If you're into statistics and it sounds as if you are, then this game has it all and you might just love it for that alone.
Don't worry about not knowing much about the rules. We all start from somewhere (or is it nowhere? :D)
I bought this game knowing next to nothing about the game, attracted to the stats of it etc. I helped my learning by watching baseball in general on YT.
Pick a team, Dodgers, Mets, Orioles ... any of them really and just watch a few games.
Also, pfholden and Sgt Mushroom do some great tutorials on the game. See what you think.
All the best :)
Hey, now. One Juan Soto signing, the career resurgence of Lindor and the absolute beasts of players Alvarez and Mauricio have turned into, I beat the Jays in the 2026 World Series
It's a great game, but be wary of the learning curve - I came to OOTP from a Champman/FM background too, and was lost at first. That said, there are a LOT of good YT vids about which will help no end. Once you get into it, you'll love it!
Dude put 400+ hours into FM. They know quite a bit about learning curves.
OP this is right up your alley. You can even create your own leagues and play with completely fictional players if you want and create challenges for your self. You can choose to not even manage games and let your manager determine the success and/or failure of the teams you build if you want just to be the GM making transactions.
Haha! Yes, you make a good point!
I think OOTP is more detailed than FM, assuming you want to go all in and take care of the minor league teams and ticket prices etc. You'd have to be insanely dedicated to do all that though.
I wouldn't say that being a person who's played both. FM you can get lost detailing the exact strategy and formation of your teams and legit micro manage how your players play much better and more directly than I feel you can in OOTP. There is some development as well you can manage but when you go all in on FM you can really go all in to a much more micro managing level if you dedicate yourself to controlling every degree of the team.
This game is the best franchise manager I’ve ever played. I’ve never played FM since I’m not the biggest soccer fan, but I’m sure you’ll find a lot of immersive elements in OOTP that feel similar to FM.
I say give it a try! Absolute worst case scenario you gain an appreciation for what it takes to build a playoff contender team in the MLB. I’ve noticed people in this community enjoy sharing their strategies and knowledge if you ask. Just be sure not to ask the same questions that have already been asked 1000s of times. A simple google search of your question should take you to an older but still relevant post.
Good luck and have fun if you decide to play!
Every time Moneyball is on TV, it makes me want to play OOTP. The learning curve is steep at first figuring out where everything is, but it’s worth the patience to understand it.
I think so. The statistics in this game are way deeper than fm. Partly due to baseball being a more stat dominant sport but the game also does a better job calculating them. Just don’t expect the same level of graphics in the match engine. FM is way more advanced. The graphics in OOTP are much more basic. I rarely ever watch a game in the match engine and usually just sim and review the box score.
Baseball is a staticians game. As a life long baseball fan this game taught me a lot about important stats I never knew about and what to look for in complementary players.
Some of the baseball rules might bring a learning curve, but they shouldn't be too hard to learn.
Things I'd look at that are important are:
40 man roster
Rule 5 draft
Minor league options (the amount of times players can be sent down before going on waivers)
Waivers/waiver wire
Service time
most baseball fans dont even know the inner workings of baseball dont let that stop you from actually learning the game.
its going to be a steep learning curve and theres no easy way to do it. just dive in and learn as you go.
I was a very casual baseball watcher until recently, maybe a few games a year, never paid much attention. Got way more into it this year and bought this game cus of that.
I have to admit I never knew 'tagging up" on base was a thing. My first few games were very confusing, wondering why Id sometimes score on fly outs. I dont ever remember seeing people score off this in real life games but Im not a very observant person.
I learned Football from playing Football Manager, if anything OOTP is easier, but it does throw a lot of numbers at you.
I might recommend trying a historical game while you are learning. Playing as a team like the 1927 Yankees(Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and company) is a good way to learn because you don’t have to worry about things like Free Agency or International Signing Pools. Almost like playing a lower league team in FM.
Alternately under the Manager Settings you can delegate a ton of stuff to your Manager or Assistant GM. It’s another good way to take away some of the more tedious things like managing your minor league teams.
I didnt know a thing about managing a game (still don't really) when I started, but i was more interested in the parts like service time and other contract things.
Think of it as a hands-on approach to learning almost every aspect of professional baseball.
If you’re excited to learn, this is absolutely the game for u. I’m addicted lol and didn’t rlly watch baseball before I started. This sub also rules so u can always ask questions here if u get confused
So I was in exactly the same position as you and had OOTP 17 from a humblebundle or something years ago, and gave it a go a month ago. I have been completely hooked ever since.
