SaioApp vs OTHELLO KING
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SaioApp
Master the game of Othello with the world's strongest engine. Analyze moves, study player strategies, and access a vast library of game data. Designed for professionals seeking the ultimate competitive edge.
- Play against the strongest Othello engine
- Analyze best and all moves
- Access WThor games archive
- Study specific players
- Endgame Tutor mode
- In-app purchase for large move library
- Study mode for openings
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Saio (System Artificial Intelligence Othello) The strongest Othello engine in the world developed in about 15 years by the 3 times Italian Othello Champion Romano Benedetto. Now available on your iOS Device with all his features: - Play vs the engine at specific time limit or fixed depth of search - Eval bests moves - Eval all moves - Show detailed Library values - WThor games archive with all games of official tournaments from 1977 - Show statistics from games archive - You can study a specific player directly on the board - Regressive Analysis of all the games - Endgame Tutor mode, Single good move and single line to avoid lose the game - InApp buy of the INCREDIBLE BIG Library 8GB with 180M moves, 240.443 draw lines - Rotate board - Load games from list of moves in the clipboard - Export list of moves to the clipboard to easy share in chats - Show transcript of the game - Edit board - Fix the line that Saio play - Select of random XOT opening - Study mode to help to memorize openings - Gameplay mode with rank level of difficult - Middlegames play mode with rank points and level of difficulty - Endgames play mode with rank points and level of difficulty - Online classify for ranked games play mode Who buyed the FULL Library now can: - Expand the Library, manually or automatically (press for 3 seconds on Library) - Expand fixed lines - Automatically fill nodes not yet present on the line - Can start from the standard library too - Merge the incremental library to the main library - Download WThor DB Update automatically The engine of Saio is actually the STATE OF THE ART of the informatic knowledge about search in game trees, and is REALLY accurate to eval moves. SaioApp contain all the firsts 12 moves of his INCREDIBLE BIG Library of moves. After you can buy the FULL 8GB Library developed in about 10 years and continue to be expanded. The FULL library actually permit to Saio to NEVER LOSE A GAME, using the datagram algorithm build during Ph.D Thesis "How to build a library to never lose a game". You can explore all the library values and know what sequences are really draw, lose or win. You will have the definitive knowledge of the Othello moves with they real values. Designed for Professional Players that need the best engine ever, created to beat all others engines. Thanks to Alessandro Di Mattei and Paolo Scognamiglio for they support to be first in the world to buy SaioApp and to contribute to Test and add features. http://www.romanobenedetto.it/tesi.pdf
OTHELLO KING
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Easy to learn. Impossible to put down. OTHELLO KING is an Othello app crafted for players who take the game seriously. An NNUE-powered 8-level AI engine, a complete ranking system, and a lifelike playing experience — every game is worth your best effort. ◆ NEXT-GEN AI ENGINE Eight AI opponents powered by an NNUE deep-learning engine — Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, Master, Grandmaster, King. From a gentle introduction to near world-class play, every level is calibrated through real human playtesting so the difficulty curve feels just right. The first five levels are free; unlock Pro for the top three: Master, Grandmaster, King. ◆ YOUR PATH TO MASTERY An Elo rating system anchored to each AI's calibrated strength makes every match meaningful. Start at 30 Kyu, earn your way up through wins, and climb toward the highest rank — 9 Dan. Review any game move by move with free Mobility Analysis; unlock Pro for Frontier Analysis and AI Analysis. It's not just playing — it's a journey of continuous improvement. ◆ LIFELIKE PLAY Every detail is tuned for a natural, immersive experience. Humanized AI thinking rhythms, natural response timing, ultra-realistic move sounds, and subtle haptic feedback — paired with multiple board themes and piece styles — make every opponent feel like a real player sitting across from you. ◆ PURE & AD-FREE No intrusive ads. No personal data collection. All your settings and game records stay on your device. Focus on the board. Enjoy pure Othello. ◆ AND MORE • Two-Player: Pass-and-play with a friend, unlimited games • Timer Modes: 1-min Bullet, 3-min Blitz, 5-min Standard, 30-min Tournament & more • Game Review: Step through any match, copy records & analyze in Practice Lab • Progressive Challenge: Stronger AI unlocks as you rank up — always a new goal ahead Play the first five AI levels free: Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert. A one-time Pro purchase permanently unlocks the top three AI levels and advanced Practice Lab analysis tools. ◆ PRO — UNLOCK FOREVER · AI Opponents L6–L8: Master, Grandmaster, King · Board Themes: Royal Purple, Light Oak, Walnut · Piece Styles: 3D, Matte · Move Sounds: Classic, Minimal · Practice Lab: Frontier Analysis, AI Analysis One purchase. Yours forever. No ads. No subscriptions. Just the game.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is price: OTHELLO KING at Free against SaioApp's $18.99. OTHELLO KING also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). SaioApp's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (10.1 vs 17.0). On 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
OTHELLO KING is free to download; SaioApp costs $18.99 up front. SaioApp sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and OTHELLO KING sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
SaioApp ships an update every 2 weeks, OTHELLO KING weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SaioApp | OTHELLO KING |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $18.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 10.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 263 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Benedetto Romano | JUI-MING CHIU |
In-app purchases
SaioApp
- Saio Full Library$44.99
OTHELLO KING
- Pro — Unlock Forever$6.99









