Burning Things Review

Burning Things is a charming universal game app for kids that really has children in mind, allowing them to save animals in this cute, thoughtful arcade-style game.

There are a few favorite apps of my son that involve fire fighting, allowing him to put out fires found in buildings with a fire hose. These scenes are favorites of his, but often this game play is a smaller detail of a larger app that he seeks out - never a main function of these applications.

Here, kids can fight fires to their hearts' content. Help the dog and cat team of firefighters driver their truck to buildings and other structures that are on fire, helping animals that are trapped, sometimes using the ladder to save animals as well.

Four levels are included, each with its own unique location where one may need to save a café on fire, an icy winter theme with penguins, a more challenging area which includes flaming balloons that need to be extinguished as well as the simple “Hills and Wheels” section which introduces this app to children.

My son loves driving this truck with the slight drag of a finger, as well as aiming the fire hose at the lit-up spots on these buildings, saying things like “I hear a dog...I must save him,” creating a nice level of drama, but do note that this app itself is drama-free, as there is no sense that these animals, who wave kindly after being saved from these fires, are in any real danger.

Children will enjoy how although a score is kept, they will not feel rushed during this cute, non-competitive game that always ends with a party for the firefighters, a gift and a kiss from an animal who appreciates the help from the firefighting rescue cat.

The look of this app, taking place at night, is lovely with the night’s sky portrayed with the use of fancy, dark-colored hand-made textured paper adding a richness to this app that I enjoy, as I do the use of the full moon and the other details, such as the varied structures that contain the different animals one saves, as they wave and make grateful noises when their fires get put out. A great use of classical piano music plays in the background adding to the experience, as well as exposing children to music not typically found in arcade-style apps.

To play, simply touch a finger to the fire truck, the driver being a nice place on which to rest one’s finger, as it is easy to accidentally trigger the fire hose because players do not want to waste the water that is needed for firefighting - an issue I would love to be worked out in the future update. To extinguish the fires, tap the flames directly, or tough the hose and aim the water spray.

My son really enjoys playing this game, but he has asked me how to drive backwards if need be as he sometimes sees an animal in need of rescue after he has passed it, an element we would love to see in a future update.

I have also had a hard time finding the water re-filling station of this app - a cute detail I have noticed from iTunes that I wish I could also explore. Even with these minor notes, this game is charming, fun, and very age-appropriate for toddlers and preschoolers both in terms of skill and content.