ANOTHER DERBY!
Good for the price, but sadly not as unfairly hard as it’s inspiration.
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Baseball Point & Click Games.
Astonishing Baseball Manager 21
Astonishing Baseball (or AB for friends) is not your usual baseball simulation game. It’s not only about tables full of players and stats. It’s about people! Well okay, you heard that line from your Economics 101 class already. But I promise, this game will be way more interesting! It’s like a narrative roguelike sports game, Seriously!
What’s new in AB21
Already an AB player? Here are some of the main new features:
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Play historic seasons or try our brand new scenarios. There’s a challenge for every kind of coach!
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Always play for the best team in the new career mode
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A new minor team system, where you can hire your coach and train your rookies!
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Edit the portrait of your favorite player, or import an online logo for your team!
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Congratulate your starter, taunt your rival or ask your fans what to do with your new rookie thanks to the Bleachers message creator!
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Hire a brand new coaching staff to get advice on contracts and strategies
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Join the excitement of the draft thanks to the new Draft projections, or the top prospect interview
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Enjoy a brand new history listing, retire your Hall of Famer number in the ballpark, or use the new player history to check past performances!
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Pick the menu at your stadium, and hire a chef to get the prestigious ballpark awards!
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Show who’s the boss in the new World Cup, or admire the best players in the Power Contest and Pitching Contest.
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And more, like league records, improved game simulation, smarter AI, new awards, legendary players… Too much to describe here!
Fake (but real) baseball players
AB is about fake (sorry, virtual) baseball players. Some you’ll like, some you will hate, and a lot of them you will LOVE! That anonymous “Jim” guy at the top of your lineup? Give it a few minutes, and he will become your favorite player ever. Or maybe he’s actually very bad, and you’ll send him finish his career in your minor league team, because he disappointed you. Poor Jim…
And that starter, Sandy. Is he an ace or not? Well, maybe you should train him a bit. And make sure you have solid relievers to help him if a left-handed batter is giving him a headache. After all, you’re paying him 12M a year, that’s a lot! And he’s asking for an even bigger extension contract now. Not sure you’ll like Sandy after all… Oh but look, his nickname is “Cubbie”, that’s so cute!
Watch them evolve!
One of your tasks is to draft rookies. And once you’ve drafted your first prospect… Let’s call him John okay? Well, you’re going to be very interested in John’s life. Where to put him in the lineup? How much training does he need? Do I start him everyday, or does he need to go to the minor leagues first? Why is he suddenly struggling? Wait, it’s getting better… HE’S THE MVP NOW! But is he really worth 20M per year? See, it never stops!
The lineup of your dreams
Okay so the team is not too bad these days, but you want to do a big move and win the Baseball Cup. Is it time to do a big trade with another team? Or maybe it would be better to wait next year and sign a big free agent during the offseason? Or maybe do both? One thing is sure, building the lineup of your dream is actually super hard! And you haven’t even tested the “Extreme Mode” yet. Or maybe you want freedom and receive job offers from other teams too. In that case, the career mode is for you!
A living world
Astonishing Baseball features an artificial but living world. Fans are posting about the game and your brand new rookie. Journalists write articles about your starter’s last night performance. Players send you messages about their concerns or their contract. It’s all about baseball! Fortunately, all these people are very positive persons! Except if they complain about their contract. Or their role in the lineup. Or the team performance… Well, it could be worse. It’s not like they’re French and complain all the time, right?
For baseball fans and stats nerds
Astonishing Baseball is very easy to learn. If you know the game rules, you’ll know how to play! But if you’re a sabermetrics savant, you’ll find all kind of stats to satisfy your nerdy instinct! I even suggest to use wOBA. You don’t know what wOBA is? Don’t worry, according to very serious studies, about 99.999% of people don’t care about wOBA. Good news, right? And now you can even see the future thanks to our WAR projections!
Get international
Not enough talent in your league? Send your incredible and local scouts to find the best prospects in the world, and then invite the most promising player to your team! But be careful, even the best scouts can make mistakes… My favorite one is named “Francis Dupont”. Yes, he’s French, from Paris, and he’s always hyping up his prospects. Like “Look, I just saw that guy from Strasbourg for three minutes and I’m rating him 80/80 and he’s already in the Hall of Fame blablabla”. Best thing to do with Francis is to ask him to spend a bit more time on the prospect. Generally it ends with a final rating of 50+/80 and a simple “I told you so”. I really like you Francis, but if you’re reading this, do your job correctly please.
Live incredible stories
As a coach, you have a life too! In Astonishing Baseball, you can take your team to a burger restaurant, help local associations, but also meet your favorite author, become a rock star, visit Iceland and even marry the love of your life!
Apparently I have to put a disclaimer here. You’re not going to really meet the love of your life with this game. It’s like… Your in-game soulmate, okay?
If you like baseball, fantasy sports and simulations, or just good stories, you’ll love Astonishing Baseball Manager! I hope. If you don’t, I like messages!
Read More: Best Baseball Text-Based Games.
Trivia Vault Baseball Trivia
You get what you paid for, 5K achievements at minimum price. If you’re an achievement hunter looking to increase the number of achievements on your profile showcase, then I highly recommend buying this. Else don’t waste your money. This is not a game, it’s just a way of distributing achievements.
