Comparison

Backyard Baseball '01 vs Spud Poker

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

Head to head
About

Backyard Baseball '01

Relive a classic baseball game enhanced for modern devices. Assemble your dream team with quirky kids and legendary MLB players, then compete in pick-up games or full seasons with fun power-ups and lively commentary.

Highlights
  • Assemble dream teams
  • Play pick-up games or full seasons
  • Customize uniforms
  • Utilize pitching and batting power-ups
  • Features legendary MLB players
  • Includes hilarious bloopers
Read full description

STEP UP TO THE PLATE Relive the second baseball game in the Backyard Sports franchise, now enhanced to run on iOS. Whether you're picking your dream team, playing a pick-up game, or diving into a full season, step up to the plate and experience the game that made baseball fun for everyone! Backyard Baseball ‘01 teams up the Backyard kids with Backyardified MLB legends. Create your own Backyard team, customize your uniforms, and strategize to win the Championship. Play a single pick-up game or play through an entire season. Backyard Baseball ‘01 features intuitive controls for all ages! SWING BACK INTO BASEBALL Enjoy baseball like it’s 2001! 30 Charming Backyard kids Legendary MLB Players MLB Team Marks Hilarious Bloopers 8 Classic Ballparks 9 Pitching Power-ups and 4 batting Power-ups Lively commentary from Sunny Day and Vinnie To get into the swing of things, 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 the ball! THE GOAT RETURNS Play with the legend himself, Pablo Sanchez. Build a roster from a cast of 30 hilarious child athletes and 28 legendary pros that made Backyard Baseball ‘01 a sports classic. Returning MLB players include Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Cal Ripken Jr., Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Randy Johnson, Nomar Garciaparra, Jeff Bagwell, Jason Giambi, Chipper Jones, Jeromy Burnitz, Mark McGwire, Shawn Green, Vladimir Guerrero, Kenny Lofton, Jason Kendall, Barry Larkin, Marty Cordova, Mo Vaughn, Raul Mondesi, Curt Schilling, Alex Gonzalez, Juan Gonzalez, Larry Walker, Carlos Beltran, Tony Gwynn, Ivan Rodriguez, and Jose Canseco. Game Modes include: Choose from three modes of play (Easy Mode, Medium Mode, Hard Mode) 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 choosing players from a random pool of characters. Season: You pick your home field, create a team, and manage the team 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). If you keep winning, you’ll compete in the Super Entire Nation Tournament and Ultra Grand Championship of the Universe Series! ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 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. As an example, we can’t use the original 32bit code to support modern macOS, as even with an incredibly clever wrapper, macOS can’t execute the binaries. Backyard Baseball ‘01 runs well, looks better than ever, includes new bonus features to test your mettle, 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 game.

About

Spud Poker

Combine poker hands with axe throwing mechanics. Build scoring combinations using cards and a shared board to achieve the best score in a full match. Offers guided play, custom builds, and local Wi-Fi tournaments.

Highlights
  • Poker hand mechanics in axe throwing
  • Custom Spud and axe builds
  • League and tournament progression
  • Local Wi-Fi multiplayer tournaments
  • Track scores and standings
  • Themed venues and unlockable rewards
Features
Read full description

Spud Poker brings poker hands to the axe lane. Build scoring combinations by playing two cards from your hand with the shared board, then chase the best total across a full axe-throwing match. PLAY YOUR WAY • Learn the rules through guided play and practice matches. • Build a custom Spud and equip axes with distinct gameplay effects. • Progress through leagues and the Road to Worlds tournament ladder. • Host or join local Wi-Fi tournaments and leagues with the free Spud Poker desktop host for Mac and Windows. • Track brackets, standings, match scores, wins, and losses. • Explore themed venues, music, unlocks, and rewards. LOCAL COMPETITION Spud Poker's Wi-Fi modes are designed for players on the same local network. Tournament and league hosts run the companion desktop app, while players join from their phones or tablets. Reconnection support helps players return after a temporary connection loss. SUPPORTING AXE THROWERS All earnings from Spud Poker go back to supporting the axe-throwing community, including helping throwers travel to tournaments when they could not afford the trip on their own. Spud Poker includes optional advertising. A one-time Remove Ads purchase removes automatic interstitial ads; optional rewarded ads remain available when you choose to watch them.

Screenshots

Backyard Baseball '014 screens
Spud Poker2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Spud Poker at Free against Backyard Baseball '01's $4.99. Spud Poker also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 56%) and rating (5.0 vs 3.9). Backyard Baseball '01's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On device support and iOS requirement 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

Spud Poker is free to download; Backyard Baseball '01 costs $4.99 up front. Spud Poker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Backyard Baseball '01 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Spud Poker holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Backyard Baseball '01 has 688 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Backyard Baseball '01's written reviews are positive against 100% of Spud Poker's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Backyard Baseball '01 ships an update every 2 days, Spud Poker every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Backyard Baseball '01 versus Spud Poker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBackyard Baseball '01Spud Poker
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (688 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews55.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings688 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#4 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size359 MB387 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperPlayground Productions LLCGregory Mckeithan

Customer experience

Backyard Baseball '01

All ratings649 ratings
Positive68.7%
Neutral8.8%
Negative22.5%
Written reviews217 reviews
Positive55.8%
Neutral18.0%
Negative26.3%

Spud Poker

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Backyard Baseball '01

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Soft-lock in Season mode
  • Inconsistent player abilities (e.g., Pablo Sanchez)

Requested features

3 requests
  • Online multiplayer
  • Full-screen mode on mobile
  • Faster game pace

Spud Poker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Backyard Baseball '01

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Spud Poker

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$4.99

Questions

Is Backyard Baseball '01 free?
Backyard Baseball '01 costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spud Poker free?
Spud Poker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Backyard Baseball '01 or Spud Poker?
Spud Poker is rated higher. Backyard Baseball '01 averages 3.9 out of 5 from 688 ratings, while Spud Poker averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Backyard Baseball '01 or Spud Poker have ads?
Spud Poker shows ads; Backyard Baseball '01 does not.
Which is updated more often, Backyard Baseball '01 or Spud Poker?
Backyard Baseball '01 ships an update every 2 days, and Spud Poker every 4 days. Most recently, Backyard Baseball '01 was updated on October 28, 2026 and Spud Poker on October 24, 2026.

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