Comparison

Smart Othello vs ™ Four in a Row

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

Head to head
About

Smart Othello

Experience the classic strategy board game with this app. Play against friends or a computer with five difficulty levels. Improve your skills with a tutorial and helpful aids, making it easy to learn but challenging to master.

Highlights
  • Five computer play levels
  • Real-time matches via Game Center
  • Achievements and leaderboards
  • Blunder Guard
  • Hint, undo, and replay functions
  • Collection of top player games
Features
Read full description

Play Othello against your friends or the computer. Created by the 1992 US Othello Champion, this is the Othello app you’ve been waiting for. A powerful engine wrapped in a clean user interface. With five levels to choose from, you’ll find the level that gives you the right challenge. The built-in tutorial and teaching aids will help you improve your game — advance to the next level and give your friends a good fight. — A MINUTE TO LEARN … A LIFETIME TO MASTER — Othello has simple rules: just bracket opponent discs and flip them to your color. But proper strategy is more complex than you might think. Smart Othello makes the game enjoyable while improving your play. Features: • Five levels of computer play, from novice to master. • Real-time matches using Game Center. • Achievements and leaderboards to challenge you. • Blunder Guard to keep you from making bad mistakes. • Random openings that give both players an equal chance. • Hint, undo, and easy game replay. • Collection of games by top players for replay and study. Smart Othello was created by the 1992 US Othello Champion, who also developed the acclaimed SmartGo apps for the game of Go. Othello® is a registered trademark of MegaHouse Corporation. Used with permission.

About

™ Four in a Row

Engage in strategic one-on-one battles by dropping colored discs to align four in a row. Features customizable designs, five AI difficulty levels, and innovative gameplay options like undo and timer-based challenges.

Highlights
  • One-on-one battles
  • Customizable pieces and boards
  • Five AI difficulty levels
  • Undo and Save/Load functionality
  • Timer-based gameplay
  • Experience points and ranking system
Features
Read full description

Four in a Row is a clean, friendly strategy game about timing, traps, and that satisfying moment when four of your pieces line up. Play your way: - Challenge other players online with Game Center Quick Match and invites. - Practice offline against multiple AI difficulty levels. - Play local two-player matches on the same device. - Save and load games when you want to continue later. - Customize boards, pieces, avatars, and sounds. - Use tutorials and helpful options to settle in quickly. Easy to learn and surprisingly tactical, Four in a Row is great for quick breaks, family game nights, and anyone who enjoys classic board-game strategy.

Screenshots

Smart Othello4 screens
™ Four in a Row4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Smart Othello at every 2 months against ™ Four in a Row's every 9 months. Smart Othello also leads on ratings volume (552 vs 119). ™ Four in a Row's advantage is review sentiment (80% vs 65%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Smart Othello sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and ™ Four in a Row sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

™ Four in a Row holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 552 and 119 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Smart Othello's written reviews are positive against 80% of ™ Four in a Row's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Smart Othello ships an update every 2 months, ™ Four in a Row every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Smart Othello versus ™ Four in a Row: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmart Othello™ Four in a Row
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (552 ratings)4.7 (119 ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.3% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings552 — better119
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 9 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB69 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmart Go, Inc.VM Mobile Team

Customer experience

Smart Othello

All ratings535 ratings
Positive89.9%
Neutral4.1%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive65.3%
Neutral6.1%
Negative28.6%

™ Four in a Row

All ratings119 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral4.2%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

Bugs and requests

Smart Othello

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App freezes on launch when Game Center is enabled
  • Game crashes mid-play on certain difficulty levels
  • Online play fails to find opponents or pair players
  • App locks up when switching to other applications
  • Game Center notifications excessive and intrusive
Show 4 more
  • Online games create duplicate concurrent matches
  • Game sync fails between multiple devices
  • Support email from within app doesn't work
  • Game becomes unresponsive during online play

Requested features

9 requests
  • Fix online multiplayer functionality
  • Add local 2-player head-to-head mode
  • Implement time limits for online moves
  • Add option to remove/customize player avatars
  • Improve Game Center integration and sync
Show 4 more
  • Better online mode instructions and documentation
  • Auto-play engine for replay functionality
  • Restore previous purchases
  • Improve difficulty level progression

™ Four in a Row

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Smart Othello

One-time1
  • Pro Pack$2.99
1 purchases

™ Four in a Row

One-time1
  • Remove ads$3.99

Questions

Is Smart Othello free?
Smart Othello is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ™ Four in a Row free?
™ Four in a Row is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Smart Othello or ™ Four in a Row?
™ Four in a Row is rated higher. Smart Othello averages 4.5 out of 5 from 552 ratings, while ™ Four in a Row averages 4.7 from 119 ratings.
Do Smart Othello or ™ Four in a Row have ads?
Neither Smart Othello nor ™ Four in a Row shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Smart Othello or ™ Four in a Row?
Smart Othello ships an update every 2 months, and ™ Four in a Row every 9 months. Most recently, Smart Othello was updated on October 22, 2026 and ™ Four in a Row on October 20, 2026.

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