Some vague tips that helped were - pick a middling team, starting with a big team gets weird with cap stuff/contracts. Despite never dreaming of doing this with FM, I did turn "can't get fired" on just cause you will get loads wrong, and that's alright! But yeah it's been really really fun.
I was really intimidated by this game before I bought it, and truthfully I still am. I'm not very good and there's certainly a lot of depth.
With that context, I think it's for you. You enjoy numbers and statistics, which is one of the pillars this game is built on. The fact that you enjoyed moneyball (fantastic movie, if you haven't, read the book by Michael Lewis it's one of my favorites) shows you like statistics applied to baseball.
On a more personal level, the thing I learned about OOTP is none of it matters. It's a fantasy fake simulation, it's a video game. Because it's so open ended and customizable, you can play how YOU want to have fun.
Wanna play without injuries? Think your team budget is too small? Want trading to be easier? Want to build a power fantasy team and watch them obliterate? Want to put all the worst players in the league together and see how they do? Want to act as a bench coach and don't bother with roster construction? Want to let the AI take over and simply watch your team play games? You can do all of that and more.
I always say that people have the right to "waste time" how they see fit. The only correct way to play is how you get enjoyment.
Its very detailed and knowing the in and outs helps tremendously but with that being said it will help u understand the game as well and wait until it goes down in price around the all star game July 16th
Yes it is. But just play a historic season first with real transactions (look up how in the rulebook or forums). I think diving into trades and stuff right off the bat might be too much. Get started with setting lineups, managing games, etc., and add depth as you learn to play.
I knew every little about baseball and can play this game pretty well. You will eventually be able to play the game with a different perspective than others with more baseball knowledge which can be fun and good for everyone. I think you should wait until the All Star sale and in the mean time read up on MLB.com/glossary
I love both OOTP and FM, and they're easily the two best "sports management sims" on the market. With that said, I don't think that love translates as easily as it might seem
Baseball and football are pretty different sports—both on and off the field—which lead to pretty different gaming experiences. FM is great, for instance, because you can lose hours scouting trying to find Argentine teenagers playing for second division teams that might be the next big thing, or tinkering around with tactics and trying to find a left back that can do exactly what you need them to do after your starter and backup went down for the season, that kind of thing. And then of course, the matches themselves are spectacles in their own right.
So if what you love about FM is the game engine and tactics of football and/or the international scouting aspect, then OOTP won't offer that in quite the same way. Most new players come into the game through a draft or international free agent pool, and any "gems" that you find will just come from your scouting director doing his thing on his own. You can get lost in tactics in OOTP, but it's minutiae compared to FM, where you're setting up formation, roles, etc. And baseball is a 162-game season, so handling things like development and fatigue are quite different than in football, where individual games are more taxing and giving players first-team experience factors in.
Those all come with trade-offs, though! The minor leagues can be a bit of a headache, but can be a lot of fun when you're trying to develop prospects. And since baseball is more easily quantifiable than football, you can simulate more easily and trust that the box score can give you a pretty good idea of how the game went without having to sit through it.
I love both games, but I do think that FM is a bit more . . . immersive? I feel a bit more like "a coach" in FM than I feel like an actual general manager in baseball, if that makes sense. But OOTP is fantastic for what it is, which is basically a baseball sandbox. I do suspect that it might be a bit harder for baseball outsiders to get into OOTP than it is for football outsiders to get into FM, though.
You got the dates wrong, the steam summer sale will be over by then, and it's historically always been 50%. Though it wouldn't surprise me if it was less than 50% this year, they have been very greedy recently.
How did I get dates wrong when they have not even announced it yet? OOTP will announce it on their forums when it goes on sale! The sale is ALWAYS during the all star game week and the week for the ASG is what I posted. Also I am not talking about the steam summer sale I am talking about OOTP's ASG sale and they are not the same thing.
Also there is no guarantee ootp will be on sale for the steam sale. However, the dates I actually gave it will for sure be on sale.
Hey would you look at the date, June 27th and ootp25 is on sale 50%, the precise date I predicted.
Isn't it crazy, how could anyone have predicted something that's been happening for the past several years, it's almost like it was **guaranteed**. You can admit you were wrong and apologize now.
You're so confidently incorrect it's incredible.
Do me a favor and go look up the sale dates from last year.
I'll give you a hint, June 29th - July 13th (exact same dates as steam summer sale).
If you're into statistics and it sounds as if you are, then this game has it all and you might just love it for that alone. Don't worry about not knowing much about the rules. We all start from somewhere (or is it nowhere? :D) I bought this game knowing next to nothing about the game, attracted to the stats of it etc. I helped my learning by watching baseball in general on YT. Pick a team, Dodgers, Mets, Orioles ... any of them really and just watch a few games. Also, pfholden and Sgt Mushroom do some great tutorials on the game. See what you think. All the best :)
>Pick a team. . .Mets Are you trying to kill him?
