Clickbait Corner: Football Manager is the best sports game of all time

Move aside FIFA. When it comes to the most fun and addictive sports game, Football Manager is a dominant force to reckon with.  Football Manager has now been around for 12 years and is still going strong, being a constant presence on the Steam charts and the second top selling game on Steam as I write this article (behind Civilization VI).

So what’s the secret behind this success? Football Manager has been continually able to evolve its games whilst sticking to what is fun and challenging about the game. Beyond rendering Rooney’s head a little shinier, successive iterations in the FIFA series offer little. On the other hand, Football Manager consistently adds new and detailed features to each and every game.

Maybe Big Sam can live out his managerial dreams more successfully in Football Manager? Image Credit: Wikimeida/Commons

Play as advanced as you like with this game, from changing the coaching and the training as well as creating your custom tactics with unique instructions for the players. If there’s an area of the club you want to control, the game allows you to. This year’s game has continued the evolution of the series, including social media features that track fan reactions to your performance and the new fantasy draft mode.

But it is the challenge that makes this game so addictive; you spend time and effort trying to build your club over multiple seasons and that time creates compelling in-game scenarios. I was able to turn Mansfield Town, a small league team you probably have not heard of, into a Premier League top four team in five seasons. I have also been fired multiple times and managed to take the USA to World Cup glory. It’s moments like these that make Football Manager a sports game like no other.