Baseball Bros Controls: Pitching, Batting, Running and Stealing

Baseball Bros keeps the controls small on purpose. You never steer a fielder around the diamond or aim a throw by hand. Instead, the game hands you a series of decisions — which pitch, when to swing, whether to run — and asks you to make each one at the right moment. Learn those moments and you will win a lot more games.

The action key and the prompts

Everything you do happens through one action key, and the game tells you when it wants it. You will see prompts such as PRESS TO RUN after contact and PRESS TO STEAL! with a runner on base. In a two-player game on one keyboard the prompts name the key for each side: PRESS G for the left side and PRESS L for the right. On a phone or tablet there are two control styles in the settings, Swipe and Tilt; try both and keep the one that feels steadier.

Pitching: three speeds

On the mound you choose one of three pitches: the fastball, the curveball and the changeup. The fastball gets there first. The curveball and the changeup arrive later and are where most bad swings come from. The pitch you just threw matters as much as the one you throw next: after two fastballs a batter is set for speed, and a changeup makes him swing early. Never throw the same pitch three times in a row against a human.

Batting: wait, then swing

At the plate the whole skill is timing. Swing too early and you pull the ball foul or pop it up for a FLY OUT!; swing too late and you are behind it. The simplest habit is to watch the first pitch of each at-bat go by, so you learn how this pitcher mixes his speeds before you commit. Every club also has its own named special swing — Pinstripe Power, Cardinal Craze, Heavenly Swing, Dodger Swing and plenty more — and the game can hand you a Super Bat for a big moment. Use it with runners on base: with the bases loaded a home run is a GRAND SLAM!.

Running

Once the ball is in play the game prompts you to run. Not every hit is worth an extra base. A ball hit straight to a fielder with runners ahead of you is how a DOUBLE PLAY! or a FORCE OUT! happens, and an over-eager runner is how a TAGGED OUT! happens. Run hard on balls into the gaps and take the single on everything else.

Stealing

With a runner on base the game sometimes offers PRESS TO STEAL!. Stealing works best when the pitch is slow to reach the catcher, which means curveballs and changeups. Against a pitcher who throws mostly fastballs, stay put. A failed steal costs you an out and the runner, so only go when the prompt and the pitch both favour you.

Two players on one keyboard

Two people can play on one computer: the left side presses G and the right side presses L, and the game says whose turn it is. Sit with the keyboard between you and keep your other hand off the keys — a stray press can start a swing you did not want.

Online with a friend

The Online vs Friends mode lets one player host a game and the other join with the game code. During the game you can press Enter to chat, which the game itself suggests in its loading tips. Online play connects to Blue Wizard's own servers, so it needs those to be reachable from your network.