60 MB
The open-source pinball simulator a whole community builds its tables in.
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Visual Pinball X is a free pinball game released under GPL-3.0+ (remaining code under a MAME-style non-commercial licence). It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, needs about 60 MB of disk space, and requires no account, payment or trial. On a computer, the fastest route is the PlayBound Launcher. On a phone or tablet, use the official store or site instead.
Choose how to install
Install with PlayBound or download from the official source without the launcher.
Visual Pinball X is free and open source. PlayBound's Install downloads the stable 10.8.0 release for your system from the developers' GitHub (github.com/vpinball/vpinball/releases). Requires launcher 0.3.196 or newer on Mac and Linux.
Windows
Press Install. PlayBound downloads the 64-bit OpenGL build (37 MB) and unpacks it (about 60 MB) with the example table in its assets folder. Play opens VPinballX_GL64.exe straight into the example table.
macOS
Press Install. PlayBound picks the Apple Silicon or Intel build to match your Mac (about 50 MB), unpacks the disk image inside it and copies the app out. Play starts the example table. If macOS blocks the app the first time, right-click it in Finder, choose Open and confirm.
Linux
Press Install. PlayBound downloads the x64 build (85 MB), unpacks the archive inside it and marks the program executable. Play starts the example table.
ios
On iPhone and iPad, install the free Visual Pinball app from the App Store (requires iOS 18). Android builds are published on the GitHub releases page as an APK to sideload; PlayBound does not install them.
More tables: download them from their authors (VPUniverse and VPinball.com need a free account) and open the .vpx file from inside VPX. Tables that recreate real machines also need ROM files, which PlayBound does not supply.
Default keys: left and right Shift are the flippers, Enter launches the ball, Z and / nudge, and 5 adds a coin. Press F12 inside VPX to open the settings and remap keys or a gamepad.
How to join and navigate multiplayer lobbies and servers in Visual Pinball X.
Up to four players can share one game by taking turns, as on a real machine: add a coin and press Start once per player before launching the first ball.
To play with friends who are not in the room, start a couch session from PlayBound so they can watch and take their turns from their own devices.
Minimum
Not published by the developers. From the stable 10.8.0 builds: Windows 64-bit or 32-bit (OpenGL build); macOS on Apple Silicon or Intel; Linux x64 (also Raspberry Pi and RK3588 ARM builds). A GPU with current OpenGL drivers. CPU, RAM and VRAM figures are not published. Disk: about 60 MB for the simulator on Windows (37 MB download); tables are extra, from a few MB to over 1 GB each.
Recommended
Not published by the developers for any platform. Heavily detailed modern tables and VR need a dedicated GPU; the team publishes no figures.
Yes. It is free and open source, mostly under GPLv3+, with the rest of the code under an older MAME-style non-commercial licence.
One playable example table ships with the simulator, plus a blank table and calibration tables. Other tables come from their authors; PlayBound will add original tables whose authors give permission.
Only for tables that recreate real commercial machines through PinMAME. Those ROMs are copyrighted and PlayBound does not supply them. Original tables need no ROM.
The stable 10.8.0. The 10.8.1 builds on GitHub are pre-releases the developers mark as not for general use.
Yes. VPX supports gamepads and dedicated pinball controllers, as well as keyboard. Map them in the settings with F12.
Yes, natively since 10.8: Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and Linux x64 plus Raspberry Pi and RK3588 ARM builds. On iOS there is a free App Store app.
Local only: up to four players take turns on one machine. For friends elsewhere, use a PlayBound couch session.
Yes. Visual Pinball X supports up to 4 players. You can play together on one PC with phones or extra gamepads as controllers. PlayBound Connect handles the setup: start a party with your friends, pick how you want to play, and everyone launches into the same game from the PlayBound launcher. It also supports hotseat play. There is no subscription and no paid multiplayer tier.