Comparison

Tickle the Pig vs Backyard Baseball '97

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Tickle the Pig

Interact with a virtual pig by tapping to tickle it, earning in-game currency to customize its appearance. Engage in social features like trading 'tickles' and bestowing blessings or curses upon friends, while your in-game alignment influences your path.

Highlights
  • Tap to tickle a virtual pig
  • Customize pig with hats and accessories
  • Social features: trade tickles, bless/curse friends
  • Alignment system: Generous vs. Greedy
  • Weekly bounties and seasonal pass
  • No ads or leaderboards
Features
Read full description

Meet Rosie. She's a pig, and she'd like a tickle. Tap to tickle. Earn snouts. Spend them on a closet full of hats, halos, capes, auras, and goofy held items. Wear what you want to be seen wearing. Bring your sounder. Add friends and you unlock the whole social loop. Trade tickles. Bless a friend with a warm tea (faster regen!) or a halo kiss (a soft glow). Or curse them — a sluggish snout, a phantom itch, a goblin whisper. One blessing and one curse per day. Pick a side. Your alignment ticks toward Generous or Greedy as you play. Lean in — Saint of the Sounder and Goblin King are the destinations, and the game watches who you become along the way. Weekly bounties + a season pass. Three rotating bounties each week. A snout pass with named tiers, real cosmetic rewards, and a finale moment when the season closes. Built for a small audience that pays attention. No ads. No leaderboards screaming for engagement. No notifications without a reason behind them. Tickle the Pig is a quiet whimsy game. Sign in with Apple, add a few friends, and tickle.

About

Backyard Baseball '97

Relive the classic baseball game with iconic characters, fun power-ups, and intuitive controls. Play quick games, practice batting, or manage a full season with unique game modes and simplified rules.

Highlights
  • Iconic character roster
  • Power-ups and special pitches
  • Pick-up and single game modes
  • Full season management
  • Batting practice mode
  • Simplified T-ball mode
Read full description

Rediscover the joy of the original Backyard Baseball 1997! Build your roster from the iconic cast of 30 characters stacked with charming personalities and witty banter, and get the edge on the competition with power-ups, fireball pitches, super strength, and Pablo Sanchez! Play pick-up games, practice batting, and compete in single games or a whole season with simple, intuitive controls that anyone can master! Game Modes: Random Pick-up: A quick way to jump right in! The computer chooses a random team for you and itself, and the game starts immediately. Single Game: You take turns with the computer to choose players from a random pool of characters. Season: You create a team and manage it through a 14 game series. The opposing teams are computer generated. At the end of the season the best two teams advance to the BBL playoffs (best of 3). The winner advances to the championship series which consists of the Super Entire Nation Tournament (best of 3) and then the Ultra Grand Championship of the Universe Series (best of 5)! Batting Practice: Choose a batter and face Mr. Clanky for some batting practice. This is where you’ll learn just when to click to make your chosen batter hit that ball! T-ball - Select T-ball mode for more accessible game play. Simply click to hit, run, and field! BACKYARD BASEBALL RULES The rules for Backyard Baseball are a hybrid of Pro and Little League rules: No leading off No Injuries Bunting is allowed Tagging up is allowed Stealing is allowed At our core, we are fans first–not just of video games but of the Backyard Sports franchise. Fans have asked for accessible and legal ways to play their original Backyard titles for years, and we are excited to deliver. Without having access to the source code, there are hard limitations on the experience we can create. Backyard Baseball '97 runs buttery smooth for iOS devices, looks better than ever, and creates a new installation for digital preservation within the Backyard Sports catalog that allows the next generation of fans to fall in love with the title that started it all.

Screenshots

Tickle the Pig4 screens
Backyard Baseball '974 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Tickle the Pig at Free against Backyard Baseball '97's $4.99. Tickle the Pig also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (100% vs 65%). Backyard Baseball '97's advantage is ratings volume (1.6K vs 12) and chart position (#7 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Tickle the Pig is free to download; Backyard Baseball '97 costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tickle the Pig holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Backyard Baseball '97 has 1.6K ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Tickle the Pig's written reviews are positive against 65% of Backyard Baseball '97's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tickle the Pig ships an update every 2 weeks, Backyard Baseball '97 every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Tickle the Pig versus Backyard Baseball '97: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTickle the PigBackyard Baseball '97
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating5.0 (12 ratings) — better4.0 (1.6K ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better65.4% of reviews
Number of ratings121.6K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#7 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB326 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrian BroekingPlayground Productions LLC

Customer experience

Tickle the Pig

Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Backyard Baseball '97

All ratings1,548 ratings
Positive72.5%
Neutral8.9%
Negative18.6%
Written reviews266 reviews
Positive65.4%
Neutral13.5%
Negative21.1%

Bugs and requests

Tickle the Pig

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Backyard Baseball '97

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Gameplay freezes and crashes
  • Inconsistent fielding and throwing mechanics
  • Hitting mechanics feel unresponsive
  • Inability to save progress after crashes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Full-screen mode
  • Improved controls and input responsiveness
  • New game modes (e.g., home run derby, playoffs)
  • Ability to select home field
  • Option to mute all sounds

In-app purchases

None

Tickle the Pig

No in-app purchases

None

Backyard Baseball '97

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tickle the Pig free?
Tickle the Pig is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Backyard Baseball '97 free?
Backyard Baseball '97 costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Tickle the Pig or Backyard Baseball '97?
Tickle the Pig is rated higher. Tickle the Pig averages 5.0 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Backyard Baseball '97 averages 4.0 from 1.6K ratings.
Do Tickle the Pig or Backyard Baseball '97 have ads?
Neither Tickle the Pig nor Backyard Baseball '97 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tickle the Pig or Backyard Baseball '97?
Tickle the Pig ships an update every 2 weeks, and Backyard Baseball '97 every 10 days. Most recently, Tickle the Pig was updated on November 4, 2026 and Backyard Baseball '97 on November 8, 2026.

Other comparisons