Little Go vs Smart Othello
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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).
Smart Othello
Experience the classic strategy board game with this app. Play against friends or a computer with five difficulty levels. Improve your skills with a tutorial and helpful aids, making it easy to learn but challenging to master.
- Five computer play levels
- Real-time matches via Game Center
- Achievements and leaderboards
- Blunder Guard
- Hint, undo, and replay functions
- Collection of top player games
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Play Othello against your friends or the computer. Created by the 1992 US Othello Champion, this is the Othello app you’ve been waiting for. A powerful engine wrapped in a clean user interface. With five levels to choose from, you’ll find the level that gives you the right challenge. The built-in tutorial and teaching aids will help you improve your game — advance to the next level and give your friends a good fight. — A MINUTE TO LEARN … A LIFETIME TO MASTER — Othello has simple rules: just bracket opponent discs and flip them to your color. But proper strategy is more complex than you might think. Smart Othello makes the game enjoyable while improving your play. Features: • Five levels of computer play, from novice to master. • Real-time matches using Game Center. • Achievements and leaderboards to challenge you. • Blunder Guard to keep you from making bad mistakes. • Random openings that give both players an equal chance. • Hint, undo, and easy game replay. • Collection of games by top players for replay and study. Smart Othello was created by the 1992 US Othello Champion, who also developed the acclaimed SmartGo apps for the game of Go. Othello® is a registered trademark of MegaHouse Corporation. Used with permission.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Smart Othello at 4.5 against Little Go's 3.3. Smart Othello also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 50%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). Little Go's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, ads, device support 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
Both are free to download. Smart Othello sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Little Go asks for nothing beyond the download.
Smart Othello holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 121 and 552 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Little Go's written reviews are positive against 65% of Smart Othello's.
Little Go ships an update every 4 months, Smart Othello every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 22, 2026.
| Parameter | Little Go | Smart Othello |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (121 ratings) | 4.5 (552 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 65.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 121 | 552 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Patrick Naf Moser | Smart Go, Inc. |
Customer experience
Little Go
Smart Othello
User reviews
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
Smart Othello
From 552 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🧠 Excellent AI with challenging difficulty levels
- 💡 Helpful hints and tips for learning
- ↩️ Undo button for reviewing mistakes
- 🎨 Clean, elegant, and intuitive interface
- 📚 Extensive expert database (126,000 matches)
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
- 🔋 Excessive battery consumption
- 🌐 Online multiplayer doesn't work reliably
- 📧 Support email feature non-functional
- 🎮 Inconsistent difficulty scaling (too easy or too hard)
Bugs and 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
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- 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
Smart Othello
Reported bugs
9 issues- App freezes on launch when Game Center is enabled
- Game crashes mid-play on certain difficulty levels
- Online play fails to find opponents or pair players
- App locks up when switching to other applications
- Game Center notifications excessive and intrusive
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- Online games create duplicate concurrent matches
- Game sync fails between multiple devices
- Support email from within app doesn't work
- Game becomes unresponsive during online play
Requested features
9 requests- Fix online multiplayer functionality
- Add local 2-player head-to-head mode
- Implement time limits for online moves
- Add option to remove/customize player avatars
- Improve Game Center integration and sync
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Better online mode instructions and documentation
- Auto-play engine for replay functionality
- Restore previous purchases
- Improve difficulty level progression
In-app purchases
Little Go
No in-app purchases
Smart Othello
- Pro Pack$2.99
Questions
Is Little Go free?
Is Smart Othello free?
Which has better reviews, Little Go or Smart Othello?
Do Little Go or Smart Othello have ads?
Which is updated more often, Little Go or Smart Othello?
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