Play-by-play
- No pitches thrown yet. Set up a game on the field.
Turn your phone sideways for a bigger field.
Everything you need at the plate, on the bases and in the field. The game pauses while you read; press Play to jump back in.
Want on-field help? Turn on Running and fielding help on the Settings page (or here): you get a tip card the first time you run or field, a prompt bar with the key for your next move, and a note when a spell comes into range.
| Player 1 | Player 2 | Gamepad | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aim pitch / move swing cursor | WASD | Arrows | Stick / D-pad |
| Pick pitch or batting stance | Q E or 1–6 | . / | LB / RB |
| Throw pitch · Swing | F | Enter | A |
| Running: pick runner | A D | ← → | Left / right |
| Running: send / hold picked runner | W / S | ↑ / ↓ | Up / down |
| Running: send everyone / all back | F / R | Enter / ' | A / X |
| Running: pick a spell for the picked runner | Q E | . / | LB / RB |
| Fielding: throw to base | Direction while a fielder holds the ball (up 2B, right 1B, left 3B, down home). Otherwise the fielder picks the best throw. | ||
| Fielding: pick spell | Q E | . / | LB / RB |
| Hustle: tap repeatedly for extra power, heat or speed | V | Right Ctrl / Num + | LT / RT |
| Cast runner or fielder magic | G | Right Shift | B |
| Batting with runners on: take a lead (press again for a big lead, a third time to go back) | G | Right Shift | B |
| Batting with runners on: call a steal (press again for a magic steal, again to call it off) | R | ' | X |
| Pitching: throw over to pick off the runner with the biggest lead | G | Right Shift | B |
Pitching: the dashed circle around your crosshair shows where most pitches will land (green crosshair = strike, orange = ball); it grows when your pitcher tires or you hustle. After you press throw, the release meter beside the pitcher fills. Press throw again as it crosses the gold band: perfect cuts the scatter almost in half, good by a fifth, and a mistimed press sprays it wider. Don't press at all and the pitch goes as normal. Fatigue narrows the band.
The data bar under the field breaks down every pitch: the call, pitch type and speed, where it crossed (and how far it missed the target), your release, your swing timing in milliseconds, how far the ball was from your swing circle, and contact quality and exit speed on balls in play.
Batting feedback: your swing circle turns green when the ball's marker is inside it (yellow when close, with a line pointing to the ball). The timing bar under the plate shows the ball's trip and the gold window where a swing connects; your swing drops a tick on it. After the pitch, a small ring marks where the ball really crossed.
Batting: once the ball leaves the hand, a marker shows where it is heading and a ring closes around it. Steer your circle onto the marker and swing when the ring turns gold. Phantom pitches hide the marker mid-flight; the Hex Knuckler makes it wander.
Ultimates (★): every player has one field-changing power, usable once a game for 3 mana. It shows up where that player acts: a batting stance, a pitch, the runner's spell list or the fielding list. Most leave a condition on the field (fire, webs, bog, fog, gas, grasping hands and more). A condition lasts 3 at-bats or until the half-inning ends; the active ones are listed under the count, with the at-bats left. The full list is in the catalog below.
Health (red bar, under stamina): players can get hurt: hit by a pitch, trampled, burned, flattened at the plate, crashing into the wall, gassed, half-digested. Below 60 health a player is hurt (✚): slower, weaker and wilder. At 0 he's knocked out and misses a few at-bats. A knocked-out fielder lies on the field, a knocked-out batter is skipped, and a knocked-out pitcher is replaced from the bullpen. Everyone heals a little each half-inning; trolls heal faster. Injuries are rare by default (set Off, Rare, Occasional or Frequent in Settings): physical skills, max effort, a gassed arm, collisions at the bag and spells that bite back on their caster can cause a minor injury (a chunk of health) or, now and then, a major one. Webs, Petrify, Haunt and Mesmerize can hurt the runner they hit. In a season a major injury sidelines the player for 1-3 games, and anyone under 30 health must sit until he heals: the Clubhouse asks you to sub him out.
Jumping in: while you watch CPU vs CPU (an exhibition or a CPU season), the bar under the field has Take over buttons for both clubs. You play that club as Player 1 from the next pitch; Hand back to the CPU returns it whenever you like. It stays yours for the rest of the run (later season games, rematches) until you hand it back.
Auto powers (Settings page, or press T any time, even mid-play): your players use their powers on their own, the way the CPU does. Batters pick a spell or skill stance, pitchers sometimes pick a magic pitch, runners cast running spells and skills and call club magic in close races, and fielders cast when a spell comes into range. You still aim, throw, swing and steer the runners, and you can change an auto-picked stance or pitch before it's thrown. Your own casts still work too. The setting applies to every human side, and a badge under the scoreboard shows when it's on.
