Big Buck Hunter: Marksman

**Big Buck Hunter: Marksman** is a mobile game in the Big Buck Hunter series released for IOS, Android, and more in 2021, by Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix in partnership with Skillz. Despite being a game in the Big Buck Hunter series, Marksman has an almost entirely different gameplay style compared to the arcade versions that we're all familiar with. The game takes us to locations so we can hunt Whitetail Deer, Elk, and Gemsbok, along with a large assortment of Critters and Trophy Animals, in many environments that we are familiar with from Big Buck Hunter Reloaded. In Big Buck Hunter: Marksman, the player has an opportunity to win real cash, but there is also a mode that lets you play with a virtual in-game currency as well. Marksman has even been integrated into the Big Buck Hunter World Championship.

## Gameplay

As mentioned, Big Buck Hunter: Marksman takes an entirely different approach when it comes to its gameplay mechanics. One of the primary functions of Marksman is that it is purely online, so every match will have you pitted against another player, but you are matched with other players who are on a very similar skill set as you are.

You can hunt either Whitetail Deer, Elk, or Gemsbok, and when you jump into a match, you are thrown into one of the sites. You will usually start out with a Buck/Bull or two, some Does/Cows, and occasionally some Critters too. The player must drag their finger on the touch screen in order to activate the scope, in which the screen will automatically target a specific animal, and go into some sort of slow-down mode. When the player releases from the screen, a shot will fire at wherever they were aiming, but this can also be cancelled out if the player moves the scope downwards. The goal is very similar to regular Big Buck Hunter, as you must aim for the vital areas of the animals, which will kill them instantly upon doing so. However, there is more of a trick to it, as there is also a perfect red spot that must be hit in order to get the most amount of points. If a Doe/Cow is shot, the round will not end like in the arcade, but rather you will lose 250 points with each of them shot as well as lose your streak. Critters always take one hit to kill, but when a Trophy Animal runs by, they work just like the main animals, but with much harder precision spots to hit them in. The round ends once all animals are killed, and the round is won by whoever was able to grab the most amount of points. If the player kills every animal is one shot without missing, they will receive a Marksman award, but if they manage to kill every animal and hit the perfect spot on each of them, they will receive a Perfect Marksman award.

There are multiple different match types of matches to play, Practice Matches, also known a Z matches, are what allow players to win the in-game currency known as Z-Coins, these matches do not require real money to play. Pro Matches are the exact same, except instead of Z-Coins, the Player must enter real money to play and even win real money. There are also tournaments and live showdowns that can be held in the game as well.

Exclusive holiday events are also held, as an exclusive Zombie Deer event will always be held in the month of October to celebrate Halloween. Much like the Big Buck Hunter Reloaded adventure, the Zombie Deer event is just a regular match of the Whitetail Deer rounds, but the Bucks are now zombies that can only be killed with headshots.

## Animals

**Main Animals + Locations:**

* Whitetail Deer

1. Grand Detour, Illinois
2. Onamia, Minnesota
3. Hartley, Iowa

* Elk

1. Montrose, Colorado
2. Vancouver Island, British Columbia
3. Browning, Montana (Removed until further notice)

* Gemsbok

1. Okahandja, Namibia
2. Ngamiland, Botswana
3. Tankwa Karoo, South Africa (Removed until further notice)

* TBA

* Grizzly Bear
* American Black Bear
* Puma
* Grey Wolf

*Africa (Gemsbok):*

* Lion
* Cheetah
* Black Panther
* African Elephant
* White Rhinoceros
* Giraffe

* Squirrel
* Rabbit
* Raccoon
* Possum (Opossum)
* Skunk
* Beaver
* Fox
* Raven (Crow)
* Owl
* Gull (Seagull)
* Woodpecker
* Coyote
* Bobcat
* Wolverine

*Africa (Gemsbok):*

* Meerkat
* Warthog
* Aardvark
* Genet
* Lemur (Ring-Tailed Lemur)
* Baboon (Mandrill)
* Vulture
* Flamingo
* Ostrich
* Honey Badger
* Hyena
* Spider (Tarantula)

## Bonus Rounds (Removed) (Unfinished)

One of the interesting things that was removed from Big Buck Hunter: Marksman since its initial release were the addition of Bonus Rounds. These Bonus Rounds used to take place after the main hunting rounds and would offer both players the opportunity to earn additional points onto their score. How these bonuses worked was, rather than in the arcade mode, there was an assortment of targets on some sort of layout, most of which were color coded to be either red, blue, or yellow, and each of them offered a varying amount of points (red being the lowest and yellow being the highest). There were also X symbols that would pop up, and if the player shot them, they would lost 100 points. However, the player also has a limited number of shots, as you will only have five shots in order to get the most amount of points. There isn't much evidence left of these bonus rounds, as the only known evidence of these bonus rounds are from this YouTube video made by Federico Read, and three archived images of three of the bonus games.

**Bonus Rounds (Unfinished List due to lack of information until further development):**

* Pappy's Moonshine Factory Bonus
* Garden Gnome Bonus
* Zipline Bonus

## Trivia

* This is not the first time Play Mechanix has partnered with Skillz for a Big Buck Hunter mobile game. They originally partnered for a game called "Big Buck Hunter Pro: Tournament Edition", which was a competitive edition of Big Buck Hunter Pro & Big Buck Hunter Pro: Open Season that also allowed players the opportunity to win cash. This app was sadly taken down after many years.
* Much like the bonus rounds, there has been a lot of stuff removed ever since Marksman's initial release. Before being declared "Open Season" (aka the addition of Trophy Animals & Critters), the player could only hunt Whitetail Deer in each site. Each area used to have multiple sites in which the players would be in different positions on the landscape. However, this is gone in the current edition of the game, as there is only one site to each location that features a large array of animal patterns that are all unique.
* Another interesting factor about stuff that has been removed are the trek locations. As proven in the update log of the game, the Elk and Gemsbok sites used to have three different locations for you to hunt. However, in the current edition of the game, the third treks for each of these animals, Browning, Montana, and Tankwa Karoo, South Africa, have since been removed for some unknown reason. The only animal to have its three locations is the Whitetail Deer. However, Tankwa Karoo can still be seen on the current Title Screen.
* Trophy Animals in this game are a lot more like the Trophies from Big Buck Safari. While the game does feature the Dangerous Trophies from Big Buck Hunter Reloaded, they never attack the player. Instead all of the Trophies run across the terrain, much like the Big Game Trophies, in which the Big Game Trophies from the Gemsbok adventure are actually featured in this game. Not only that, the removed Wolf Dangerous Trophy from Big Buck HD was brought back in this game before it was brought back for the upcoming Caribou adventure in Big Buck Hunter Reloaded.
* The main menu of the game also features music from Big Buck Hunter Pro, Big Buck Hunter Pro: Open Season, and Big Buck Hunter Reloaded.