Unless you've been living under a log at Sandy Flats, you've seen that "Backyard Sports is Back." The details of the franchise's return are not entirely clear, but it does seem that new games are on the horizon, featuring some of our favorite backyard kids. Here are some features I am wishing for in a new version of the game.
More Team Management in Season Mode
The charm of the gameplay in these early games comes from managing an assortment of backyard kids, trying to get them to play their sport at the level you expect—a frustration similar to coaching real youth sports! They make mistakes, fall over at the worst times, or simply have a bad day and go from all-star to completely unusable! In my dream season mode, I would have navigate these challenges off the field between games. Backyard kids could demand trades to play on their friends' teams, forget to show up for a game, refuse to play a certain position, or present other wacky situations that would force coaches to improvise throughout the season.
Dmitri refusing to use any swing except ground ball for the next game.
Story Mode
In a standard season, fairness and regulation are probably necessary. But with a story mode, I'd love to start as a "Custom Kid" and try to make my way through the neighborhood, challenging other teams to recruit more players to join my squad. In this mode, I can imagine having to choose between certain backyard kids (Angela or Tony?), giving items to teammates for stat boosts, and unlocking more incredible power-ups to use in games against other neighborhood kids.
World Map where you can choose which backyard kids to challenge next.
More Stats!
We all know that the most devoted fans of the series come from the crazy intersection of "Sports Fan" and "Nerd." The amount of stats gathered in our Backyard Baseball leagues shows how much the community appreciates the numbers. For my third wish, I want to see Backyard Kid stats collected throughout every game and every season. A leaderboard showing how many strikeouts Marky Dubois has collected across all seasons played, how many doubles Maria Luna earned, and what Ernie Steele's lifetime WAR actually is!
The excitement for a new release has everyone ideating and discussing what these new games might become. All I know is that I can't wait to play ball.
Have anything you'd like to write about? Send it to team@backyardsports.online, and we may publish it on our blog! Check out the backyardsports.online Discord group to sign up for a league or find others to play against online!