Kihon

Kihon Games, established in the spring of 2011 in Tucson, Arizona, is a development studio focused on creating multiplayer mobile games. The name "Kihon" is a Japanese term for "fundamentals," reflecting the company's philosophy of perfecting its craft to create masterful gaming experiences. The company was founded by a team of four, including Sony Online Entertainment veterans Mark Grossnickle, who serves as CEO, and Dan Kopycienski, the Creative Director.

Grossnickle brought eight years of experience in interactive media as a programmer and entrepreneur, having previously been a key part of the team that launched the Facebook social game "Wildlife Refuge" at Sony Online Entertainment. Kopycienski's background includes founding the interactive design firm Octopi in 1998 and creating "PoxNora," an early free-to-play online strategy game with micro-transactions. After Sony acquired PoxNora, Kopycienski served as Director of Development at SOE's Tucson studio, overseeing social games like "The Agency Covert Ops" and "Wildlife Refuge."

Kihon Games operates in the mobile gaming market, primarily developing titles for the iOS platform. Its business model appears to center on free-to-play games, likely monetized through in-app purchases and advertising, a common model for the casual gaming sector. The company's first major achievement was the game "Baby Monkey (Going Backwards on a Pig)," released in August 2011, which was inspired by a popular YouTube video and surpassed 1.3 million downloads. The studio's second title, "Dojo Danger," was a physics-based strategy game built with Kihon's proprietary 'Kata' toolset, a platform designed for efficient game creation. In March 2012, the company secured a significant milestone with a $1.5 million seed investment from Signia Venture Partners, a firm connected to Playdom co-founder Rick Thompson, who subsequently joined Kihon's board of directors. Over three rounds, the company raised a total of $2.16 million.

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