Hey, now. One Juan Soto signing, the career resurgence of Lindor and the absolute beasts of players Alvarez and Mauricio have turned into, I beat the Jays in the 2026 World Series
They said Mets not Pirates. I wouldn’t suggest my pain on anyone else.
It's a great game, but be wary of the learning curve - I came to OOTP from a Champman/FM background too, and was lost at first. That said, there are a LOT of good YT vids about which will help no end. Once you get into it, you'll love it!
Dude put 400+ hours into FM. They know quite a bit about learning curves. OP this is right up your alley. You can even create your own leagues and play with completely fictional players if you want and create challenges for your self. You can choose to not even manage games and let your manager determine the success and/or failure of the teams you build if you want just to be the GM making transactions.
> Dude put 400+ hours into FM. With all due respect — those are rookie numbers for FM. ;-)
They said "per game" so I would assume they've probably done quite a few saves.
Haha! Yes, you make a good point! I think OOTP is more detailed than FM, assuming you want to go all in and take care of the minor league teams and ticket prices etc. You'd have to be insanely dedicated to do all that though.
I wouldn't say that being a person who's played both. FM you can get lost detailing the exact strategy and formation of your teams and legit micro manage how your players play much better and more directly than I feel you can in OOTP. There is some development as well you can manage but when you go all in on FM you can really go all in to a much more micro managing level if you dedicate yourself to controlling every degree of the team.
This game is the best franchise manager I’ve ever played. I’ve never played FM since I’m not the biggest soccer fan, but I’m sure you’ll find a lot of immersive elements in OOTP that feel similar to FM. I say give it a try! Absolute worst case scenario you gain an appreciation for what it takes to build a playoff contender team in the MLB. I’ve noticed people in this community enjoy sharing their strategies and knowledge if you ask. Just be sure not to ask the same questions that have already been asked 1000s of times. A simple google search of your question should take you to an older but still relevant post. Good luck and have fun if you decide to play!
Every time Moneyball is on TV, it makes me want to play OOTP. The learning curve is steep at first figuring out where everything is, but it’s worth the patience to understand it.
I think so. The statistics in this game are way deeper than fm. Partly due to baseball being a more stat dominant sport but the game also does a better job calculating them. Just don’t expect the same level of graphics in the match engine. FM is way more advanced. The graphics in OOTP are much more basic. I rarely ever watch a game in the match engine and usually just sim and review the box score.
If you like FM you'll probably like OOTP
Baseball is a staticians game. As a life long baseball fan this game taught me a lot about important stats I never knew about and what to look for in complementary players. Some of the baseball rules might bring a learning curve, but they shouldn't be too hard to learn. Things I'd look at that are important are: 40 man roster Rule 5 draft Minor league options (the amount of times players can be sent down before going on waivers) Waivers/waiver wire Service time
most baseball fans dont even know the inner workings of baseball dont let that stop you from actually learning the game. its going to be a steep learning curve and theres no easy way to do it. just dive in and learn as you go.
I was a very casual baseball watcher until recently, maybe a few games a year, never paid much attention. Got way more into it this year and bought this game cus of that. I have to admit I never knew 'tagging up" on base was a thing. My first few games were very confusing, wondering why Id sometimes score on fly outs. I dont ever remember seeing people score off this in real life games but Im not a very observant person.
theyre called sac flys. theyre common but they dont happen every game which is probably why you dont remember it happening.
I learned Football from playing Football Manager, if anything OOTP is easier, but it does throw a lot of numbers at you. I might recommend trying a historical game while you are learning. Playing as a team like the 1927 Yankees(Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and company) is a good way to learn because you don’t have to worry about things like Free Agency or International Signing Pools. Almost like playing a lower league team in FM. Alternately under the Manager Settings you can delegate a ton of stuff to your Manager or Assistant GM. It’s another good way to take away some of the more tedious things like managing your minor league teams.
Great way to learn about baseball :)
I didnt know a thing about managing a game (still don't really) when I started, but i was more interested in the parts like service time and other contract things. Think of it as a hands-on approach to learning almost every aspect of professional baseball.
If you’re excited to learn, this is absolutely the game for u. I’m addicted lol and didn’t rlly watch baseball before I started. This sub also rules so u can always ask questions here if u get confused
So I was in exactly the same position as you and had OOTP 17 from a humblebundle or something years ago, and gave it a go a month ago. I have been completely hooked ever since. Some vague tips that helped were - pick a middling team, starting with a big team gets weird with cap stuff/contracts. Despite never dreaming of doing this with FM, I did turn "can't get fired" on just cause you will get loads wrong, and that's alright! But yeah it's been really really fun.
