Headland vs Machinal Instinct
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Headland
Embark on a fast-paced action adventure to recover shattered imagination fragments. Engage in unique swipe-and-tap combat, unlock and upgrade weapons, and explore a vibrant imaginary world with memorable characters. This game offers a complete story-driven experience without microtransactions.
- Swipe-and-tap combat system
- Weapon unlocking and upgrading
- Story-driven exploration
- Vivid characters
- No microtransactions or ads
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FIGHT FOR YOUR IMAGINATION A powerful force shatters the imagination core from Nor’s Headland. With his robot friends he has to find the fragments and fight to regain his limitless creativity. Headland is a fast paced action adventure game from the award winning studio Northplay. Experience a completely new take on the action adventure genre built entirely around mobile. SWIPE, TAP, FIGHT, UPGRADE, EXPLORE Fight a host of monsters in our unique swipe-and-tap-based combat system. Unlock new weapons in arenas and upgrade them using resources gathered on your journey. Tap through a story full of vivid characters and explore a big beautiful imaginary world. NO MICROTRANSACTIONS Headland is a game that you can finish. No microtransactions, ads or retention mechanics. The game is free to download featuring the first 45 minutes of gameplay. The rest of the game is unlocked through a single purchase. The full game features 5+ hours of rich story-driven and action packed gameplay with an ending.
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 rating: Machinal Instinct at 4.6 against Headland's 3.9. Machinal Instinct also leads on ratings volume (706 vs 150). Headland's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Headland sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Machinal Instinct sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Machinal Instinct holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 150 and 706 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 59% of Headland's written reviews are positive against 51% of Machinal Instinct's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Headland ships an update every 4 days, Machinal Instinct every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 31, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Headland | Machinal Instinct |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (150 ratings) | 4.6 (706 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 59.0% of reviews — better | 51.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 150 | 706 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | 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 | 9.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 274 MB | 337 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Northplay | Pomelo Games |
Customer experience
Headland
Machinal Instinct
User reviews
Headland
From 150 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics and art style
- 🎮 Fun and engaging gameplay mechanics
- 💰 Fair pricing model ($5.99 for 5+ hours)
- 🎵 Great sound design and music
- 📱 Works well on mobile devices
Room to improve
- 🎮 Clunky and imprecise controls
- 📱 Portrait mode only (no landscape)
- 🎥 Camera zoom behavior is excessive
- ❌ One-handed play difficult on larger devices
- ⚠️ Finicky attack mechanics
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
Headland
Reported bugs
8 issues- Game freezing during gameplay
- Crashes on certain devices
- Lag and performance stuttering
- Collision detection issues with objects
- Boss level endless enemy wave bug
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- Graphics glitches
- Character movement erratic behavior
- Attack registration inconsistency
Requested features
9 requests- Landscape mode support
- Control sensitivity adjustment option
- D-pad or action button alternative controls
- Full screen support for newer phones
- Male/female character selection
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- New levels and additional content
- Apple TV or Nintendo Switch support
- Improved camera behavior
- Better one-handed gameplay optimization
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
Headland
- Full game$5.99
Machinal Instinct
- Gems x80 pack$0.99
- Starter Pack$3.99
- Gems x500 pack$4.99
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- 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
Questions
Is Headland free?
Is Machinal Instinct free?
Which has better reviews, Headland or Machinal Instinct?
Do Headland or Machinal Instinct have ads?
Which is updated more often, Headland or Machinal Instinct?
Other comparisons
