Visual Pinball vs Starquake Forever
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
Starquake Forever
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Starquake is a loving tribute to the 1985 classic, rebuilt from the ground up for mobile. You are BLOB — a maintenance droid dropped onto a dying planet. Deep beneath the surface, the planet's core has shattered into 9 fragments scattered across a vast underground network. Your mission: find them all and restore the core before it's too late. EXPLORE a sprawling world of 512 interconnected rooms filled with hazards, puzzles, and secrets. Every screen holds something new — from crumbling floors to electric barriers. RIDE hover platforms to soar through caverns. TELEPORT between 15 alien outposts. TRADE with mysterious pyramids to acquire the items you need. BLAST through hostile creatures that grow fiercer the deeper you go. The planet won't wait. Can you save it? FEATURES - 512 handcrafted rooms to explore - 9 core fragments to find and deliver - Hover platforms, teleporters, and tunnel networks - Trading system with alien pyramids - 15 named teleport stations - Shooting mechanics — horizontal laser on foot, bouncing energy ball in flight - Touch controls with analog flight pad and D-pad walking. - Gamepad support - 8 original music tracks - 17 achievements - 2 leaderboards — High Score and Exploration - Auto-save — pick up right where you left off - No ads. No in-app purchases. Just the game.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Starquake Forever at 13.0 against Visual Pinball's 26.6. On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Visual Pinball | Starquake Forever |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (74 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 74 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 134 MB | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jason Millard | Leonid Khramov |
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
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- iPad version with more screen space
Starquake Forever
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Visual Pinball
No in-app purchases
Starquake Forever
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Visual Pinball free?
Is Starquake Forever free?
Do Visual Pinball or Starquake Forever have ads?
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