Comparison

Smart Othello vs KifuBox

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

KifuBox

Manage and review your reversi game transcripts with this specialized app. Input games from various sources, add comments, and analyze your play with detailed statistics and opening management tools. Organize your games into folders and share screenshots for social media.

Highlights
  • Input and edit reversi game transcripts
  • Import from various sources (apps, camera, clipboard, CSV)
  • Analyze games with scores, graphs, and statistics
  • Manage openings with memorization tests
  • Organize transcripts with folders and search
  • Share game screenshots
Features
Read full description

KifuBox is an app specialized for managing and reviewing reversi games. You can easily input transcripts and game information, and review games. [Main features] Input transcript - Edit board to input misflipping games - Comments for future review - Import from Othello Quest - Import from eOthello - Import from clipboard to import transcripts of other game apps - Import from camera/photo to import real board - Import from AR camera to import transcripts from real board - Batch import from CSV file - Quick analysis to study easily without saving transcripts automatically - Set transcript sheet image to board background to input transcript easily - Launch quick analysis by link (URL) or iOS shortcut Show score and graph - Custom book - Show book info - Add positions to book - Benchmark score calculation - Show endgame loss/moves - Show "Umigame" number Show/edit game information - Input assist for tournament information and player name Review transcript - Save branch moves - Share screenshot for SNS Folder - To sort games by online/offline etc. - Search transcripts by player name, tournament name, date, comment, openings, designated position, opponent's rank, endgame loss and so on. - Save search conditions as bookmark. - Backup/restore folders. Show statistics - Stats for position and each cell - Stats of win-loss, endgame-loss and various detail items for folder and search result Opening management - Input openings - Show opening name on the board - Memorization test of openings - Filter openings [In-App purchase] KifuBox is available for free, but free edition has the following restrictions; - You can create up to 10 transcripts and openings in each folder - You can create up to 2 transcript folders including default folder - You can create up to 2 opening folders not including default folder. - You cannot create subfolders of opening folders. - Scores are not shown after move #40 in quick analysis - You cannot use batch import of transcripts. - Displays "Free edition" caption in transcript list, quick analysis and in AR camera screen. - You cannot use backup/restore within the app. Purchasing unlimited edition, these resitrictions are canceled. (Be care that quality of AR recognition is the same between both editions.) [Note] You cannot play game with KifuBox. Play games with other apps, and import transcript into KifuBox! [Acknowledgement] KifuBox uses modified version of Edax4.4 by Richard Delorme, GPL v3 software. Modified source code is available in https://github.com/lavox/edax-reversi/releases/tag/libEdax4i-1.7. The author agreed to use the software in this manner. Kifubox uses icons by icons8(https://icons8.jp).

Screenshots

Smart Othello4 screens
KifuBox4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: KifuBox at 100% against Smart Othello's 65%. KifuBox also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). Smart Othello's advantage is ratings volume (535 vs 7). On price, update cadence, 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 KifuBox 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

KifuBox holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Smart Othello has 535 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Smart Othello's written reviews are positive against 100% of KifuBox's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Smart Othello versus KifuBox: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmart OthelloKifuBox
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (535 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings535 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmart Go, Inc.Atsushi Tanaka

Customer experience

Smart Othello

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

KifuBox

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

KifuBox

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Smart Othello

One-time1
  • Pro Pack$2.99
1 purchases

KifuBox

One-time1
  • Unlimited edition$2.99

Questions

Is Smart Othello free?
Smart Othello is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is KifuBox free?
KifuBox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Smart Othello or KifuBox?
KifuBox is rated higher. Smart Othello averages 4.6 out of 5 from 535 ratings, while KifuBox averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Smart Othello or KifuBox have ads?
Neither Smart Othello nor KifuBox shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Smart Othello or KifuBox?
Smart Othello ships an update every 2 months, and KifuBox every 2 months. Most recently, Smart Othello was updated on October 18, 2026 and KifuBox on October 8, 2026.

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