Doodle Dots vs Little Go
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Doodle Dots
Recreate the classic pencil and paper game of connecting dots to complete squares. Compete against friends or AI on various board sizes and difficulty levels. Enjoy a doodle-style aesthetic and save your progress.
- Connect dots to complete squares
- Play against AI or another player
- Multiple board sizes
- Adjustable difficulty levels
- Game state saved
- Highlighted last move
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Doodle Dots (Now FREE!!) Now you can play the classic pencil and paper game Dots (Boxes, Squares, Paddocks, Square-it, Dots and Dashes, Smart Dots) without having to hand draw all of those stinking dots by hand! The object of the game is to complete more squares, by connecting the dots, than your opponent. The player with the most square filled in with their color wins! Three different board sizes and difficulty levels makes this game challenging for all ages. Features in 1.4 - Game now saved when application exits - Lines are now colored red or blue - Last Move is highlighted Features in 1.3: - Bug Fixes Features in 1.2: - All gameplay options from paid version are now available in free version! - Minor bug fixes - Removed timer from promotion screen - Ads added to game screens Features in 1.1: - Minor bug fixes - Ad supported free version - Option to toggle sound on/off Features in 1.0: - Hand drawn doodle graphics - Two board sizes and difficulty levels - Use your own word or the extensive word dictionary - Support for two players - Play against your iPhone or iPod Touch A classic pencil and paper game done in “doodle” style. Doodle Dots is one of the five mini games (Hangman, Battleship, Tic Tac Toe and Word Search) found in Doodle Games. If you like Doodle Dots, check out Doodle Games in the AppStore! Doodle Games is a collection of some of your favorite pencil and paper games, brought to life on the iPhone. This is the perfect game for your next road trip, boring meeting, or family gathering. Play DoodleGames on your iPhone and save a tree!
Little Go
Play the strategic game of Go on your iPhone or iPad. Challenge a human opponent or test your skills against a powerful AI. Customize game settings, analyze moves, and save your progress.
- Multiple board sizes (7x7 to 19x19)
- Play against AI or human opponent
- Adjustable AI strength
- Score calculation (area/territory)
- Handicap stone placement
- Customizable rulesets
- Save and load games
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Little Go is a free and open source iOS application that lets you play the game of Go on the iPhone or iPad. You can play against another human (on the same device), or against the computer. The computer player is powered by the open source software library Fuego (http://fuego.sf.net/). The minimum requirement for running this version of Little Go is iOS 16.0. Features: - Board sizes between 7x7 and 19x19 (start a new game to change the board size) - Let the computer player suggest a move or immediately play the move for you - Calculate the score at any time during the game (area scoring is the default, territory scoring can be selected at the start of a new game) - Adjust the computer's playing strength and resign behaviour by selecting from a number of presets, or by fine-tuning advanced settings - Play even games, or games with 2-9 handicap stones (fixed stone placement) - Select from 5 pre-defined rulesets when you start a new game, or adjust game rules to your preference (komi, ko rule, area/territory scoring system, number of passes to end game, resume play by alternating/non-alternating play, four passes end game) - Optionally play with time limits (Main time only, Overtime only, Main time + Overtime), with a choice from 5 Overtime systems - Place arbitrary black and white stones for initial board setup before a game starts - View board positions for moves played earlier during the game - View and create game variations - Discard moves (aka "undo") - Display move numbers and coordinate labels - Zoom & scroll board - Create and edit board and move annotations (e.g. good/bad move, good position for black/white, etc.) and add textual notes to a position - Mark intersections on the board with symbols, markers and labels, and draw arrows or lines on the board - Display player influence (aka territory statistics) for an estimate who owns an area - Computer vs. computer game for entertainment - Save & load games to/from the archive using the SGF file format - Support for almost all properties of the SGF file format, with strict conformance to the specification - Use file sharing to transfer saved games from your iOS device to your computer, and vice versa - Import/export game files from/to other apps on your device (e.g. Mail, DropBox) - In-app user manual - Submit bug report email from inside the app (yes, this *is* a feature :-)) - For the technically inclined: Watch what happens behind the scenes when Little Go and Fuego talk to each other over the Go Text Protocol (GTP) Your contribution in any form (coding, UI design, testing, bug reports, creating an app video preview, website design) is welcome - please contact me or visit the support website to find out more. A note about the project state: Several years of development have gone into Little Go since its inception in January 2011. The app now has a feature set that is, I believe, quite nice :-) for a free program. My main focus therefore lies on fixing any remaining bugs (of which I am sure there are plenty) and keeping the app running under future versions of iOS. Little Go is released under the Apache License 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Little Go at Free against Doodle Dots's $0.99. Little Go also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 35%) and device support (3 vs 1). Doodle Dots's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (1.1K vs 121). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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
Little Go is free to download; Doodle Dots costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.3 for Doodle Dots against 3.3 for Little Go. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Doodle Dots has 1.1K ratings behind it against 121, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 35% of Doodle Dots's written reviews are positive against 50% of Little Go's.
Doodle Dots ships an update every 6 weeks, Little Go every 4 months. Both last shipped on October 22, 2026.
| Parameter | Doodle Dots | Little Go |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.3 (1.1K ratings) | 3.3 (121 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 35.3% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.1K — better | 121 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 51 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Big River Games | Patrick Naf Moser |
Customer experience
Doodle Dots
Little Go
User reviews
Doodle Dots
From 1.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎮 Fun and entertaining
- 🕰️ Good time-killer
- 💻 Classic game experience
- 🎨 Cute doodle interface
Room to improve
- 🤖 Inaccurate line placement
- 🎮 Unfair AI behavior
- 🔍 Difficulty seeing opponent's moves
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
Little Go
From 121 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ Free and open source
- 🎮 Excellent AI engine
- 🎛️ Highly customizable settings
- 🆓 No ads or in-app purchases
- 🎨 Pleasant graphics
Room to improve
- ❓ Unclear interface
- 🕹️ Difficult to place stones
- 📈 Very difficult for beginners
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🤔 AI can be too strong
Bugs and requests
Doodle Dots
Reported bugs
3 issues- Lines not appearing where tapped
- Incompatibility with certain devices
- Frequent crashes and app exits
Requested features
4 requests- Undo button
- Slower opponent mode
- Instructions or tutorial
- Ability to choose line type
Little Go
Reported bugs
9 issues- Cannot pass to end the game
- Human player cannot place stones (sometimes)
- AI makes illegal moves
- AI resigns too early
- Undo button glitches
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Game crashes
- AI plays the same game repeatedly
- Scoring inaccuracies
- Forward/fast forward buttons too close
Requested features
7 requests- Add a tutorial for beginners
- Improve UI clarity and intuitiveness
- Add a demo board for teaching
- Add a rematch option
- Add Game Center support for turn-based matches
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Option to turn off auto-scoring
- Add a Windows program version
In-app purchases
Doodle Dots
No in-app purchases
Little Go
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Doodle Dots free?
Is Little Go free?
Which has better reviews, Doodle Dots or Little Go?
Do Doodle Dots or Little Go have ads?
Which is updated more often, Doodle Dots or Little Go?
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