Game review
Batting Practice
7.5 / 10
- Developer
- Frank Force
- Publisher
- Frank Force
- Released
- 1 January 2026
- Platforms
- phone, desktop
- Genre
- sports,arcade
- Monetisation
- free
- Players
- false
The short version
A genuinely satisfying baseball batting minigame with real Box2D physics behind every swing, shipped here as Batting Practice rather than its source title's direct reference to MLB's official contest name, confirmed working with a single, precisely-timed tap/click/Space swing on both desktop and phone that produced a real home run and a real tracked foul ball.
Biggest strengths
- Confirmed genuinely functional on both platforms with the same simple, unified control - a tap, click, or Space press swings the bat, verified by predicting each pitch's exact arrival time from its own live position data and timing a real swing that connected, watched via the game's own hit counter and ball-state variable rather than assumed from a screenshot
- Real Box2D physics drives every hit - a well-timed desktop swing produced a genuine "HOME RUN!" with the ball visibly flying out over the outfield arc, and a slightly different timing on phone produced a real "Foul ball" result complete with a tracked distance, both outcomes generated by actual contact-angle and quality-based launch physics rather than a scripted animation
- Real sweet-spot skill depth - contact quality is calculated from exactly where and how centered the ball hits the bat, rewarding precise timing over just clicking at any point near the pitch
Biggest weaknesses
- The pitch travels fast enough that landing a good hit requires real anticipation rather than pure reaction, which is an intentional part of the challenge but means casual players may whiff several pitches before getting a feel for the timing
- Sound wasn't deeply evaluated beyond confirming no load errors
- A fairly narrow, single-mechanic minigame (swing timing only, no baserunning or fielding) rather than a full baseball game
Who it's for: Anyone who enjoys quick, timing-based sports minigames and the satisfaction of a well-timed swing.
Our recommendation: play
7.5 / 10
Opening
Batting Practice is a satisfying, physics-driven baseball batting minigame - watch the pitch, time a swing, and see the result play out with genuine Box2D contact physics, from foul balls to home runs, each with a tracked distance. It's shipped under this name rather than its source repository's original title, which displayed MLB's official contest name verbatim on the title screen.
Real controls, confirmed with genuine hits on both platforms
Rather than assume a simple tap-to-swing worked as described, testing predicted each pitch's exact arrival time from its own live position data (sampling the ball's real y-position and velocity twice in quick succession, since its scripted pitch motion doesn't expose a usable velocity value directly) and timed a swing precisely. On desktop, this produced a real "HOME RUN!" result - confirmed via the game's own hit counter and ball-state variable, not just a screenshot - with the ball visibly sailing out over the outfield arc. On phone, the same approach with real touch input produced a genuine contact and a tracked "Foul ball — 42.5m" result. Both confirm the single, unified tap/click/Space swing control genuinely works and genuinely feeds into real physics.
Real physics, not a canned animation
Contact quality is calculated from exactly where the ball strikes the bat and how centered that contact is, and the resulting launch speed and direction come from that calculation rather than a fixed animation - confirmed by two different swings on two different platforms producing two genuinely different outcomes (a home run and a foul ball) with real tracked distances.
A clean, focused presentation
The stadium-seating backdrop and proper diamond layout give it a real sense of place, and the HUD keeps pitch count, hits, perfect hits, home runs, and best distance all visible without clutter.
Final Verdict
A genuinely satisfying, physics-backed batting minigame confirmed working with real, precisely-timed swings on both desktop and phone. It's narrow in scope - swing timing is the whole game - but it executes that one mechanic with real depth and feedback.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Confirmed genuinely functional on both platforms with the same simple, unified control - a tap, click, or Space press swings the bat, verified by predicting each pitch's exact arrival time from its own live position data and timing a real swing that connected, watched via the game's own hit counter and ball-state variable rather than assumed from a screenshot
- Real Box2D physics drives every hit - a well-timed desktop swing produced a genuine "HOME RUN!" with the ball visibly flying out over the outfield arc, and a slightly different timing on phone produced a real "Foul ball" result complete with a tracked distance, both outcomes generated by actual contact-angle and quality-based launch physics rather than a scripted animation
- Real sweet-spot skill depth - contact quality is calculated from exactly where and how centered the ball hits the bat, rewarding precise timing over just clicking at any point near the pitch
- Clean presentation with a nice sense of place - a fanned stadium-seating backdrop, a proper diamond infield, and a clear HUD tracking pitch count, hits, perfect hits, home runs, and best distance
Cons
- The pitch travels fast enough that landing a good hit requires real anticipation rather than pure reaction, which is an intentional part of the challenge but means casual players may whiff several pitches before getting a feel for the timing
- Sound wasn't deeply evaluated beyond confirming no load errors
- A fairly narrow, single-mechanic minigame (swing timing only, no baserunning or fielding) rather than a full baseball game