There’s not much to complain about if you’re a fan of baseball and franchise management sims. While some sports games are hit or miss year after year, Out of the Park Baseball is an absolute gem that continues to improve year after year. With the 2023-2024 MLB season underway, two major baseball titles are capturing much of my attention. For on-the-field action I control, MLB The Show 23 is near-perfect. For my deeper, more analytical side, Out of the Park Baseball 24 is just as tight of a management game as you’ll find across all sports and genres.

Out of the Park Baseball 24 is the 24th entry in the franchise and features text-based management simulation features that test your knowledge of managing a ball club. The stats-focused, text-heavy experience might not excite younger fans who just want to hit dingers as Otani or Judge. However, this is the exact experience I want as a long-time baseball fan in search of a deep, complex system of managing a baseball team. The thing that OOTPB 24 gets so well is that the mundane aspects of a baseball staffer’s day-to-day life are actually exactly what I want out of this sort of experience.

While the system is deep and very complicated if you take advantage of it all, you’re safe to start off in tutorial mode if this is your first step up to the plate. The game’s offline mode is where I’m spending most of my time, but there is an online experience. You can essentially build a roster and go up against other players.

The big red flag here, however, is the presence of packs of players purchased with in-game currency that essentially provide you with an easy, monetized path to putting together a great team. I’m not a big fan of that, but it’s common in most sports games. As such, I’m not going to criticize developer Out of the Park Developments beyond this.

With real MLB rosters and attention to baseball statistics that is unmatched in most sports management sims, OOTPB 24 is a deep dive worthy of your attention. When a player debuts in the big leagues or returns from injury, those implications show up in their performance. There are even new animations and a fresh simulation engine to make this the most enjoyable baseball game that doesn’t actually let you play baseball there is.

The experience of running your own team is always mimicked in a Franchise Mode for top sports titles, but OOTPB 24 captures the depth of detail baseball fanatics seek and don’t fully receive from MLB The Show 23. They both have their own role to play, and both do it wonderfully. I’m just keener on the numbers-heavy, down-and-dirty simulation that this title offers because I love knowing that dozens of considerations have to be made for success. Out of the Park Baseball 24 is available now for PC and Mac. If you take the time to check out this game, then make sure to let us know what you think in the comments!

A PC review copy of Out of the Park Baseball 24 was provided by Out of the Park Developments for this review.

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Out of the Park Baseball 24

$39.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• In-depth baseball analytics turned into a great sim game
• MLB content gives this game a real-life feel
• In-the-weeds management content is right up my alley

Cons

• Heavy sim might not be for everyone
• Microtransactions offer play-to-win mechanics