Comparison

Little Go vs iMaki

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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).

About

iMaki

Score points by strategically removing groups of same-colored tiles. Advance through increasingly challenging levels by clearing enough tiles. Utilize special tools to aid your decisions and customize the game's appearance.

Highlights
  • Strategic tile removal
  • Score multiplier for larger groups
  • Level progression
  • In-game tools
  • Appearance customization
  • Cross-device play
Features
Read full description

A fun, deceptively simple little game that rewards you for strategic thinking. Score points by removing groups of two or more same-colored tiles. The larger you can make a group before you remove it, the more points you score. Advance to another level by clearing enough tiles on the current board. The higher the level you get to, the more points you can rack up, but the more challenging the board becomes. That simple premise can keep you thoroughly absorbed. iMaki's tools let you make strategic decisions to keep a game going... as long as you don't use them up too soon or wait too long to use them. Plus: • Customize iMaki's appearance with different display modes and color palettes • Use tools to control your fate • Earn more tools with good moves • Play on iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

Screenshots

Little Go4 screens
iMaki2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: iMaki at 100% against Little Go's 50%. iMaki also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.3). Little Go's advantage is price (Free vs $0.99) and ratings volume (121 vs 5). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Little Go is free to download; iMaki costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iMaki holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Little Go has 121 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Little Go's written reviews are positive against 100% of iMaki's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Little Go ships an update every 4 months, iMaki every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Little Go versus iMaki: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLittle GoiMaki
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating3.3 (121 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings121 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB10 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperPatrick Naf MoserDennis Birch

Customer experience

Little Go

All ratings118 ratings
Positive53.4%
Neutral9.3%
Negative37.3%
Written reviews74 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral20.3%
Negative29.7%

iMaki

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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
Show 4 more
  • 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 more
  • Option to turn off auto-scoring
  • Add a Windows program version

iMaki

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Little Go

No in-app purchases

None

iMaki

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Little Go free?
Little Go is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is iMaki free?
iMaki costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Little Go or iMaki?
iMaki is rated higher. Little Go averages 3.3 out of 5 from 121 ratings, while iMaki averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Little Go or iMaki have ads?
Neither Little Go nor iMaki shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Little Go or iMaki?
Little Go ships an update every 4 months, and iMaki every 2 months. Most recently, Little Go was updated on November 1, 2026 and iMaki on October 21, 2026.

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