# Astonishing Baseball 21 — user reviews > 57 indexed App Store user reviews of Astonishing Baseball 21 by Zero One SAS, rated 4.70/5 from 957 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astonishing-baseball-21/id1558006906/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astonishing-baseball-21/id1558006906.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 762 · 4★ 121 · 3★ 37 · 2★ 13 · 1★ 24 ## What do users think of Astonishing Baseball 21? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Great Game - 👍 Challenging and fun - 👍 Very addicting - 👍 Immersive and simple UI - 👍 Exactly what I've been looking for - 👍 Fantastic baseball sim - 👍 Best baseball manager on mobile **Cons** - 🐛 Confusing lineup system - 🐛 Automatic pitching changes can be annoying - 🐛 Unfair and rigged rivalry games - 🐛 Pitching substitution issues - 🐛 Poor UI placement for current iPhones - 🐛 Runs charged to wrong pitchers - 🐛 Bench players don't play **Commonly reported bugs** - Team names don't update in news/stadium sections after changing - Buttons hard to press on iPhone with notch **Most requested features** - Allow checking scouted international prospects in offseason - Add difficulty modes (easy, medium, hard) - Ability to trade in offseason - Set defensive lineups manually - Player ratings beyond star system - Allow players to progress on their own - Include minor league players in trades - Baseline budget to hire coaches - Add coach mode to change teams - Allow trading draft picks ## Newest reviews (16 of 57) ### 4/5 — Great game but the lineup system and pitching needs to be changed *2021-12-28, version 1.41* The lineup system is to confusing because it can change into a puzzle some times.Also can you have a setting to turn off automatic pitching change because it gets annoying sometimes. ### 5/5 — Amazing *2021-12-07, version 1.40* Easily the most fun and addicting GM simulation game/ franchise I’ve ever played, I play them all! Please keep the updates coming ### 5/5 — Closer of the year *2021-11-22, version 1.36* I can never win closer of the year even tho my pitchers have the better stats lol ### 5/5 — Best CASUAL franchise sim on mobile PERIOD *2021-11-15* This game is very very addicting. I like how it has a simple you ui and also has fake teams but semi real players. All they really did was change the name of the teams change one or two letters in the player names, you can tell who they are. The reason I’m leaving five stars is because this is basically MLB the show level franchise except there is no minor-league trading so you cannot trade from a minor league player. That is also one problem but it’s not a big one due to the fact that the game is so much more options to get player such a free agents trade in the draft . One problem that does bother me but still won’t hinder me from leaving five stars is that when youDraft a player you don’t automatically get them for five yearsWhich is the maximum years you can sign a player to. ### 4/5 — Plz fix *2021-11-10* Game is fun but it can be very stupid sometimes. I can have like 5 4 star players vs a team who is 10th in their division, and lose by 3 runs. Like it’s kind of dumb that the worst team can come back from a 4-1 lead. Plz fix **Developer response:** Thanks for the review! If you've watched baseball games, you know that comebacks are very, very common, and that the best teams don't always win against a worst team. Actually the probability is very often close to 50/50 no matter what. Baseball is game of micro-optimizations ^^ ### 5/5 — Kind of a hidden gem *2021-10-14* I know it's got a lot of reviews but I hadn't seen it get a lot of advertisement in the store. I'm so glad I found it because now I can't stop. If you like a simulation sports game this is as close to perfect as you'll find here. ### 4/5 — AB21 *2021-10-13, version 1.33* I think the games really good. But I hate how hard it is. There should be some difficulty modes, Hard easy medium etc. ### 5/5 — Looks good *2021-10-12, version 1.32* So far this game feels fun and I haven’t even played a game. ### 5/5 — Gréât game *2021-10-02, version 1.32* Honestly, great game guys ### 5/5 — Best Baseball Management Game Ever *2021-09-21* Favorite baseball game I’ve ever played I’ve put to much time in it and when I needed help with something the devs responded extremely fast highly recommend ### 5/5 — amazing game *2021-07-18, version 1.2* really addicting, fun game. highly recommended ### 5/5 — Awesome *2021-07-15, version 1.2* Just needs more depth/options/customization and it would be 20 out of 5 ### 5/5 — So much fun *2021-07-13, version 