Vault! vs Machinal Instinct
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Vault!
Experience thrilling pole vaulting with intuitive tap-and-hold controls. Navigate challenging environments, collect coins to unlock characters, and compete for the highest score. Enjoy endless arcade fun with physics-based challenges.
- Intuitive single-touch pole vaulting
- Physics-based arcade action
- Unlockable unique characters
- Game Center support for competition
- Coin collection for upgrades
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Pole vaulting has never been so fun! Cascading cliffs, huge bouncy springs and those infuriating red balls! How far can you go? How long will you last? Can you get the highest score? Classic intuitive physics arcade action with easy to use, hard to master tap and hold controls, mean that things aren't as simple as they seem. Features: - Intuitive single touch pole vaulting gameplay. - Simple concept that anyone can grasp! - Collect coins to unlock unique characters - Full game centre support to compete with friends and foes Important information This game contains third party advertising which can be removed via a one time IAP. This game contains coins which can be collected within the game for free, bought with real money or via earned via promotions. This game contains cross promotion for other Nitrome games and this is not removed with the IAP for removal of ads.
Machinal Instinct
Engage in fast-paced mech battles in a global tournament where animal pilots command powerful machines. Customize your fighting style with various weapons and upgrade your mech with unlockable parts to climb the global leaderboard.
- Select from 6 mech pilots
- Customize melee and ranged weapons
- Win supply boxes for rewards
- Unlock and combine upgradable mech parts
- Battle in 3 different arenas
- Climb the global leaderboard
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Fight your way to the top of the food chain, and watch your enemies become the prey! Machinal Instinct is a fast-paced fighting game, set in a world where animals pilot powerful mechs to compete against each other in a worldwide tournament. Unleash your inner beast and reach the top of the global leaderboard! Features: * Select from 6 cute but fearless mech pilots!. * Customize your fighting style: ** 3 different types of melee weapons: ax, fist, or chain. ** 2 different types of ranged weapons: grenade or rocket. ** And more coming soon! * Win supply boxes and get rewards to pump up your mech. * Unlock and combine dozens of upgradable mech parts. * Play in 3 different astonishing battle arenas. * Fight, loot, upgrade and climb that leaderboard! Join more than 22 million players from all over the world who enjoy our games!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Machinal Instinct at every 3 weeks against Vault!'s every 5 months. Machinal Instinct also leads on ratings volume (706 vs 77). Vault!'s advantage is review sentiment (71% vs 51%). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Vault! sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Machinal Instinct sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Vault! against 4.6 for Machinal Instinct. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Machinal Instinct has 706 ratings behind it against 77, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Vault!'s written reviews are positive against 51% of Machinal Instinct's.
Vault! ships an update every 5 months, Machinal Instinct every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Vault! | Machinal Instinct |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (77 ratings) | 4.6 (706 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better | 51.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 77 | 706 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 121 MB | 337 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Nitrome | Pomelo Games |
Customer experience
Vault!
Machinal Instinct
User reviews
Vault!
From 77 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Fun and addictive gameplay
- 🎨 Retro graphics and animations
- 💡 Innovative pole vaulting mechanic
- 🎉 Great time-waster game
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional glitches and bugs
- 💰 Intrusive ads and in-app purchases
- 🔁 Lack of content variety after unlocking all characters
Machinal Instinct
From 706 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth animations
- 👍 Fun and engaging gameplay
- 🕹️ Accessible controls
- 💎 Great fighting game fundamentals
Room to improve
- 🐛 Inconsistent attack targeting
- 🔧 Buggy mechanics and controls
- 🕰️ Short match duration
- 🤖 Mostly playing against bots
- 📺 Excessive ads and monetization
Bugs and requests
Vault!
Reported bugs
3 issues- Pole glitching out after continuing from an ad
- Respawning in unwinnable positions after continuing
- Invisible walls causing unexpected deaths
Requested features
4 requests- More playable characters with unique abilities
- Different game modes (e.g., time trial, challenges)
- Varied environments and level designs
- Customization options for the vaulting pole
Machinal Instinct
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes on startup
- Freezing at loading screens
- Matchmaking issues
- Inconsistent performance
Requested features
5 requests- Longer match duration
- Real-time multiplayer mode
- More character and weapon variety
- Customizable controls
- Additional game modes (e.g. endless, team battles)
In-app purchases
Vault!
- Buy Coins 1$0.99
- Remove Ads$1.99
- Buy Coins 2$2.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Buy Coins 3$3.99
Machinal Instinct
- Gems x80 pack$0.99
- Starter Pack$3.99
- Gems x500 pack$4.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Starter Pack$5.99
- Starter Pack$7.99
- Gems x1,200 pack$9.99
- Gems x2,500 pack$19.99
- Gems x6,500 pack$49.99
- Gems x14,000 pack$99.99
