Swing Runner

✕ PITCHING: pick HEATER / STANDARD / CHANGEUP, tap where you want the pitch to end up, then (for STANDARD/CHANGEUP) either tap or drag off that spot to set the curve — a quick tap gives a small curve, dragging further gives more
BATTING: a catcher's-eye view shows the pitch coming at you — press SPACE the instant it reaches the zone (timing decides where it's hit)
ON A BATTED BALL: at bat, press 1/2/3/4 to send the highlighted runner to that base — press Q (or the Runner touch button) to switch which runner is highlighted if you have more than one on base; on defense, press 1/2/3/4 once your fielder has the ball to pick a base, then press it again when the gauge's needle is in the green zone to make an accurate throw — mistime it and it's an error
STEALING: while a pitch is in flight and you have a runner on, press one of your base-direction keys to send him
FIELDING: Arrow Keys move your fielder (now including a 2nd baseman on the bag) — control jumps to whoever's closest the instant a ball is hit. Press SPACE to dive for a ball just out of reach — it extends your reach but leaves you briefly unable to move if you whiff. Your roster's archetypes carry over on defense too: Speedy = more range, Contact = bigger catch radius and fewer errors, Strong = sure hands, All-Around = a bit of everything. Your first roster player covers P/2B, second covers LF, third covers RF.
WEATHER: Classic, Playground, and Wiffle games randomly roll Clear, Windy (more power), Rain (worse contact and more fielding errors), or Night (more fielding errors) — shown in the top-left HUD.
PAUSE: the pause button (or P) freezes the game and shows a Box Score / Tendencies menu with Resume and Quit options
POWER BAR: builds from hits (5 fills it, HR included), strikeouts (3 fills it), and other outs. Once full, press SHIFT — while batting or pitching (or right as a pitch arrives), or anytime while fielding. Batting slows the next pitch way down for 3 pitches; pitching throws unhittable 0.3s heaters for 3 pitches; fielding slows the game down to make the catch easy, and passes the charge to your pitcher for 3 boosted heaters next time you're on the mound. Also boosts your best stat. The CPU has its own bar and will use its own supers.
CHOOSE YOUR BAT: while waiting to bat, or anytime from the Pause menu's BAT tab, pick from 5 bats — Default (balanced), Pencil (hits farther, smaller sweet spot), Marker (weak contact can turn into a lucky blooper hit), Ketchup Bottle (always a grounder), Pickle Bat (always a fly ball). The CPU picks bats too, based on each hitter's strengths.
CHOOSE YOUR GLOVE: while aiming a pitch, or anytime from the Pause menu's GLOVE tab, pick from 7 gloves — Default (balanced), Just a Sock (total chaos - speed/curve/control all randomized), Trash Bag (worse control, but batters can't read your release), Lucky Signed Glove (no pitch effect, charges your Super Move 50% faster), Oven Mitt (big curve boost on every pitch, real speed cost), BBQ Mitt (extra bite on curveballs/sliders only, smaller speed cost), Winter Mittens (slower, but guaranteed late-breaking movement and some deception). CPU pitchers always use the Default Glove.
TOURNAMENT: each bracket match now randomly plays out in Classic, Carnival, Playground, or Wiffle mode — you'll see which one on the bracket screen before you play.
HOME RUN DERBY: PINBALL PLAYOFFS (press H on the title screen): pick one of 12 players and climb an 8-player bracket. The pitcher always grooves a strike down the middle in 0.6s — no aiming, just timing. You get 8 swings a turn (takes are free); every ball in play scores points based on where it lands — 3B/1B areas are worth 15, deeper zones and the line zones pay more, a home run is normally the max at 100. Big neon bumpers will knock a mishit back toward home — bounce off 2+ of them on the same ball for a stacking chain bonus. There's also a spinner target (flat bonus, doesn't deflect the ball), two multiplier lanes that permanently boost every remaining swing this turn up to x3, a hidden jackpot zone on one random swing, a skill shot on a clean first swing, double points on your 8th and final swing, a screen-shaking tilt on a bad miss, a hot-spot bonus for landing in the same zone twice, and the DERBY letters across the top light up one at a time as you discover new zones — light all five for a +100 bonus. Any bat is fair game.
SKILL TREE (press K on the title screen): a real branching path, not a shop. Every item — stat upgrades, bats, gloves, League teams — has its own specific prerequisite(s), the same way unlocking the Crocodiles opens up the Sharks, and unlocking both the Sharks and the Outlaws opens the Dominators. Hitting and Utility share one wide path; Pitching and Fielding share another; Teams stand on their own. Both merged paths feed into a single apex: The Grand Slammer, a bat with no tradeoff at all. Bats now render as real mini bat shapes in the tree, not plain circles. Once every single item is unlocked, a PRESTIGE button appears — it resets your unlocks but makes every skill bonus permanently stronger, stacking each time you do it again. Unlocking anything plays a close-up reveal with the background flashing gold. Click the ? button to see every way to earn points. Press S on the title screen for Career Stats.
INSTANT REPLAY: every home run in a regular game now cuts to a slow-motion reverse-angle replay — a genuinely different camera framing of the same play, with a film-style "INSTANT REPLAY" banner — before returning to normal play.
CREATE A TEAM (press T on the title screen): design your own League team — click the name box and type, pick a primary and secondary color from the swatches, watch the live badge preview update as you go. Your team joins the League immediately and shows up in Tournament mode alongside the original 8. Press T again anytime to rename or recolor it.
M toggles the ballpark music, walk-up songs, and umpire calls
2-PLAYER MODE: pick it on the title screen — whoever's team is fielding pitches, whoever's batting hits; the pitch-aim dot and curve preview are hidden since you share a screen
  Player 1 (Home): W/A/S/D to field, 1/2/3/4 to send runners / throw / steal
  Player 2 (Away): Arrow Keys to field, 7/8/9/0 to send runners / throw / steal
TOUCH/IPAD: on-screen D-pad, Swing button, and 1-4 buttons in the bottom-right work as Player 1's controls
GAME MODES (pick on the title screen): Classic — the standard game.
  Carnival Clash — pick pitches by carnival prop (Ring of Fire=fastball, Boot=curveball, Bowtie=slider, Trampoline=changeup, Clown Nose=2s eephus), each a little imperfect; land a fly ball in a Ring of Fire zone for an automatic homer (fielders can't stand in them).
  Playground — 7 random obstacles deflect batted balls, and taking a pitch in a marked trap zone costs 2 strikes at once.
  Wiffle Ball — smaller field, more hard-hit contact, real wiffle ball. Pitching is different here: tap where the pitch starts, then use the Arrow Keys to bend it in real time while it's in the air.