Kahuna- Are You Ready for Some Voodoo Magic?

Back with my 3 review! This time it is "Kahuna" another 2 player game from Kosmos. Well what can I say about Kahuna...hmmm... It is something like you either like it or hate it, well that's what I found people telling me. As with me, well of course I like it!

I saw Kahuna for the 1st time in a game shop called "Games People Play" near Harvard Square in Boston. Though I was quite intrigued by the game I went ahead and bought Lost Cities, which I felt was more 'in your face' confrontation :-)

But as time went by, I read more people talking about the game and decided to buy it before trying it! But I'm glad and don't regret this buy :-)

Kahuna by Günter Cornett

Günter has published some games that became very controversial because of their theme. Killing Baby seals!!! Well let's not get into that right now as I don;t know much about it ;-)
But Kahuna was originally published way back in 1997 as Arabana-Ikibiti by a small game publisher, but later Rio Grande and Kosmos published this game in 1998 with all new artwork and became quite popular. Again Boardgamegeek does'nt rank this very high, but I guess they are right as well. This is not a game where you'll play and end up saying "Wow that was some game!" but you'll definitely walk out saying "Very interesting and fun as well".

This is again one of those easy playing short games, easy to teach and play.

What do you get in the box?


The 1st thing you notice is the hand shaped island picture on top of the box, which I feel is cool. The box come with a very nice board (the islands and connections), 24 island cards, the control markers, small wooden sticks which forms the main element of bridges. The artwork is cool and I really like it! As with any Rio Gande Games the components are of very high quality.

How Does it Play?


This is a very simple game. Each player starts off with a hand of 3 cards and his set of markers and brdges. On his turn he/she can play upto 5 cards (or not play any) and connect bridges from the island card he plays. Each island has 3-5 connecting islands and he can connect any island when he plays that island card. That's it!! Really if the game was only this, I would not have bothered to write a review. But the fun part is on their turn players can play 2 cards (of the same island or 1 card each os 2 connecting island) to remove an opponents' bridge. Now this brings in a whole lot os tactics and fun ekement as the person who has more than half the number of bridges from a particular island controls that island.

Now with some clever play plaers can remove just one bridge that can lead to a chain reaction where players loose control of more than one island!! That is a brilliant mechanic in this game. Because the game has just 24 cards the round finishes when the last card is taken (players take cards after they are done with playing cards).

The game is played over 3 rounds similar to Lost Cities (my 1st game review) and score points as follows:
1st round- winner gets 1 point
2nd round- winner gets 2 points
3rd and last round- winner gets as many points as the difference in the number of islands players control

The game mechanics are very simple, In fact one of the somplest, but offers a lot of depth to show your smartness :-)

How long does it play?

Each round may last for about 10 mins, so 3 rounds should take somewhere between 20-30 min depending on how fast you play. Occassionaly some players drag it out to about 40 mins :-) but still is a short game. The thing I like about this game is the smartness in using your cards! Really cool.

Who would you reccomend it to?

Here's where I would like to emphasize that this game may not be for all. On the outset the game may appear boring and lacking in depth. Some don;t like the fact that it is so simple- and that is true to some extent; because if you don;t play against an aggressive player, this might appear one sided and easy. However this is a very different 2 player game that can be a very good adition to your game collection. I would sugest you guys to play if you get a chance and then decide to buy this game.
Any downsides?

As I said this might not appeal to everyone and if you noticed I haven't spoken anything about any vodoo magic right? Well that's right there isn't any! This is an abstrast game with little theme. This game is based on graph theory (yes, mathematics theory) and preceeded a lot of other games in this genre. So this abstractness may be a put off for people.

Final Thoughts!

Of all the 2 player games I have Kahuna is quite different as it can blow absolutely hot or cold depending on your opponent. This game is fun though and a real nice change from the rest of the 2 player games. As a variety to your game collection Kahuna really is good, but then you should 1st like it to buy it!


For more detailed reviews and thoughts you can check http://www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/63/thing/394