We’ve all wanted to be the big shot at some point. These days, when money is a fable only whispered about amongst the clerics, we all wish we could be the fat cat chomping on cigars. In MLB Front Office Manager, that dream becomes feasible. It’s your turn to be the general manager of an Major League Baseball franchise. You’ll soon learn, however, that being the big cheese is not all fun and games. That’s unfortunate, especially since that’s basically the point of a video game.

You begin your journey into the corporate jungle that is American sports by creating and customizing your general manager. The point of doing so soon becomes puzzling as the main portion of the game is flooded in menus and rosters. I wasn’t naïve enough to think that this game wouldn’t contain a lot of dealing and strategizing, but I assumed it would generate excitement at some point. For the most part, the “gameplay” consists of balancing the budget and building a champion baseball team. This is done through what is essentially using Microsoft Excel for a couple hours. I will go on the record of acknowledging my ignorance of the inner workings of both baseball and actually working for a living. However, my knowledge of other sports’ drafts still left me unprepared for this game. You are given basic details on the schedule and what you can do but not exactly what you should do. Through a lot of trial and (even more) error, the knowledge of how to play eventually becomes obtainable. The learning curve is incredibly steep, and some kind of tutorial would have been useful.

The main method of “play” in MLB Front Office Manager is going through many, many menus to negotiate contracts, sign players, balance the budget and make trades with other teams. I admit that this isn’t really my kind of game, and I’m not entirely sure whose kind of game it is. You’ll be sifting through tables and charts accompanied by silence. You get updates on the activities of the other teams and all of the deadline reminders also quickly fill our e-mail. Still, you constantly get the feeling of isolation as players are represented only through a picture, and their stats and generic messages inform you of their wishes. The other GMs equally feel inhuman as they make foolish choices constantly. They all share the “grab the highest-rated guy no matter the cost” strategy.

That doesn’t mean you’ll be cruising to the World Series, however, as losing is still quite frequent. Even if you do manage to succeed, you don’t feel like it was because of your hard work. You don’t really have much control over your team’s performance, and you mostly just sit and hope they win. Nothing you do really feels like it’s aiding your team, and you’re always at the mercy of odds. You can manage a game if you want, but you mostly just decide whether to bunt or not. A highlight follows your choice and you’re back to basically just watching a game. If winning matters to you, the best option is to go with a very rich team like the Yankees and just throw money around. It still comes down to chance whether you win or lose, but more money improves your chances. It doesn’t feel like a game so much as a simulation that you can influence somewhat. Speaking of simulation, you could opt to use this yourself, but your CPU acts as foolishly as your competition, and you’ll find yourself worse off for using it.

As I’ve said, the meat of the game basically equates to spreadsheets and offers. Unfortunately, the menus are difficult to manage, and it becomes tedious to search through them. There are few shortcuts, and you’ll frequently have to quit back to the main menu and go through more menus to get where you wanted to be. What makes this a “game” and not “math homework” is the ability to make trades and contract offers. However, the other GMs refused to accept any of my trades and only agreed to trade my best player for their worst after my attempting to get them to accept any trade at all. Players are easier to come to an agreement with, but you’ll need to navigate more menus to get it to work out. You can’t tweak offers, so you must wait for the player to agree or decline and then go through 10 more menus to offer a new one.

All in all, MLB Front Office Manager gives the same thrills that could be found in the draft section of a game that actually lets you play sports. It’s like making a game around character customization; the goal seems to be to get your money while making the simplest product possible. In this case, there is little fun to be had here, and those dollars are better left in your pocket.