Visual Pinball vs PachNeko
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.
PachNeko
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PachNeko is a colorful 3D pachinko machine filled with mechanical cats. Set the handle power, launch your balls and watch them bounce through the pins of a fully simulated board. Every ball in the white heso spins the reels. Three matching symbols: JACKPOT. Then the red mouth opens for the Fever, and in kakuhen the little right pocket pays twice as much. It is a game of chance, like a real pachinko: there is no secret right power, just balls, pins and luck. EVERY RUN • Start with 100 balls. • Reach 300 balls to adopt Bigsterion, your first companion. The next cats need 1,000 balls. • Adopt Poupoune, Astarourouh and Gisèle, then pet them, play with them and feed them in the cattery. FEATURES • A real-time 3D board with physics: pins, windmills, pockets and the heso. • Reach, Super Reach and Fever sequences on the cat-shaped screen. • The Academy: a guided first game that explains everything on the real board, at your own pace. • Short runs made for mobile. • Available in 8 languages. 7 DAYS FREE, THEN ONE PURCHASE • The whole game is free for 7 days, no sign-up. • After that, a one-time purchase (no subscription) unlocks PachNeko for good. It can be restored at any time. • Without the purchase, the game stays locked after the 7 days. No ads, no account, no tracking. Progress is saved on the device and the game works offline. PachNeko contains no betting, no real money, no cash prizes and no exchangeable items.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Visual Pinball at none against PachNeko's 1. Visual Pinball also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). PachNeko's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.6). On price, ads 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. PachNeko sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Visual Pinball asks for nothing beyond the download.
Visual Pinball ships an update fortnightly, PachNeko monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Visual Pinball | PachNeko |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (75 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 78.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 75 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 134 MB | 253 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jason Millard | Nicolas Dumont |
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
PachNeko
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Visual Pinball
No in-app purchases
PachNeko
- Proposition de chat personnalisé$8.99
Questions
Is Visual Pinball free?
Is PachNeko free?
Do Visual Pinball or PachNeko have ads?
Which is updated more often, Visual Pinball or PachNeko?
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