Comparison

Visual Pinball vs Ataxx! Strategy Board Game

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
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.

About

Ataxx! Strategy Board Game

This casual strategy board game offers deep tactical gameplay inspired by classics. Players expand, jump, and capture pieces to dominate the board, with options for solo play against AI, local multiplayer, and daily puzzles. Enjoy quick, fun, and strategic matches anytime, anywhere.

Highlights
  • Easy to learn, hard to master gameplay
  • Solo mode against AI with 3 difficulty levels
  • 1v1 local multiplayer on the same device
  • Daily puzzle challenges
  • Offline play supported
  • Quick game sessions
Read full description

Easy to Play, Hard to Master! Ataxx is the ultimate casual strategy board game where every move matters! Inspired by classics like Ataxx, Hexxagon, and Infection, this game is simple to learn but offers deep tactical gameplay. Jump, expand, and capture enemy pieces to dominate the board. But be careful—one wrong move can turn the tide! Why You’ll Love Ataxx: - Quick & Fun: Games last just a few minutes—perfect for casual play! - Easy to Learn: Simple mechanics that anyone can pick up and play. - Strategic Depth: Outsmart your opponents with clever moves. - Solo Mode: Challenge AI opponents with 3 difficulty levels. - 1v1 Local Multiplayer: Play with friends on the same device! - Daily Puzzles: New challenges every day to test your skills. - Offline Play: No Wi-Fi? No problem! Play anytime, anywhere. Download now and challenge your brain with this addictive board game!

Screenshots

Visual Pinball3 screens
Ataxx! Strategy Board Game4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Visual Pinball at none against Ataxx! Strategy Board Game's 1. Visual Pinball also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (75 vs 6). Ataxx! Strategy Board Game's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.6). On price, update cadence 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

Both are free to download. Ataxx! Strategy Board Game sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Visual Pinball asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ataxx! Strategy Board Game holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Visual Pinball has 75 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Visual Pinball ships an update fortnightly, Ataxx! Strategy Board Game weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Visual Pinball versus Ataxx! Strategy Board Game: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVisual PinballAtaxx! Strategy Board Game
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (75 ratings)4.7 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings75 — better6
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size134 MB193 MB
Age rating9+17+
DeveloperJason MillardI Made a Bug, Lda

Customer experience

Visual Pinball

All ratings74 ratings
Positive81.1%
Neutral6.8%
Negative12.2%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive78.0%
Neutral11.9%
Negative10.2%

Ataxx! Strategy Board Game

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and 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

Ataxx! Strategy Board Game

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Visual Pinball

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Ataxx! Strategy Board Game

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99

Questions

Is Visual Pinball free?
Visual Pinball is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ataxx! Strategy Board Game free?
Ataxx! Strategy Board Game is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Visual Pinball or Ataxx! Strategy Board Game?
Ataxx! Strategy Board Game is rated higher. Visual Pinball averages 4.3 out of 5 from 75 ratings, while Ataxx! Strategy Board Game averages 4.7 from 6 ratings.
Do Visual Pinball or Ataxx! Strategy Board Game have ads?
Ataxx! Strategy Board Game shows ads; Visual Pinball does not.
Which is updated more often, Visual Pinball or Ataxx! Strategy Board Game?
Visual Pinball ships an update fortnightly, and Ataxx! Strategy Board Game weekly. Most recently, Visual Pinball was updated on November 5, 2026 and Ataxx! Strategy Board Game on November 4, 2026.

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