– Real player with 5.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Baseball Casual Games.
It’s a spam game, in which the main point is that you pay to boost your achievement count by 5,000. Steam is working to remove these games. Good riddance.
– Real player with 0.4 hrs in game
2D Baseball Duel
A baseball game like I’ve never seen before. The outwardly simple gameplay proves to be shockingly deep, and the uniquely clean art, witty writing, and catchy soundtrack complete the package. Well made all around and definitely worth picking up.
– Real player with 120.7 hrs in game
Disclaimer: I made the soundtrack for this game but I was otherwise uninvolved with its development.
This game is hilarious and good old fashioned arcadey fun. I don’t want to spoil anything, but you should play through the entire single player campaign. I was laughing the entire time. I could see the 2p mode catching on in competitive circles as it’s a great mix of mindgames + execution. With the crazy number of unlockable pitches + the breaking ball mechanic there is a ton of depth there to explore. It amazes me that this was all made by one person, from the programming to the game design to the art. Looking forward to future releases from Largemann!
– Real player with 27.7 hrs in game
Digital Diamond Baseball V9
Digital Diamond Baseball is a great option for everyone but it stands alone for mac users with limited options. The developer is very responsive and willing to help out as well. He is constantly working to improve the elements of the game and I look forward to many hours of enjoyment. It has become my #1 baseball sim.
– Real player with 320.3 hrs in game
IMO- this game has flown UNDER the radar and deserves some accolades for its many strengths!
DDB V-9 is an outstanding value providing an open game engine that produces accurate season, team and player results.
As-played lineups w/ player transactions and schedules are available if you’re a stock replay person. Every season from the present back to 1959 have been created, and installing a season is a matter of just clicking on it. There are many other additional seasons as well. The stats package is quite good and the AI is VERY good!
– Real player with 218.8 hrs in game
Baseball Riot
Another awesome game by 10tons Ltd!
I had lots of fun with “Tennis In The Face” and so, I decided to try out this one too and it did not disappoint! It’s slightly more challenging to get 100% Achivements compared to “Tennis In The Face” but you will have a great time doing so!
– Real player with 12.3 hrs in game
This is a cute, decently fun physics puzzler. I don’t know if there’s a central joke. Just… hitting people with baseballs? Is that supposed to be funny or something? Well, it’s a little cathartic, at least. Get it on sale.
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game
Out of the Park Baseball 22
I have been playing OOTP off and on since it was in single digits. I have a love/hate relationship with this game. So, let’s talk about this dysfunctional relationship a bit.
First, how do I play? I am only interested in GM with slight manager touches - typically, setting lineups and pitching roles, and team strategies - because the AI is atrocious at this, but I hardly ever manage or watch a game. I just sim sim sim. For me, I like to do the majors with fictional players, or a full redraft of real players and go from there.
– Real player with 2341.3 hrs in game
I didn’t want to buy this game at first, given Out of the Pockets’s complete and total greed with their Perfect Team system. However, OOTP came out with some nice updated graphics, a cool new tournament system (Perfect Draft), and made promises to fix one of the largest and most glaring flaws with the Perfect Team system : live players being trash tier in comparison to pretty much every single historical equivalent.
Okay, so…how’d they do?
Graphics : Are updated. But, now, it is clearly noticable that the attendance, no matter the era you play in, is full of cardboard cutouts. Literally. Your in-stadium audience is a bunch of flat, lifeless sprites. Now, I don’t know if this is a graphics option you can turn off or not, I have yet to look. If it isn’t….100% fail. Sorry.
– Real player with 1662.4 hrs in game
Bat Boy
Interdimensional mage Lord Vicious has brainwashed Bat Boy’s fellow teammates in order to participate in the Trials of Darkness, a heinously brutal series of athletic events! It’s up to Bat Boy to team up with one-time villain and mouthy crow Garou, traversing all manner of hostile worlds, to free the minds of his sports-hero teammates before they fall victim to the Trials. Along the way, Bat Boy will encounter all manner of characters, some allies, most not, as he fights his way to the final confrontation with Lord Vicious.
Bat Boy pits the titular hero against the former allies of his sports team, heroes such as Racket Girl, Shinai Guy, Aquaria and Mr. Blitzer, among others as he travels through the many worlds beyond Lord Vicious' dimensional gateway!
▪ A thrilling 2D platforming adventure set against rich, nostalgic 8-bit backdrops.
▪ Swing, deflect, spin and power-hit your way through exciting baseball-style combat!
▪ Explore a vast world of unique and exciting environments, ultimately leading to a showdown with one of Bat Boy’s brainwashed allies!
▪ Take on the powers of each ally as you free them from the influence of Lord Vicious!
▪ Glorious 8-bit visuals, reminiscent of early platformer legends.
▪ High octane chiptunes from Evader Music, composer for Smelter and Super Sami Roll.
▪ Dozens of enemies, exciting bosses and intriguing companions to encounter!
▪ Baseball-bat-based traversal and environmental puzzle solving!
▪ Hidden secrets, collectibles, unlockable music and more to find!
