Big Game is energy for gamers; from the same company that makes Bucked Up which is energy for gym bros. The logo on both is almost the same which is why I was so confused when this was labeled "Big Game" instead of "Bucked Up." I've written about Bucked Up in my brief energy drink history but have not yet done a review on one. When I saw "Big Game" with the familiar logo I assumed this was a rebrand (it's not) from the menacingly-named Bucked Up, but instead this is a different product line with a different audience with a milder caffeine content and none of the stuff that goes into their preworkout products.

Where Bucked Up has deer antler velvet extract, beta alanine, AlphaSize (clinically shown to sharpen mental focus) and 300mg of caffeine, Big Game has a modest 150mg and none of the weird deer antler derivatives.

Bucked Up makes me want to run or lift stuff; Big Game does not.

Bucked Up makes my face tingle; Big Game does not.

Different drinks for different needs.

The cotton candy flavor of Big Game tastes very sweet and light. With zero sugar it has none of the tell-tale stickiness that a drink with high fructose corn syrup leaves in the mouth. The carbonation is strong. Throughout, the taste is like cream soda with a note of a being a bit sour, artificial. This last part must come from the malic acid. Cotton candy is a very appropriate name for it though. All together it is pleasant and very easy to drink. If I saw Big Game regularly I'd get it far more often; presently I've only found it at the local Dollar Tree where I find all sorts of crazy shit like the Obsesso Iced Coconut Latte, Sprecher's charged lemonade and Phocus. My hit-rate for good drinks at the Dollar Tree has been about 50:50 so far.