Fundamentals of Sports Game Design

Game Features

Most sports games concentrate on simulating actual matches, but many also include a number of management functions as well—the challenges of managing a team or an athlete’s career. A few sports games implement only this aspect of the sport and don’t allow the player to control individual athletes in matches. Occasionally called manager games, these are particularly popular in Europe.

A Note on Sport Games Terminology

Because sports games simulate other games, as opposed to a war, a race, or an economic competition of some kind, the words player and game are ambiguous. Does player refer to the person playing the video game or to one of the athletes playing the game on the field? This e-book uses the following convention: Player ...