Comparison

SmartGo One vs XII Scripta (AG)

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

Head to head
About

SmartGo One

Learn, play, and improve at the ancient game of Go. This app offers adjustable board sizes, a strong AI opponent, and tools to study professional games and solve Go problems. It's designed for players of all skill levels, from beginners to masters.

Highlights
  • Adjustable board sizes (9x9 to 19x19)
  • Strong KataGo game engine
  • Study professional game records
  • Solve Go problems and tutorials
  • Pattern matching for move suggestions
  • Territory estimator
  • Game recording and annotation
Features
Read full description

SmartGo One is the only Go app you’ll need, whether you’re just getting started or already a seasoned player. Learn, play, study, and improve with SmartGo One. Experience the ancient game of Go on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac in a whole new way. Also known as igo (囲碁), wéiqí (围棋), or baduk (바둑), Go begins with an empty board that gradually fills as players surround territory and capture stones. Start with a 9x9 board and move up to 13x13 and 19x19 as your skills grow. SmartGo One adapts to your strength, automatically adjusting handicaps so games remain competitive and enjoyable. And when you’re ready for a serious challenge, the powerful KataGo-based engine delivers strong, rewarding play. But SmartGo One is far more than a way to play Go. Read interactive Go books while replaying the moves they describe to deepen your understanding. Explore a collection of more than 138,000 professional game records spanning both modern and historical masters. Improve your reading and decision-making skills with a growing library of Go problems and tutorials. Want to know how a master would handle a position on your board? SmartGo’s pattern matching technology compares your game with historical pro games and shows how strong players approached similar situations. No matter your level, SmartGo One helps you continue improving. Features include: • 9x9, 11x11, 13x13, and 19x19 board sizes • Powerful KataGo-based engine • Fast and responsive gameplay • Manual or automatic handicap adjustment • Record, annotate, and edit your games • Territory estimator • Hints and move analysis • Undo and replay controls • Tutorial with over 100 problems • Extensive user manual We value your privacy and only collect the minimum information necessary to make our apps work well for you. Learn more at https://smartgo.com/privacy.html. This app is licensed under Apple’s standard Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

XII Scripta (AG)

Experience forgotten ancient board games brought to life with modern app design. Play against AI, friends, or global players online and offline. Collect unique game pieces and enjoy cloud saves across multiple titles.

Highlights
  • Play against AI, friends, and global players
  • Online and offline gameplay
  • Collectible boards, pieces, and dice
  • Challenges with rule variants
  • Free cloud save across the collection
  • Supports multiple languages
Features
Read full description

If you play more than one of my Ancient Games, I suggest you delete the individual apps and install the main one (Ancient Games). It will allow you to play them all and save disk storage. The past is full of fascinating board games that haves been mostly forgotten. The Ancient Games collection aims to resurrect them as a meticulously crafted mix between what a player wants from an historical game and what he/she expects of a modern application. -Play against the IA, friends and random players from around the world. -Play Online & Offline. -Multiple collectibles : boards, game pieces, dice, nameplates, etc. -Challenges (Fun rule variants) -Free cloudsave across the collection : your progress in one game is available in all the others. -Much more features to come! -Languages : English, French, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, German, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Russian. Currently, the collection is comprised of four games : the Royal Game of Ur, Senet, XII Scripta and Puluc, but 40 games are in the works! Each game will be added to the Ancient Games app and will have its own individual app as well. The privacy policy has been updated in accordance to the latest data protection laws.

Screenshots

SmartGo One4 screens
XII Scripta (AG)4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SmartGo One at 77% against XII Scripta (AG)'s 0%. SmartGo One also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (2K vs 8). XII Scripta (AG)'s advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. SmartGo One sells 47 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and XII Scripta (AG) sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SmartGo One holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmartGo One has 2K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of SmartGo One's written reviews are positive against 0% of XII Scripta (AG)'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SmartGo One versus XII Scripta (AG): the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmartGo OneXII Scripta (AG)
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (2K ratings) — better4.5 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews76.6% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2K — better8
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size154 MB218 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmart Go, Inc.Sullivan Bousiniere

