# Smart Othello vs Board Games

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Board Games at none against Smart Othello's 1. Smart Othello's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (65% vs 33%). On price, rating, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Smart Othello sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Board Games asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Smart Othello against 4.6 for Board Games. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Smart Othello has 535 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of Smart Othello's written reviews are positive against 33% of Board Games's.

Smart Othello ships an update every 2 months, Board Games every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Smart Othello | Board Games |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (535 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smart-othello/id1056367184/reviews) | [4.6 (8 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/board-games-classics/id1620763283/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **535** | 8 |
| Positive reviews | **65.3% of reviews** | 33.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 months** | Every 11 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Ad-supported** |
| Size | 7 MB | 37 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Smart Go, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/290948289) | [John Henriksen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1501958124) |

## What reviewers say

### Smart Othello

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smart-othello/id1056367184)

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:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro Pack | $2.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🧠 Excellent AI with challenging difficulty levels
- 💡 Helpful hints and tips for learning
- ↩️ Undo button for reviewing mistakes
- 🎨 Clean, elegant, and intuitive interface
- 📚 Extensive expert database (126,000 matches)

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
- 🔋 Excessive battery consumption
- 🌐 Online multiplayer doesn't work reliably
- 📧 Support email feature non-functional
- 🎮 Inconsistent difficulty scaling (too easy or too hard)

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- 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


### Board Games

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/board-games-classics/id1620763283)

Enjoy a collection of 11 classic board and arcade games, playable offline against AI or with friends. Experience timeless fun with Ludo, Chess, Checkers, and more, all completely free.

**Highlights:** 11 classic games in one app, Play against AI or friends, Offline play supported, No login or registration required, Completely free to play

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Smart Othello free?

Smart Othello is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Board Games free?

Board Games is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Smart Othello or Board Games?

Smart Othello and Board Games are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 535 and 8 ratings respectively.

### Do Smart Othello or Board Games have ads?

Board Games shows ads; Smart Othello does not.

### Which is updated more often, Smart Othello or Board Games?

Smart Othello ships an update every 2 months, and Board Games every 11 months. Most recently, Smart Othello was updated on October 18, 2026 and Board Games on October 8, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*