1.2* Love it ### 5/5 — This Game Is The Best Baseball Simulation Out There *2021-07-10* I’m not joking this game is by far the best baseball simulator out because of how addictive it is, they have hall of fame where the best of the best players in that league is/was, I never knew this until now that They have The Best player of all time award ever 25 years. even tho I’ve had games by this creator for a Long time, years more likely I love this game so much, the only problem is they put players from teams that did worse than my player on my team in the hall of fame, no one with less than .290 for their batting average and less than 250 home runs and one award, minimum 3 awards should be in there but everthing is great Easy 5 stars if I could I would put a 6 star rating ### 4/5 — Great game, one thing needs work so far *2021-07-10* The game is great to play, the only annoying thing I’ve come across is that sometimes the pitchers will be substituted when I don’t want them to be. I had my starter just have a horrible start and the game took him out after just 0.1 innings which was frustrating because my bullpen needed a rest. ### 5/5 — Awesome! *2021-07-05, version 1.14* Fantastic Baseball Sim! Couple changes I would suggest as a baseball fan junkie. When subbing a pitcher in middle innings, replacement pitcher isn’t credited with innings pitched but is hit with any runs scored even if they weren’t his runners. You should be able to trade in off-season. Too many times I’ve been hurt with some young players who want a large contract and no space. They hit FA and sign a big contract without me being able to do anything about it. This always takes the wind out of my sails for continuing that particular franchise save. I am unsure how to set a defensive lineup myself. I will hit the optimize defense and it will put some players in random positions which I cannot see what their rating is for that particular position. Still trying to figure this part out. Currently my DH is playing CF while my CF is playing 1B. I have a poor defending 2B playing DH now. Kind of confusing. Fantastic game and look forward to future updates. Have only played for a few days but am hooked! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Ok this is starting to get ridiculous *2021-10-06, version 1.32* The games random outcomes make no sense depending on your team players and it’s also rigged and unfair in the rivalry because ur rival after a while has a team of all legend players and always beats you except maybe 1 out of 20 times. This is just ridiculous ### 1/5 — Would be a 5 star but the game is so rageable *2021-05-26, version 1.13* Like I could get a 50 game win streak than get a 10 game losing streak and lose in the 1st round of the playoffs ### 1/5 — Interface is broken *2021-05-07* People have talked about the fact that some of the icons go under the bezel but the way that selection is set you can accidentally screw yourself over really bad and there needs to be a fix for that I’ll be deleting this game until they provide that fix ### 1/5 — Bad Interface *2021-04-21, version 1.1* There is a strong idea here, but the UI is poorly placed, and on an iPhone 11 Pro Max, things get cut off in the notch and bottom of the display. The sim engine is decent but nowhere near ootp, which this claims to be similar to since I searched “ootp baseball” in the App Store and this came up. ### 2/5 — It’s alright *2024-03-02, version 1.41* Gane definitely can be improved and the logistics of it definitely don’t make sense a lot of times, especially with the rivalry series and how that works. Really is just annoying sometimes, would be better if there were options to eliminate parts. ### 3/5 — Great Casual Baseball Manager Sim...but *2022-02-19* I like the game overall. It's fun to sit and waste an hour or two on. A few things I think need tweaking: 1. Budget - Overall budget for players should be one pool to do with what you want, not separated so we can't sign anyone. 2. Trading - Takes into account performance only and not a multitude of things like IRL trades do. 3. Training Points - I like training points...for training players, scouts, and coaches. However they should not be used to hire coaches, scouts, and a chef. That should be taken care of with budget money. There simply isn't enough training points to go around. 