Big Kahuna Reef features large, uniquely shaped
playing areas. Forget the standard rectangle and watch objects flow
down slopes and slide around corners on anchor, boat and other themed
shapes. Keeping to the theme, fish randomly swim by as you play, rarely
interfering with the game.

The only organic obstacles are creepy glowing fish - the Skeleton
Fish of Kamehameha - that drop onto the board. If you are forced to
match up three, they will reconstruct the cleared crates underneath.
Otherwise, if you can cause three of the to fall together, they will
simply vanish like a regular match.

Completing multiple threesomes activates a Fish Net power up that
allows you to knock out the icon on any one square. The Net can be very
helpful in forming a triad to burst a pesky, hard-to-get crate, but
only if you use good strategy and the new void fills in your favor.

Big Kahuna Reef is completely played using your mouse
and even lets you connect more than one mouse - er, mice - for
multiplayer fun in the Mouse Party mode.

In the competitive multiplayer game you try to make more triplets
that your opponent, coloring squares with each match to mark your
conquered spots; the player with the most spaces at the end is the
winner. This mode also allows several gamers to help to clear the same
board.

A Relaxed Mode is included in the price of the game, where you can
replay a completed level at your leisure without the constraints of the
pesky Tiki Totem Timer. You can also go in at any time and switch out
the pingy Polynesian music for simple, serine sounds of waves lapping
on an unseen shore to create a completely relaxed mood.

As a clever extra, Big Kahuna Reef also includes
a virtual fish tank in the Fish Screen mode, where you can drop in all
the fish you unlocked by clearing level, then turn off the buttons and
enjoy. (Oh, and it doesn't eat up any of your trial period).

The game's main hang up is that some of the larger, more creatively
shaped levels have too many small crevices or corners where it can
become nearly impossible to get the right tiles in place for a proper
match up. Then it becomes a speed event, trying to earn another Fish
Net to try and force a match.

It's quite easy to use up the 60-minute trial period allowing enough
time to complete about 10 to 14 of the game's 150 levels. Even if you
manage to get bored with the many, many boards you can play over and
over again, you can also create your own playable levels from scratch
with the Level Editor.

Unfortunately, the level editor does not come with any instructions
or support and it is a little difficult to use. Otherwise, user-created
levels are available from bigkahunareef.com/levels that are easy to add
to the game. (My favorite, and maybe the silliest, are the single-move
levels.)