Capture Go vs Kifubara
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Capture Go
This app offers a simplified version of the classic game of Go, designed for younger players or beginners. It focuses on the core mechanic of capturing stones, making it easier to learn and enjoy while still providing a challenge. Skills developed here can transfer to the full game.
- Simplified Go rules
- Focus on stone capturing
- Adjustable difficulty levels
- Suitable for children and beginners
- Skills transferable to Go
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Capture Go is similar to a more famous game that is simply called "Go". Capture Go is like the younger kid brother, where the rules are a little simpler and the game is easier to learn. And yet, Capture Go is still quite interesting and challenging. In addition, many of the skills you develop playing Capture Go will carry over directly, if you ever decide to learn Go later. Play at Level 1 is easy enough for children to have fun and win. Play at Level 3 is hard enough for new adult players to be challenged. I created this app for my six year old grandson who was showing interest in my Go playing, but is not yet mature enough to understand ko fights, trade-offs, and sacrifice. This app allows him to practice capturing stones – which he loves to do – while avoiding capture himself. When we get together, he often asks, "Papa, can I play Capture Go on your phone?"
Kifubara
Instantly scan any physical Go board with your camera to detect stones, count territory, and calculate scores. Supports both Chinese and Japanese rules, with options to manually adjust the position and export game data.
- Automatic stone detection from photos
- Territory counting and scoring
- Adjustable komi
- Manual position editing
- SGF export
- Game library
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Point your camera at any Go board and Kifubara reads the position, counts territory, and calculates the score — in seconds. No more counting by hand. Leave scoring to Kifubara. HOW IT WORKS Take a photo of your Go board or pick one from your gallery. Kifubara detects every stone, maps territory for both players, and scores the position under Chinese or Japanese rules. Review the result, adjust anything that needs fixing, and export. FEATURES • Automatic stone detection from a single photo • Territory counting and scoring under Chinese or Japanese rules • Adjustable komi • Mark dead stones and edit the position by hand • Deep analysis to refine scoring accuracy • Group strength and influence visualization • SGF export to share or study in your favorite Go app • Save and name games in your library BUILT FOR REAL BOARDS Kifubara is designed for the moment after you finish a game on a real board. Works with wood boards, printed boards, magnetic travel sets — any physical Go board. Just make sure all four corners are visible and the lighting is decent. Kifubara uses on-device machine learning. Your photos never leave your phone. Go. Baduk. Weiqi. Whatever you call it — Kifubara counts it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Kifubara at 4.6 against Capture Go's 4.0. Kifubara also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 75%). Capture Go's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Kifubara holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Capture Go's written reviews are positive against 100% of Kifubara's.
Capture Go ships an update every 2 months, Kifubara every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Capture Go | Kifubara |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (6 ratings) | 4.6 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 148 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Timothy Hoel | Artur Tamazian |
Customer experience
Capture Go
Kifubara
In-app purchases
Capture Go
No in-app purchases
Kifubara
No in-app purchases









