Tabletop SportCast

This week on the Tabletop SportCast, I sit down with Matt McKeever of D12 Gaming to talk about the design of their new golf game, Pocket Pro Tour.
Matt takes us behind the design process and explains how the philosophy behind Pocket Pennant Run — small footprint, quick resolution, and doing more with less — carried over to golf, while still requiring a very different game engine.
We talk about finding the right level of abstraction for a golf simulation, why Pocket Pro Tour focuses on drive, approach, scramble, and putting instead of individual clubs and distances, and how the golfer-versus-course interaction became the heart of the game.
We also get into:
• The challenge of designing a shot-by-shot golf game that still plays quickly
• Why seeing the golfers move around the course was essential to the design
• Strategy options for aggressive drives, attacking the pin, and putting
• How Confidence Boosts add risk, timing, and decision-making
• The game's A–D and minus-rating system
• The difficulty of creating historical golfer ratings when detailed statistics don't exist
• Quick-play rules that allow you to simulate full tournament rounds
• The growing Pocket Pro Tour software and plans for future updates
• What Matt learned from Pocket Pennant Run — and what simply wouldn't work the same way in golf
• Why simplicity and removing unnecessary components remain at the center of D12 Gaming's design philosophy
I also share some thoughts after my first full round with Pocket Pro Tour and why I think the game succeeds in capturing the feel of golf without requiring hours to play 18 holes.
You can learn more about Pocket Pro Tour, Pocket Pennant Run, and Small Ball at D12Gaming.com. Pocket Pro Tour is also available through The Game Crafter.
We'll bring Matt and Craig Harris back in the future for a deeper look at the software side of Pocket Pro Tour.
Next week: five project starters to help you kick off your next tabletop sports replay or project.

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