I’ve been a sports game fanatic for as long as I’ve played video games. My very first favorite video game was Ken Griffey Jr.’s Slugfest for the Nintendo 64, and the game franchise I’ve logged the most hours in (by far) is the Football Manager series, with nearly 5,000 combined hours over about 10 years of titles. But recently, the design decisions around the industry’s biggest sports titles have put me off, and it’s left me looking for new ways to play the genre I love.

While I have occasional fun playing the new wave of card-collecting, microtransaction-based game modes that dominate the current AAA sports game landscape, I often come away feeling like I’ve just spent a lot of empty time. Nothing carries over from year to year, and there are no real narratives that develop, especially when every player’s squad ends up with variations on the same high-powered roster by the end of the season.

My heart instead lies in franchise modes. They allow you to take on the role of roster building and management, building a team of players you choose while implementing a strategy you decide on. It’s basically my childhood dream job (running the Dodgers) in video game mode, and it’s where management sim franchises like Football Manager, Out of the Park Baseball, and Pro Cycling Manager have thrived, especially as AAA franchises like Madden and NBA 2K have shifted their focus to the newer, more lucrative online game modes.

Pro Cycling Manager 2024 is the sim game that has most recently scratched that itch for me — Football Manager 2024 has too many issues, and I just haven’t had fun with it this year — but cycling season is in the summer. With the NFL season wrapping up and the NBA season in full swing, I wanted to mess around with some football and basketball games. The management sims on offer for those sports are not as enticing, so I decided to........

© Polygon