Customer experience

SmartGo One

All ratings1,950 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews167 reviews
Positive76.6%
Neutral8.4%
Negative15.0%

XII Scripta (AG)

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

SmartGo One

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Illegal move detection issues on certain board positions
  • Problems with missing variations or incorrect answers
  • Inconsistent behavior when passing moves

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add read-only mode
  • Improve move suggestion explanations
  • Introduce difficulty settings for AI
  • Integrate online play functionality
  • Provide more randomness in AI moves

XII Scripta (AG)

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

47 purchases

SmartGo One

Subscriptions2
  • SmartGo One Pro – Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro Games and Features14 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time45
  • Just Enough Japanese 1Free
  • Key Concepts in Life and Death$2.99
  • Go Problems Master Collection$3.99
Show 42 more
  • Go Problems Add-on 2: Medium$3.99
  • Go Problems Add-on 1: Easy$3.99
  • Go Problems Add-on 3: Hard$3.99
  • Counting Liberties$4.99
  • The Monkey Jump$4.99
  • Double Digit Kyu Games$5.99
  • Go: A Complete Introduction$5.99
  • How Not to Play Go$5.99
  • Encyclopedia of Go Principles$5.99
  • Want to Play Go? Level 1$5.99
  • Black to Play 30-25 Kyu$5.99
  • The Workshop Lectures 1$5.99
  • Rethinking Opening Strategy$6.99
  • Learn to Play Go 1$7.99
  • Learn to Play Go 2$7.99
  • Learn to Play Go 3$7.99
  • Correct Joseki$7.99
  • “The Theory of Go”$7.99
  • Learn to Play Go 4$7.99
  • Buddhist Philosophy Game of Go$8.99
  • Graded Go Problems 1$9.99
  • Graded Go Problems 2$9.99
  • Want to Play Go? Level 2$9.99
  • Basic Techniques of Go$9.99
  • Graded Go Problems 3$9.99
  • Get Strong at Life and Death$9.99
  • Mastering Mini Go by Mark Tomlinson$11.99
  • Fuseki Revolution$11.99
  • Fundamental Principles of Go$11.99
  • The Basics of Life and Death$11.99
  • Joseki Revolution$11.99
  • Life and Death$11.99
  • A Survey of the Basic Tesujis$11.99
  • Tesuji$11.99
  • Tesuji for Beginners$14.99
  • AlphaGo to Zero, vol. 4$14.99
  • Trouble Master, volume 2$14.99
  • Trouble Master, volume 1$14.99
  • AlphaGo to Zero, Vol. 2$14.99
  • Invincible$24.99
  • Essential Go Proverbs$24.99
  • Pro – Lifetime Unlock$99.00
13 purchases

XII Scripta (AG)

One-time13
  • Mortal to Heroic Upgrade$0.99
  • Heroic to Divine Upgrade$0.99
  • Ancient Artifact$0.99
Show 10 more
  • AG+ Mortal Edition$1.99
  • XII Scripta Mortal Edition$1.99
  • Mortal to Divine Upgrade$1.99
  • AG Credit$1.99
  • AG+ Heroic Edition$2.99
  • XII Scripta Heroic Edition$2.99
  • Skeletton Key$2.99
  • AG+ Divine Edition$3.99
  • XII Scripta Divine Edition$3.99
  • 75 Gems$6.99

Questions

Is SmartGo One free?
SmartGo One is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is XII Scripta (AG) free?
XII Scripta (AG) is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SmartGo One or XII Scripta (AG)?
SmartGo One is rated higher. SmartGo One averages 4.8 out of 5 from 2K ratings, while XII Scripta (AG) averages 4.5 from 8 ratings.
Do SmartGo One or XII Scripta (AG) have ads?
XII Scripta (AG) shows ads; SmartGo One does not.
Which is updated more often, SmartGo One or XII Scripta (AG)?
SmartGo One ships an update every 2 weeks, and XII Scripta (AG) every 2 weeks. Most recently, SmartGo One was updated on October 14, 2026 and XII Scripta (AG) on October 8, 2026.

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