Comparison

Pinball Massacre vs Visual Pinball

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pinball Massacre

Experience arcade-style pinball with unique twists. Features a timed blitz mode and an RPG-like leveling system for each ball, increasing scores and gameplay. Explore a universe of unique art, humor, and 8-bit culture.

Highlights
  • Arcade-style pinball
  • Massacre Mode timed blitz
  • Level Ball RPG mechanics
  • Unique art and humor
  • 8-bit culture integration
Features
Read full description

$0.99 Pinball Shuffle Sale, Check out our newest table!!! Do you have what it takes to become the undisputed Pinball Master? Pinball Massacre is an arcade style pinball game (we know that sounds silly but it makes sense when you play). This first table in the Pinball Massacre series features two unique twists on classic pinball conventions. With MASSACRE MODE you need to get your flippers ready because you’re about to get hit with an angry pinball blitz. Score as many points as you can in a very short time. With the LEVEL BALL, we add an RPG twist that makes each pinball count. While a ball is in play, it gains experience and Levels Up. Scoring you more points and generally behaving more awesomely. Based on the Stabb Gunner Universe, Pinball Massacre brings unique energy, art, humor, and 8bit culture to the pinball scene. Pinball Massacre: fake Pinball just got Real.

About

Visual Pinball

Enjoy a realistic pinball simulation with hundreds of community-created tables. Experience immersive haptic feedback and customize your gameplay with intuitive settings and controller support. Advanced options are available for power users.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of community-developed tables
  • Haptic feedback for immersive gameplay
  • Customizable settings and POV adjustments
  • Game controller support
  • External DMD and AltColor/AltSound support
  • Touch overlay and instructions
Features
Read full description

The official Visual Pinball app. Built by volunteers since 2000 and open source since 2010, Visual Pinball is the simulator the virtual pinball community has been playing for over two decades. More than 70 people have contributed to it, and this app runs the same engine as the desktop version, so every table plays with the physics, lighting and sound its creator intended. No ads. No in-app purchases. No tracking. Made by volunteers. Two years of work from the Visual Pinball volunteers, in one update. Thank you for your patience, and for playing! A FRESH NEW LOOK • Redesigned for iOS 26 with Liquid Glass • Favorites and recently played tables at the top of your list • Search, sorting and three tile sizes • Light, Dark or System appearance • New loading screen that shows progress THE FULL DESKTOP EXPERIENCE • The complete Visual Pinball in-game menu for graphics, sound, controls and table options • Remap every button on keyboards and game controllers • Save settings for every table, or just the one you're playing MORE TABLES, LOOKING BETTER • Show the backglass and score display (DMD, alphanumeric or reels) on screen, right where you want them • Support for PUP packs, FlexDMD, B2S backglasses, video playback and VNI colorizations • All the latest physics and rendering improvements from the desktop version • Much lower memory use: textures are compressed on first load, then cached EASIER TABLE MANAGEMENT • Import .zip files, along with .vpx and .vpxz • Share any table as a single .vpxz file • The web file manager can now upload whole folders, extract archives, edit scripts and settings, and show the log live AND MORE • Many stability and memory fixes This version requires iOS 26.6 or later.

Screenshots

Pinball Massacre4 screens
Visual Pinball3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Visual Pinball at Free against Pinball Massacre's $0.99. Visual Pinball also leads on rating (4.3 vs 3.2) and review sentiment (79% vs 67%). Pinball Massacre's advantage is update cadence (every 6 months vs every 12 months) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.6). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Visual Pinball is free to download; Pinball Massacre costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Visual Pinball holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Visual Pinball has 74 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Pinball Massacre's written reviews are positive against 79% of Visual Pinball's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pinball Massacre ships an update every 6 months, Visual Pinball every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pinball Massacre versus Visual Pinball: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPinball MassacreVisual Pinball
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating3.2 (9 ratings)4.3 (74 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews78.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings974 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 months — betterEvery 12 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.6
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB120 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperNuclear Nova SoftwareJason Millard

Customer experience

Pinball Massacre

All ratings9 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral5.6%
Negative27.8%

Visual Pinball

All ratings73 ratings
Positive80.8%
Neutral6.8%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral12.5%
Negative8.9%

Bugs and requests

Pinball Massacre

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Visual Pinball

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Tables don't load for some users
  • Certain complex/intensive tables error out or run at low FPS

Requested features

6 requests
  • List of most played tables
  • Ability to reposition DMD
  • Option to skip startup checks for some tables
  • Ability to edit table scripts on the app
  • Direct link to table depository
Show 1 more
  • iPad version with more screen space

In-app purchases

None

Pinball Massacre

No in-app purchases

None

Visual Pinball

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pinball Massacre free?
Pinball Massacre costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Visual Pinball free?
Visual Pinball is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pinball Massacre or Visual Pinball?
Visual Pinball is rated higher. Pinball Massacre averages 3.2 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while Visual Pinball averages 4.3 from 74 ratings.
Do Pinball Massacre or Visual Pinball have ads?
Neither Pinball Massacre nor Visual Pinball shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pinball Massacre or Visual Pinball?
Pinball Massacre ships an update every 6 months, and Visual Pinball every 12 months. Most recently, Pinball Massacre was updated on October 23, 2026 and Visual Pinball on October 22, 2026.

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