As you’ve probably guessed by now if you’ve read my Touchstone Tavern columns, I like card games, both digital and physical. What I don’t care much about is Baseball for too many reasons to list now. However, I couldn’t ignore Baseball Highlights: 2045, an upcoming card game whose conceit is all about people finding ways to spice up America’s pastime. According to the game’s setting, American baseball is on its last leg as a spectator sport with football taking over as the predominant national pastime. That is until 2032 when baseball is revolutionized with the addition of pitchers with bionic arms (called ‘Borgs) and robots at bat to counter the ‘Borgs. The Naturals (humans) are still in the game by 2045, and they are the best fielders. Now tell me, doesn’t that sound like the perfect solution for making Baseball more action-packed? After all, robots at bat won’t take what seems like forever fixing their gloves before swinging.
The game is primarily a two-player contest where each one builds his team as he plays, combining strategy (in building the team) and tactics (in playing the baseball game). The “coaches" play six cards to simulate a full game’s highlights, including defensive and offensive actions. You can try and defend against your opponent’s pending hits, go on the offense yourself, and so on. Sounds like it could be a fun card game, especially for those who enjoy baseball. According to the BoardGameGeek story, the game should be available for both tablets and phones but will lack online multiplayer when it comes out. If all goes as planned, it should come out before 2015 is done.