In 1-player mode, the arrows, Space and Shift work for Player 1 too, and H also hustles. Numpad works for Player 2 (0 swing, . magic, 1/2 pick, 3 back). Esc pauses. M turns the music on or off.
Each club carries up to 6 mana. Both clubs gain 1 at the start of every half-inning. Your batting club gains 1 for each hit, your pitcher gains 1 for each strikeout. Magic pitches, batting spells, runner tricks and fielder spells all spend it.
The pitcher picks a pitch and aims it; in 2-player mode the aim stays hidden from the batter. Magic pitches announce themselves on release. The batter moves the swing cursor and presses swing. Contact depends on how close the cursor is to the ball and how well the swing is timed; being late pushes the ball the opposite way, getting under it lifts it.
Fielders chase and throw on their own. You steer the runners, choose throws if you want to, and cast spells. Force outs, tags, tag-ups and double plays all apply. A caught fly sends runners back to tag up.
Every pitch drains the pitcher's stamina, and magic pitches drain more. Below half stamina the pitch comes in slower, flatter and wilder. ARM and POW decide how deep a pitcher can go. The stamina bar sits under the pitcher's name; press C (Player 2: \, gamepad Y) to bring in a reliever from the bullpen. The CPU pulls its pitcher when he's gassed.
Pick Season in the setup. Your club faces seven rising rivals and then the Brimstone All-Stars; three losses end the run, and losing the final means replaying it. Between games the Clubhouse lets you set the lineup and positions, spend XP on stats, turn leftover mana into essence to enhance powers, and spend gold on magic items, free agents (or scout a new batch) and trades. Optional dungeon crawls (Settings) send up to three players into one of five dungeons between games for gold, XP, essence and loot; the deeper and harder, the better the treasure and the worse the injuries. The Front office can retrain a player to a new position: no more off-position penalty there, but he goes back to level 1 and it costs gold. Stamina carries from game to game, so rest tired players and rotate pitchers. The run saves in this browser. Pick Watch a CPU season (or tick The CPU manages this club in the Clubhouse) and the CPU runs the whole thing: it spends points, essence and gold, signs and trades, rests the tired, and plays every game. Watch at 1× to 8×, skip to the final out, or simulate game by game or the rest of the season. Every run, finished or abandoned, goes into the Records page: result, game-by-game scores, stars and highlights, and each player's numbers.
With runners on, the batting side can take a lead or a big lead before the pitch, and call a steal: the runner goes on the release. A lead helps a steal and gives a head start on a ball in play, but the pitcher can throw over (up to 4 times an at-bat): d20 + the pitcher's arm and the first baseman's glove against the runner's speed. On a steal the catcher throws: d20 + the runner's speed and lead against the catcher's arm. Slow pitches, Frost Orbs, Meteors and balls in the dirt help the runner; pitchers who stare (Mesmerize, Petrify, Web, Haunt) hold runners close; catchers with Telekinesis, Boulder Arm or Rocket Arm throw harder. A magic steal spends the runner's own speed spell or skill (or the Haste spell); Shadowstep can't be thrown out. Weak arms (3 or less) throw it away. Fouls, walks and hit batters call a steal off. Turn it all off in Settings.
Every club owns gear, bought in the Armory between games, and brings one equipped bat and ball. The bat is an extra batting stance and the ball an extra pitch, both marked ⚒ with their charges. Cheap pieces are gone when their charges run out; the costly ones recharge before every game. Exhibition clubs earn gold for every game (more for a win); season clubs pay from the season purse. Rivals in a season bring better gear as they get stronger.
The moon over the ballpark turns a phase every 9 at-bats, and the constellation beside it changes every 15 (in a season the sky carries on from game to game). Every creature has a phase, shown on its roster card: in it, +1 to its two favourite stats (werewolves +2 POW under the full moon); at the opposite phase, −1 to the first. Shadowstep (new), Glide (waxing crescent), Bull Rush (waxing gibbous), Blood Pact (full), Mesmerize (waning gibbous), Haunt (last quarter) and Invisibility (waning crescent) run 25% stronger in their phase. Moon items (Moonstone Pendant, Nightshard Ring, Silver Sickle Charm) only wake under their moon, and the Moonsilver Bat hits hardest at the full moon. Constellations: the Hound (runners 3% faster), the Anvil (fly balls carry 3% less), the Serpent (swings reach 3% farther), the Broken Crown (more bobbles), the Widow (fielders 3% slower), the Cauldron (spells 5% stronger). Switch it off in Settings.
Some magic is a gamble. The ogre's Devour needs 12+ on a d20 (16+ if the runner is standing on a base), Petrify needs 10+, a Bull Rush tag needs 11+ to hold, and every Fireball hit makes the batter roll d20 + contact against 16 or play on with a scorched bat.
Every club's monsters: stats, powers, pitches and career numbers. Pick a club or show them all, then filter by position, creature or name. The game pauses while you browse.