>Partner studios Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom's Hot To Burn series becomes a trilogy with a third release, an online slot titled Hot To Burn Extreme. Just to recap, the first Hot To Burn game was a rudimentary 5 payline fruit slot with no features to really speak of, while part two had a hold & win round that could lead to a Big Money Bonus Wheel. Since the third one has been labelled 'Extreme', you might expect another evolutionary step, but Pragmatic Play has done the opposite and gone back to basics. As such, Hot To Burn Extreme is a simple game with few features and is devoid of anything resembling innovation.
We're getting the impression players drawn to the Hot To Burn range aren't here to experience the latest in online slot tech. That would explain the archaic looks, where in Hot To Burn Extreme, 5 reels of predominantly fruit hang suspended before a stone wall and tongues of flame which shimmy when winning lines hit. Hot To Burn Extreme has a lot more win ways than the original, 40 paylines in fact, displayed in four columns next to the game grid in typical retro fashion. Because there are so many more now, listing them like this isn't hugely helpful, but it does reinforce the game's old-school credentials, so, whatever. The soundtrack is, admittedly, quite funky and gets trancier once free spins are triggered or bought.
Despite the name, Hot To Burn Extreme is less extreme than the previous game in many ways. One of those ways is volatility, which has been dialled back from high to medium. The default RTP remains relatively high, with a maximum return value of 96.65%, though two lower models can be found. Working in tandem with the 40 paylines, the lowest allowable stake is 40 p/c, rising to a top bet level of $/€240 per spin. The action occurs on a 5x4 game grid, and symbols pay left to right on consecutive reels, from the leftmost side onwards.
Little has changed amongst the pay symbols where in ascending order, we find cherries, lemons, oranges, plums, strawberries, watermelons, and lucky 7s. A five-symbol winning line of these triggers a payout worth 2.4 to 125 times the stake. One thing that has changed is a jester/harlequin character now appears on the wild symbol. Wilds are present on all reels and replace any symbol except the scatter. If wilds create their own winning lines, they are worth up to 125x the bet for a five-of-a-kind hit.
>In terms of features, Hot To Burn Extreme isn't very extreme. At all. The only symbol left to cover is the star scatter. Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols wins you 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. The only thing the paytable mentions about free spins is that 'special reels are in place during the feature.' Other than this slightly cryptic line, nothing is added to free spins, which is not available in the base game. The round can be retriggered, though, by landing 3, 4, or 5 scatters to win an extra 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. On a last note, rather than trigger free spins organically, players may have the option of buying them instead, for the cost of 100x the total bet.
>Now that we are three deep in the series, a couple of things about the Hot To Burn range have crystallised. First and foremost, these are the sort of old-school fruit slots that time passed by. We're talking about a few-frills game which puts very little, almost nothing, in the way of player and fruit. Hit spin and attempt to line up fruit. Trigger free spins and attempt to line up fruit. Maybe some perspective is needed here to grasp the studio's angle. The original Hot To Burn slot came with just five paylines and didn't have a wild symbol, so compared to that, Hot To Burn Extreme is kind of out there?
It feels like we are pushing the boundaries of word definition, though. Max win is one area Hot To Burn Extreme builds on over the first, where it is now possible to win up to 5,000x the bet. For those keeping score, this is a quarter of what is possible in Hot To Burn Hold & Win. So, if you like the look and the retro ethos but require larger potential to chase, the previous game is probably the one to go for. In all three cases, if you like to feel something shockingly new, it's best to pass on Hot To Burn Extreme. This is reactionary gaming that plants its feet in the earth, furiously shaking a fist at the march of progress.
In this day and age, we are surrounded by technological marvels. We've got the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland busy smashing tiny things together to see what happens, not to mention the wonders of next day, or even same delivery when ordering certain items online. Sticking out like an anachronistic sore thumb is Hot To Burn Extreme, valiantly going against the grain of modernisation. Since they show zero signs of stopping being made, there must be a crowd out there happy to play basic games like Hot To Burn Extreme, so more power to them.
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