Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Golf games often initiate the backswing with one button-push, and the swing itself is initiated by a subsequent push. For example, football games may distinguish between short and the long passes based on how long the player holds a button. Sports games sometimes treat button-pushes as continuous signals rather than discrete moves, in order to initiate and end a continuous action.

Games typically take place with a highly accurate time-scale, although they usually allow players to play quick sessions with shorter game quarters or periods. Sports games often simplify the game physics for ease of play, and ignore factors such as a player's inertia. As sports games have evolved, players have come to expect a realistic graphical scale with a high degree of verisimilitude. Older 2D sports games sometimes used an unrealistic graphical scale, where athletes appeared to be quite large in order to be visible to the player. These mode switches are more intuitive than other game genres because they reflect actual sports. Some sports games also require players to shift roles between the athletes and the coach or manager. Association football video games sometimes shift gameplay modes when it is time for the player to attempt a penalty kick, a free shot at goal from the penalty spot, taken by a single player. Sometimes, other sports games offer a menu where players may select a strategy while play is temporarily suspended.

This is especially true in games about American football such as the Madden NFL series, where executing a pass play requires six different gameplay modes in the span of approximately 45 seconds. Sports games sometimes make use of different modes for different parts of the game. Sports games often provide play-by-play and color commentary through the use of recorded audio. As with their respective sports, these games take place in a stadium or arena with clear boundaries. Most sports games attempt to model the athletic characteristics required by that sport, including speed, strength, acceleration, accuracy, and so on. Sports games involve physical and tactical challenges, and test the player's precision and accuracy.

Soccer simulator games