Burning Desire

Here at OG24, our goal is always to ensure you have access to reviews of the very best slots. Sometimes, we’ll pick brand new games that thoroughly impressed us. And in other cases, we’ll go back to a release that we loved before.

Some have aged like fine wine; others like milk left outside the fridge. And then there’s the curious case of Burning Desire, which seems to be neither here nor there.

Burning Desire Slot Review

This slot is played on a five reel board, where each reel is three symbols tall. There are a total of 243 ways to win, forgoing traditional paylines. To win, collect three or more identical icons in adjacent positions, starting with the leftmost reel. Without any paylines, this is the only winning requirement players have to complete for the cash prize.

Sadly, there’s not much available as far as special features go. There’s a free spins round during which all wins are tripled. Now, the awesome pays this bonus can bring is something no one can deny. But at the same time, after a decade of new games on the market? It’s just not enough to entice us. If there was at least one or two more special features, it would be a much different situation.

Theme & Symbols

If you came to this Microgaming release hoping for an engaging theme, we’ll have to be the bringers of bad news. The burning part seems to have been taken literally, as the flame motif seems to be present in quite a few symbols. That said, there’s not a lot of desire present! We know this developer can do a lot better when they put their mind to it. Sadly, they rarely deliver on that front.

One look at the background image shows visual fidelity wasn’t the big focus of Burning Desire. Which makes sense, given it came out in 2009 originally. Even still, you can probably do a bit better than a gaudy dark-red background with patterns decorating the image. Embrace the theme and the name! Show us some real passion!

Icon designs are split between playing card royals and generic physical machine symbols. The only thing that separates these diamonds, lucky sevens, bars and golden bells is Microgaming setting them on fire. Playing card royals don’t get that treatment: they’re enough of a dumpster fire on their own. The only icon we really liked was the burning rose. That’s the only symbol that tried to fit in with the theme.

How to Play Burning Desire

You play this game on a 5×3 board, with 243 ways to win instead of traditional paylines. Microgaming’s release has a medium volatility and a jackpot worth 90,000 coins. Landing this big win, however, requires a lot of luck. Not only do you have to activate free spins, but you have to do so and then get the biggest win possible! There’s nothing to assist you in landing this score, short of Wilds that appear on reels two and four.

Now, if Burning Desire truly wanted to win us over, they could have done so with awesome special features. Instead, we just get a free spins round with a multiplier. If all you’re interested in are raw wins, then you will love this bonus. But if you want a dash of excitement alongside half-decent wins, we can’t claim this slot can provide it. An extra bonus or two would go a long way towards fixing the problem.

At the very least, Microgaming allows you to change your wager this time without having to dig through the settings. Open a drop-down menu, drag the slider to your ideal bet, and start spinning! If you prefer, you can still open the menu and directly tweak your coin value and coins bet. Players can wager between €0.25 and €250 per spin.

Bonus Features

As you’ll soon see, it’s not about free spins lacking meaning. It’s that this slot fails to shine without any other special features. Even the most basic of re-spins would be a welcome sight over nothing at all.

• Free Spins

Collect three, four or five Scatters to win fifteen free spins. It is possible to retrigger this bonus by finding three or more Scatters while extra turns are being played. So a big heap of free spins is great, but it’s made even better due to the fact all wins are tripled! This is welcome news for everyone, but especially high rollers who are trying to land the maximum 90,000 coin jackpot.

• Wilds

Wild can substitute for any icons in adjacent positions. They also only appear on reels two and four.

Burning Desire Payouts

Burning Desire has a medium variance and a maximum jackpot worth 90,000 coins. The slot has an RTP of 96.19%, which is above the current industry average of 90%.