There are few games which will steal your productivity on the go like iOOTP 12 is going to do.

After playing/simulating a few games over the past couple of days, it's pretty apparent that while iOOTP 12 doesn't have nearly the same depth as OOTP 13 (as it shouldn't), it's more than adequate for baseball on the go. Here's a list of my pros and cons of this aspect of the game.

Pros

The interface is set up in a way which is simple to navigate. Everything you need is a few screen taps away. As is usually the case with OOTP games of any kind, the interface is a well thought out and put together piece of software.

The simulation play calling is quite well done. There's not too many repeated calls from the play-by-play announcer which adds variety to the game calls.

Being able to quickplay is a necessary and nice touch for the gamer on a limited amount of time.

While the strategy options are incredibly in-depth, you are going to have enough to manage your way around a game. From pitching out, to intentionally walking batters, to taking pitches to bunting -- everything you need on a basic scale is there.

The options before a game are great to let you play a game as fast (instant full count feedback) or as slow (real time slow pitch-by-pitch feedback). This is awesome.

Cons

I wish there was a way to set your options at any time during a game. Like say, if you want to start a game off fast, getting instant feedback on an at-bat but want to slow it down at the end, I haven't yet found an option to do so.

While the interface is good, I did find myself craving more info, perhaps an easier to use stats area for the game -- more info on player ratings while in game...that sort of thing. But this is seriously a minor gripe and I know you can't push too hard or you'll end up overwhelming both the machine and consumer with data. iOOTP isn't OOTP, but more like it's little brother. You have to remember that.

This will be nit-picky -- but that's how good the game really is, I really wish there was some audio. Obviously with the option to turn it off and on, but that'd be a nice touch to bring home the in-game interface a bit. Have a bat hitting a ball when the ball is in play, have the crowd cheer, all of that stuff. But again, completely nitpicky on my part.

Final Thoughts

There is really a lot to like here. The in-game interface is a much simpler version of the OOTP interface. That's both good and bad. Casual players will find it easier to get into the OOTP in-game groove and regular OOTP players will find enough depth here to satisfy while also keeping it simple enough that you can literally play OOTP anywhere.

Look out for my full review of iOOTP 12 coming up in the next couple of days!!