. There are payouts of up to $20,000 offered as well.
Features of Big Kahuna
The game places a bit more emphasis on the bonus games than it’s the case in other slots, so you have two of them that you can trigger, each one with their own bonus symbol. There is also a wild symbol, and a scatter.
The Big Kahuna Logo gets the honor of acting as the slot’s only wild symbol. Since it’s the wild, you can obviously expect it to try and substitute for other symbols, taking their place when it’s possible (the place where it appears has to be on the payline where the combination is formed, and in the right spot on it). The same wild is also useful when a couple of them band together on the same payline, in which case they form a combo and award between 2x and 8,000x (the top jackpot).
A Monkey is shown on the scatter symbol, a feature whose only role in this case is to give you a prize. The prize is a multiple of the total bet of the round, and its value is between 3x and 200x. You will need a minimum of two Monkeys to be present, in any random spot, in order to get the minimum amount, while five of them will award the biggest possible prize.
Volcano Bonus Game
The first of the two bonus games needs the Volcano symbol to appear on an active line, with three to five icons of this type. The amount you can win in the bonus game is not fixed, so there is a bit of luck involved.
Three Volcanoes will trigger a bonus feature where you can win 25x to 625x the line bet. Four of them will improve that range, offering 50x to 1,000x. Finally, the maximum of five Volcanoes will trigger a feature which pays between 100x and 2,500x.
Mask Bonus Game
The last feature of Big Kahuna is this bonus game, which needs between three and five Mask symbols, once again on an active line. The minimum amount you can win here is 14x the line wager, while the maximum varies depending on how many Masks triggered the feature (1,650x to 4,375x).
You are asked to pick one mask, out of the ten that are available on the screen. It’s all about the luck, no skill involved here.
Betting options and jackpots
Big Kahuna doesn’t ask for an arm and a leg to allow you to start playing, with the starting bet being only $0.05, the equivalent of a single coin at minimum denomination. You can use up to 45 coins total though, 5 per line, with denominations going up to $0.50. If you want to max out the odds of getting a prize, and its value as well, you can wager up to $22.50 for one spin.
The game has a top reward of 8,000x to offer, which means up to $20,000, since the line bet reaches $2.50.
Design and symbols
The design is tropical and tribal at the same time, with the Big Kahuna chief being mentioned in one symbol, while others get masks and volcanoes, and with the majority being various types of fruits. It’s a cartoonish way of drawing characters, which not everyone will be a fan of. Overall, it’s a playable game, it doesn’t have any major problems design wise.
Symbols: Big Kahuna Logo (wild, 8,000x), Monkey (scatter, 200x bet), Mask (bonus), Volcano (bonus), Big Kahuna (500x), Lizard (500x), Lemon (250x), Kiwi (200x), Litchi (150x), Melon (150x), Pineapple (100x) and Raspberry (100x).
Is It Worth Playing?
It’s an enjoyable game design wise, it doesn’t cost you a lot of money to play and it has good rewards considering your investment. Add the two bonus games and the rest of the features, and you have a slot machine that shouldn’t be ignored.
You will find Big Kahuna at any online casino which chooses to use software from Microgaming, playable either for free or for real money.
