PANDANET(Go) vs Little Go
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PANDANET(Go)
Play, view, and learn the ancient strategy game of Go on your mobile device. Connect with a global community, watch professional matches, and improve your skills with daily challenges and archived games.
- Real-time game viewing and play
- Watch professional Go matches
- Daily Go trivia questions
- Social networking features
- Match history and archives
- Automated opponent matching
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At long last, a free iOS-compatible Go app is now available through Pandanet! Approximately 80 thousand members from more than 150 countries use the Pandanet Go Match website and its world-class online Go Salon. Go is gaining popularity around the world as a "mind game," and now Pandanet brings it to your fingertips to be enjoyed at home or "on the go." == App Features == [Game Viewing] This feature allows you to display a list of users currently in rooms, view matches in real time, etc. If you have a Pandanet account already, you can play games. At least 1,000 members are logged in at all times, allowing you to play or view Go matches 24 hours a day, every day of the year. A perfect way to wile the time during commutes to work or school. Plus a reliable, patented rating system allows you to match up with anyone, regardless of skill differences, under the appropriate handicaps to even out the playing field. -------- [Pro Games] This feature enables you to view live or archived title matches between top professional Go players, including the Qisheng, Meijin, Honinbo, Oza, Gosei, and Judan matches. Various other professional matches, Pair Go championship games, and even amateur tournaments are available for live or archival viewing as well. -------- [News / Streaming] Go has been gaining worldwide popularity as an international "mind game". Pandanet features a stream of relevant, up-to-date Go-related information, including professional title match and amateur match information in real time. -------- [Invitation] Pressing "Invitation" at the bottom of the screen will display a list of potential opponents who you can invite to play in a match. You can also select "Any player", which has the computer automatically match you with an opponent who meets your conditions. Checking the "Received" box shows invitations received from other players, and checking the "Sent" box shows you details for invitations that you've sent out. -------- [Question-a-day] A question is asked each day, covering various genres. Questions are updated on a daily basis, allowing you to answer at your own leisure. Answering a little each day will surely improve your playing skills. -------- [Net Social Plaza] - Pandanet offers a "Social Plaza" (SNS) feature that includes the following services: - The option to view your own match history and records. - The option to join a community that interests you, and to socialize with other community members by posting on a forum and sending messages. -------- [Archive] Every match you've played can be saved to the software. You can also enter your own game records to store them, enter a variation diagram, etc. so that you can look through past matches anywhere at any time. -------- [Settings] You can change the following settings, or check app controls here. == Content unrelated to matches == - Account - Change status - Set info - Move room + Match-related content + - Show coordinates - Change autoplay speed - Confirm moves - Zoom out after move - Adjust volume * Layout features such as stones and boards can be customized in the iPad version. -------- == Intro to Pandanet Events & Tournaments == Pandanet holds a variety of Go tournaments and events. (1) SportAccord-Pandanet Cup Online Go Tournament The "SportAccord Go Online Tournament" and "Pandanet Cup Internet World Amateur Go Tournament" were combined to form this large-scale internet world Go tournament. It's held for classes ranging from indiscriminate to C Class, and awesome prizes are awarded to the champions in each class. Participation is free, so please take advantage of this unique opportunity to compete with Go fans from around the world. (2) Pandanet Go European Team Championship Five players, each representing a European country, play in team competition. (3) Pandanet-AGA City League Five players, each representing an American city, play in team competition. (Many more events are available as well. Check the website for details.) --------
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 in-app purchases: Little Go at none against PANDANET(Go)'s 1. Little Go also leads on rating (3.3 vs 2.9) and review sentiment (50% vs 34%). PANDANET(Go)'s advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 16.0). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. PANDANET(Go) sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Little Go asks for nothing beyond the download.
Little Go holds the better App Store score, 3.3 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 33 and 121 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 34% of PANDANET(Go)'s written reviews are positive against 50% of Little Go's.
PANDANET(Go) ships an update every 2 months, Little Go every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PANDANET(Go) | Little Go |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.9 (33 ratings) | 3.3 (121 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.8% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 33 | 121 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 51 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | PANDANET Inc. | Patrick Naf Moser |
Customer experience
PANDANET(Go)
Little Go
Bugs and requests
PANDANET(Go)
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
PANDANET(Go)
- 30 Days Registration$17.99
Little Go
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is PANDANET(Go) free?
Is Little Go free?
Which has better reviews, PANDANET(Go) or Little Go?
Do PANDANET(Go) or Little Go have ads?
Which is updated more often, PANDANET(Go) or Little Go?
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