Pinball HD Collection vs Visual Pinball
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pinball HD Collection
Experience realistic pinball simulations with a variety of themed tables and engaging minigames. Enjoy stunning 3D graphics, realistic physics, and both landscape and portrait viewing modes. Compete for high scores globally or locally.
- 10 unique pinball tables
- Realistic 3D graphics
- Realistic physics engine
- Landscape and portrait modes
- Local and global high scores
- Stereoscopic 3D option
- Integrated minigames
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This unique table features pinball bumpers and targets, plus a color monitor where you can take on a variety of old-school digital minigame challenges - an endless space scroller, plus car racing, missile defense, a block breaker, and more at incrementing skill levels. --- - Listed by Apple in "Best 10 iPad Apps in 2010" - Apple Design Awards 2010 winner - 1st place in US top paid apps during the first sales day "I really can't see pinball on the iPad getting much better than this." -- David Winograd, TUAW.com "The experience of holding a pinball table in your hand is great, and with three amazing tables included, you'll have hours of entertainment lined up." -- Tim Rattray, SlideToPlay.com "With three tables, reliable physics and controls, and gorgeous graphics, it is a pleasure to recommend." -- Levi Buchanan, IGN.com ABOUT THE GAME Pinball HD Collection - This game will change your idea of Pinball on the iPad. Each table - Wild West, The Deep, Jungle Style, AC/DC, Slayer, Snow, Da Vinci, Missing In Action, Navy Seals and Platoon - are masterpieces. You'll be stunned with the level of realism. This is a REAL Pinball simulator with stunning 3D graphics both with or without 3D glasses. IMPORTANT • Landscape mode - "full table" view • Portrait mode - "flying-table" view • In portrait mode slide up or down your both thumbs to toggle camera view from "flying-table" to "full table". FEATURES • 10 pinball tables with unique graphics, instructions, missions system, locations and characters • Landscape mode shows a full table view. The games can be played in either landscape orientation with the button to the left or right of the screen. • Portrait mode gives you a flying-table view with the camera panning and zooming over the action. This can only be played when holding the iPad with the button on the bottom. If you activate the screen orientation switch, the game only plays in portrait mode. • A wonderful 3D engine that does true justice to the graphic capabilities of the iPad. • Realistic physics. • Built in help for each table. Tap the circled "I" at the bottom right of each table to get a display detailing instructions and descriptions of the features of each table. Make sure to swipe left and right when viewing since the instructions don't fit on one screen. • Local and global high scores. Swiping right brings up a table of local high scores and further tapping brings up high scores from copies sold throughout the world. At the end of each game you are prompted to enter your name and have your score included. • Unique soundtrack with atmospheric music, sound effects and voices. • Camera tilt brings dimensionality to the games offering a simulated 3D effect where the image changes depending upon how you tilt the iPad. Camera tilt only works in landscape mode. • Stereoscopic imaging option (requires anaglyph eyeglasses). You can choose between red-cyan, green-magenta or yellow-blue lenses. HOW TO PLAY Tapping on a game's fly-over screen shows/hides main menu. Tap on Play button to start game on current table. Controls in game: • Tap ANYWHERE on the left side of screen to control the left flipper and ANYWHERE on the right side to control the right flipper. • Shake your iPad to realistically nudge the pinball table, but not too much or you'll tilt. • Tap on the "electronic caption" at the top of the screen to pause or resume your game. Follow us on: • Twitter - http://twitter.com/Gameprom • Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/Gameprom • YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/GamepromCompany • News blog - http://gameprom.com/blog/ • Company site - http://gameprom.com Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Visual Pinball
Experience the full virtual pinball simulator with realistic physics, lighting, and sound. This open-source app offers a redesigned interface, enhanced table management, and the complete desktop experience for mobile devices. Enjoy a vast library of tables without ads or in-app purchases.
- Realistic physics, lighting, and sound
- Redesigned interface with Liquid Glass
- Full in-game menu for graphics and controls
- Support for various backglass and display types
- Easy table import and management
- Optimized memory usage
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Visual Pinball at none against Pinball HD Collection's 11. Visual Pinball also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Pinball HD Collection's advantage is ratings volume (3.6K vs 74) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.6). On price, rating 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
Both are free to download. Pinball HD Collection sells 11 one-off in-app purchases. Visual Pinball asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for Pinball HD Collection against 4.3 for Visual Pinball. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pinball HD Collection has 3.6K ratings behind it against 74, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 68% of Pinball HD Collection's written reviews are positive against 79% of Visual Pinball's.
Pinball HD Collection ships an update every 2 months, Visual Pinball fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pinball HD Collection | Visual Pinball |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (3.6K ratings) | 4.3 (74 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 68.0% of reviews | 78.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.6K — better | 74 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 26.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 783 MB | 134 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | BrainVault Games, LLC | Jason Millard |
Customer experience
Pinball HD Collection
Visual Pinball
User reviews
Pinball HD Collection
From 3.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great pinball action
- 👍 Realistic and atmospheric
- 💎 Variety of tables
- 🕹️ Smooth gameplay
- 🎨 Excellent graphics
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and glitchy tables
- 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
- 📢 Intrusive ads
- 🔒 Inability to restore purchases
- 🤖 Abandoned by developers
Visual Pinball
From 74 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Awesome way to play virtual pinball on the go
- 👍 Super easy to set up with minimal file prep time
- 👍 Insane that I can play favorite pins on just my phone
- 👍 Fantastic portable implementation of VPX
- 👍 Fun and exciting to archive the history of pinball
Room to improve
- 🔧 More ability to adjust table settings needed
- 🔧 Struggling to manage camera angle
- 🔧 No fullscreen on iPad, plunger and outlanes cropped
- 🔧 Some tables don't work or have issues
Bugs and requests
Pinball HD Collection
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent crashes and freezes
- Unresponsive flippers
- Scoring and progression issues
- Inability to download purchased tables
Requested features
4 requests- More free tables
- Ability to adjust difficulty/ball speed
- Apple TV and controller support
- Improved table guides and instructions
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
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- iPad version with more screen space
In-app purchases
Pinball HD Collection
- Halloween Pinball$1.99
- The Deep Pinball$1.99
- Jungle Style Pinball$1.99
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- Da Vinci Pinball$1.99
- Platoon Pinball$1.99
- Navy Seals Pinball$1.99
- Missing In Action Pinball$1.99
- Snow Pinball$1.99
- Arcade Pinball$1.99
- Slayer Pinball$2.99
- AC/DC Pinball$2.99
Visual Pinball
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Pinball HD Collection free?
Is Visual Pinball free?
Which has better reviews, Pinball HD Collection or Visual Pinball?
Do Pinball HD Collection or Visual Pinball have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pinball HD Collection or Visual Pinball?
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