Critterball Derby

Critterball Derby is a very badly made ripoff of early console baseball games (such as Major League Baseball for the NES), only it's much worse than even those ancient console sports games it's ripping off. The only differentiator aside from the very poor quality is very poorly hand drawn animals that play the game.

From a technical perspective, the game doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard.

The visuals in this game are a complete joke, it's seriously just a bunch of MS-Paint sprites/images that look like they were lazily scrawled out over the space of a couple of hours. Like, with the mouse, it doesn't look like they even used a Wacom tablet or anything. It's so bad even pixel "art" would look better than this. Pure MSPaint. It's unclear if this is due to lack of budget to arrange someone who can create graphical assets properly, or lack of talent, regardless, the overall visual quality of the game is extremely low, enough on its own to deter gamers.

There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks. There's no way to ensure this is running at the native resolution of your display. There's no guarantee this game will look right on any PC as a result of this hamfisted design decision.

The implementation here is of such poor quality, the developer couldn't work out how to make the game display in fullscreen, it only runs in a window.

The controls can't be customised, which will be an annoyance for many, but it can also render the game unplayable for differently-abled gamers, left handed gamers or gamers using AZERTY or other international keyboard layouts.

Some of the defects in the game can be attributed to the choice of using the video game library/engine, GDevelop. It's rarely used, because it's arguably worse than construction kits like GameMaker Studio, RPGMaker and Clickteam Fusion, but it's also much harder to work with. Despite this, GDevelop has very limited capabilities, which go some way to explaining the poor quality of the game. Just as you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear, you can't make a great video game if you use a terrible engine.

These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game.

The poor quality of this game is reflected by how many people spent time with it. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the game all-time peak player count was only ONE player. That's right, only one person ever played this at a time. When I played this for the purposes of reviewing it, I equalled the peak player count for the game. OUCH. The only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 120 million gamers on Steam and well over 100,000 games for gamers to choose from, the overwhelming lack of interest in this low quality game is to be expected.

So, should you buy this game? Is this one of the best of the 100,000+ games on Steam?

Critterball Derby has the insane price of $10 USD, for which you could easily get any number of older AAA games. Given the defects and quality issues with the game, coupled with the unrealistic price, this is impossible to recommend.

For comparison, the $10 asking price for this game could get you games like "7 Days to Die", "Cities: Skylines" or "Assassin's Creed: Odyssey". Quality, professionally made games like those are frequently on sale cheaper than this.

Profile Features Limited!
Valve have marked this game as "Profile Features Limited" at the time of this review. This is usually caused by poor sales figures and low community acceptance for the game (to date). Until this status changes, this game will not give you +1 to your Game Collector badge count, appear in profile achievements or any other Steam meta-accomplishments, nor can it be displayed in some profile showcases. If these factors are important to you, it may be worth holding off before buying this game.

Critterball Derby is a small-scale, arcade-inspired baseball game that aims to capture the pick-up-and-play spirit of classic sports titles while layering in light team management and progression systems. Developed and published by Michael Richard Lannon, the game clearly positions itself away from realistic simulation and instead embraces a simplified, accessible approach that focuses on timing, repetition, and short competitive matches. Its ambition is modest but clear: to offer a casual baseball experience that can be enjoyed in brief sessions without requiring deep knowledge of real-world rules or strategies.

At the core of Critterball Derby is a stripped-down version of baseball that prioritizes batting and pitching over tactical nuance. Matches are structured into short, fixed-length games that keep momentum moving and reduce downtime between plays. Batting revolves around basic timing mechanics, encouraging players to focus on rhythm rather than precision placement, while pitching is designed to be readable and reactive rather than strategic. This design makes the game easy to grasp for newcomers, but it also means that long-term mastery is limited, as mechanics change very little once the fundamentals are learned.

One of the game’s more notable features is its emphasis on team customization and light management. Players can create their own team, assign colors, name players, and adjust basic stats to better suit their preferred playstyle. Roster management allows for swapping out underperforming teammates, adding a small layer of decision-making beyond the field itself. While this system hints at a deeper management experience, it ultimately remains surface-level, offering incremental improvements rather than meaningful strategic trade-offs or long-term planning challenges.

In addition to standard matches, Critterball Derby includes alternative modes such as homerun challenges that focus entirely on batting skill. These modes strip away the structure of full games and instead push players to chase score thresholds against increasingly demanding pitchers. This concentrated format provides a clearer sense of progression and difficulty scaling than the main matches, making it one of the more engaging parts of the experience for players who enjoy score-chasing and repetition-based mastery.

Visually, the game adopts a simple, cartoon-like presentation that favors clarity over detail. Characters and environments are stylized and functional, but lack the personality or polish that often helps arcade sports games stand out. Animations are basic, and while they communicate gameplay states effectively, they do little to enhance immersion or excitement. The overall presentation feels more like a prototype or early-access concept than a fully realized arcade spectacle, which can make the experience feel flat despite the approachable mechanics.

The pacing of Critterball Derby is consistent, but also repetitive. Because matches follow the same structure and mechanics rarely evolve, sessions can begin to blur together after extended play. There are few surprises or dynamic systems to disrupt the loop, and progression does not meaningfully change how the game feels moment to moment. This limits replay value, especially for players seeking either competitive depth or a sense of long-term growth.

Reception to the game reflects these limitations. Players who enjoy extremely casual, low-pressure sports games may appreciate its simplicity and short match length, but many have found the experience lacking in polish, depth, and mechanical refinement. Expectations play a significant role here: those approaching the game as a novelty or experimental indie project may find some charm, while players expecting a robust arcade sports title are more likely to feel disappointed.

Ultimately, Critterball Derby is a niche offering that caters to a very specific audience. It delivers a basic, accessible take on baseball with light customization and arcade sensibilities, but struggles to provide the depth, variety, or presentation needed to sustain long-term engagement. As a brief diversion or experimental indie sports project, it may hold some appeal, but players seeking a polished or content-rich baseball experience are likely to find its ambitions fall short of its potential.

Rating: 5/10

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