Flame Introduction
Set against the backdrop of a steel sheet that you might expect to see in a disused factory, with a throbbing '80s soundtrack, this game is very atmospheric to say the least. There are no robots or replicants than we can see, but you can’t escape the very Ridley Scott feel of the whole game. You could be on Earth or another planet.
You might also be on a spaceship drifting off, never to be seen again. What is going on? As with all pokies, this is a game of matching symbols. Depending on how many you get in a payline, you can win some big prizes. However, you’ll need to go in to adjust which paylines you want to play, and you’ll need to decide on your stake, too. Although you can play this game for free right here, if you want to win money, you will have to stake some first.
The symbols you need to know
When you first see the five reels and 20 paylines screen, you’ll see some spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds. These are shown in colours other than red and black, but you still might think it’s running on a playing card model even though there are no number cards or royal cards. There are four other elements: fire, water, lightning and leaf.
There are also creatures such as a lion, a wolf, and an eagle. These are the most lucrative symbols. The lion gives you 250 credits if you are lucky enough to find the maximum five across a payline. The Flame girl heroine is the wild symbol, and she can sub for all symbols except for the Bonus scatter. In fact, the Bonus scatter is really the only normal-looking piece in the whole game.
Who does what?
Like the name, the game is all about flames. A barrier of cool blue flames is already spread across the base of the game, and this can combust to trigger mini features at random. The spontaneous combustion events set fire to symbols in the game and burn them up to reveal new matching symbols. How many of these light on fire seems to change each time.
This is essentially a free spins feature every time that you don’t have to pay for and will guarantee you some wins.
Get some more free spins
We don’t know why, but Flame offers nine different routes into free spins. The first is via the mini feature; there are seven of them, for which you basically get one more special free spin. The next two are on-screen and offer 15 spins. One is accessed by finding three scatters. The second is the same deal accessed by a Wild Bonus. The Wild Bonus is the heroine with the word "Wild" under her, but these appear to be quite rare.
What can you expect to win in the free spins feature? Three Bonus scatters or Wild bonuses anywhere on the reels will land you 15 free spins. During this feature, you can retrigger once to get up to 30 free spins. While this doesn’t sound that amazing, where it really pays off is in the inclusion of the seven mini-features.
The mini feature on Flame
While you’re playing, you could come across any one or more of these seven feature games. The Cross Flare mini feature sees flames rise up and lets you win in any pay direction. Basically, you’ll get wins both ways and can keep both. The Flare Up mini feature gives you a wild multiplier of 2, 3, 5, 7 or 10 times your stake on your current wins.
The Fire Whirl mini feature affects the animal symbols. When this happens, the lion, wolf or eagle symbols can catch fire, and any that do will give the player a cash prize of up to 20 times their stake. Live Embers is a mini feature, and like the fire-whirl, it ignites symbols. This time it’s the turn of the Heart, Diamond, Club and Spades. However, this one only burns up the middle rows.
The Spontaneous Combustion Mini feature, as we said, works like free spin. What it actually does is upgrade all the lesser symbols into an animal symbol. This is great for the players as these are worth much more. Again, it works on reels 2, 3 and 4. The Wild inferno can only happen when our pink-haired heroine is also on the reels. Basically, players get one free spin for every wild showing up on the reels.
The wilds expand, so you could get a whole line of them if you are really lucky. Each new wild that comes out of this will give the player a re-spin. It will also turn the reels sticky. The last mini feature is a bonus free spins feature. In Firestorm, flames rise up to reveal three middle reels chock full of wild and bonus symbols. This is where the Wild Bonus symbol, which we’ve never seen in person, lurks.
The info board tells us it is here, but until we meet someone who has actually seen it, we’ll just have to take their word for it. This feature gives you the chance to trigger the other route into the Free Games feature. That’s all there is to it. All you need to decide is your game budget and then let our space-age heroine do the rest!
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