4. Developer Attitude - Talked with the person in the Discord server. They weren't rude about anything, but they didn't listen to any feedback I tried to give. They brushed it off with the excuse "it is how it is". I see great potential for this game to be a free alternative to OOTP, but unless the dev is willing to listen then it's not gonna go anywhere anytime soon. **Developer response:** Thanks for your honest review and for playing the game anyway ;) ### 3/5 — Great start, but needs work *2021-06-19* Excellent bones, this game could really be great, but there are a few issues that really have to be fixed if the game could ever hold my attention long term. Everyone mentions the layout and button placement not being optimized for current iPhones with a notch, and yeah it’s kind of crazy that it’s so bad, but it’s not game breaking . What bothers me more is the fact that if the CPU loads the bases against me and I bring in a reliever, any ensuing runs get charged to the reliever I brought in. Another big one is that your bench players never play at all if you do not manually substitute them in; maybe I’m missing a setting somewhere for this? I would also love it if you could actually have player ratings beyond the star system that only appears as you train players, which is another issue; the training points are way too slow and tedious to accrue imo. I have no idea how to judge players without stars beyond their immediate/current stats. I would also like to see players progress on their own throughout the season without training, and the option to include players in the minors in trades. Also, it’s absurd to not have a baseline budget capable to hiring coaches lol, I just don’t get that part of it, the grind to actually gain ground is just a bit too much for me overall. I know that’s a long list but the game is still fun if you enjoy GM games. ### 3/5 — Good but needs work *2021-05-06* This game literally has incredible potential but its got two major problems. First, you have to fix the placement of the buttons. They’re on the top and bottom but very close to the edge so they’re very hard to press. Secondly, you have to make it so that we can trade draft picks. You fix these two problems and it will literally be perfect. Incredible potential. ### 3/5 — Poor UI Hampers Otherwise Excellent Game *2021-05-04* Unfortunately, the poor UI locations of buttons on the iPhone Max prevent me from enjoying the game. The notch is not handled, and buttons in the top or bottom corners of the screen are very difficult to press. This make the game very tedious to progress through the menus. OTHERWISE, GREAT GAME! Best baseball manager on the apple store and I love the perfect mix of simplicity and depth that allow the game to be fun, challenging, and easy to progress through many seasons (Please allow us to play and fast forward through a game with a single button!) Thanks for all of your hard work developing this game, and as UI fixes come I will gladly update my review. ### 4/5 — Fun game *2021-12-31, version 1.41* I enjoy this game, I think the draft could be a little longer, maybe in the 5-7 round range. But good game ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Great Game *2024-12-07* I think this game is amazing, nothing is blocked behind a paywall (even though you can buy extra TP or $$). Challenging and fun. My only item of improvement is possibly making a way to be able to check your scouted International Prospects in the offseason so that you can adjust your roster accordingly with free agents in the offseason. ### 5/5 — The game *2023-06-07, version 1.41* Great game I love playing it and it is very addicting ### 5/5 — Exactly what I’ve been looking for! *2022-11-09* If you love sports strategy and simulation this game is for you. The UI is amazing and super immersive for such a simple game. Custom teams and players, trades, free agents, college recruiting, stadium upgrades, you name it. Hands down one of my all time favorites. Best of all it’s not pay to play! ### 5/5 — Great fun game *2022-10-24, version 1.41* Very well done game ### 5/5 — Amazing *2022-07-27, version 1.41* Great and fun game. ### 5/5 — I love this game! *2022-03-26* I love this game! The only things I would suggest are: - Ways to improve non-rookie players, like sending them to the Minors. - Be more interactive with players. Y’know, develop some kind of relationship, being able to push them to try harder. Something of that sort. ### 5/5 — Good *2022-03-24, version 1.41* Good ### 5/5 — Who is nefer on the mariners *2022-02-25, version 1.41* Who is he???? ### 5/5 — Great Game *2022-02-17, version 1.41* It is a very in depth and fun, Exciting baseball game with a very alive world.Keep up the good work. ### 5/5 — Great Game *2022-01-27, version 1.41* Exactly the type of game I was looking for. Keep’em coming. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-25.*