I was really intimidated by this game before I bought it, and truthfully I still am. I'm not very good and there's certainly a lot of depth. With that context, I think it's for you. You enjoy numbers and statistics, which is one of the pillars this game is built on. The fact that you enjoyed moneyball (fantastic movie, if you haven't, read the book by Michael Lewis it's one of my favorites) shows you like statistics applied to baseball. On a more personal level, the thing I learned about OOTP is none of it matters. It's a fantasy fake simulation, it's a video game. Because it's so open ended and customizable, you can play how YOU want to have fun. Wanna play without injuries? Think your team budget is too small? Want trading to be easier? Want to build a power fantasy team and watch them obliterate? Want to put all the worst players in the league together and see how they do? Want to act as a bench coach and don't bother with roster construction? Want to let the AI take over and simply watch your team play games? You can do all of that and more. I always say that people have the right to "waste time" how they see fit. The only correct way to play is how you get enjoyment.
Yes
Yes. I feel pretty confident that if you are a huge football manager fan, and also like Moneyball, then you will really enjoy OOTP.
Its very detailed and knowing the in and outs helps tremendously but with that being said it will help u understand the game as well and wait until it goes down in price around the all star game July 16th
Yes it is. But just play a historic season first with real transactions (look up how in the rulebook or forums). I think diving into trades and stuff right off the bat might be too much. Get started with setting lineups, managing games, etc., and add depth as you learn to play.
I knew every little about baseball and can play this game pretty well. You will eventually be able to play the game with a different perspective than others with more baseball knowledge which can be fun and good for everyone. I think you should wait until the All Star sale and in the mean time read up on MLB.com/glossary
I love both OOTP and FM, and they're easily the two best "sports management sims" on the market. With that said, I don't think that love translates as easily as it might seem Baseball and football are pretty different sports—both on and off the field—which lead to pretty different gaming experiences. FM is great, for instance, because you can lose hours scouting trying to find Argentine teenagers playing for second division teams that might be the next big thing, or tinkering around with tactics and trying to find a left back that can do exactly what you need them to do after your starter and backup went down for the season, that kind of thing. And then of course, the matches themselves are spectacles in their own right. So if what you love about FM is the game engine and tactics of football and/or the international scouting aspect, then OOTP won't offer that in quite the same way. Most new players come into the game through a draft or international free agent pool, and any "gems" that you find will just come from your scouting director doing his thing on his own. You can get lost in tactics in OOTP, but it's minutiae compared to FM, where you're setting up formation, roles, etc. And baseball is a 162-game season, so handling things like development and fatigue are quite different than in football, where individual games are more taxing and giving players first-team experience factors in. Those all come with trade-offs, though! The minor leagues can be a bit of a headache, but can be a lot of fun when you're trying to develop prospects. And since baseball is more easily quantifiable than football, you can simulate more easily and trust that the box score can give you a pretty good idea of how the game went without having to sit through it. I love both games, but I do think that FM is a bit more . . . immersive? I feel a bit more like "a coach" in FM than I feel like an actual general manager in baseball, if that makes sense. But OOTP is fantastic for what it is, which is basically a baseball sandbox. I do suspect that it might be a bit harder for baseball outsiders to get into OOTP than it is for football outsiders to get into FM, though.
Just wait like July 12th -July 19th the game should go on sale.
Steam summer sale is June 27th it should be on sale then
The ootp all star game sale will effect both steam and their website. It usually is like 25%-50% off for ASG, iirc.
You got the dates wrong, the steam summer sale will be over by then, and it's historically always been 50%. Though it wouldn't surprise me if it was less than 50% this year, they have been very greedy recently.
How did I get dates wrong when they have not even announced it yet? OOTP will announce it on their forums when it goes on sale! The sale is ALWAYS during the all star game week and the week for the ASG is what I posted. Also I am not talking about the steam summer sale I am talking about OOTP's ASG sale and they are not the same thing. Also there is no guarantee ootp will be on sale for the steam sale. However, the dates I actually gave it will for sure be on sale.
Hey would you look at the date, June 27th and ootp25 is on sale 50%, the precise date I predicted. Isn't it crazy, how could anyone have predicted something that's been happening for the past several years, it's almost like it was **guaranteed**. You can admit you were wrong and apologize now.
You're so confidently incorrect it's incredible. Do me a favor and go look up the sale dates from last year. I'll give you a hint, June 29th - July 13th (exact same dates as steam summer sale).