Comparison

Little Go vs The Othello

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

The Othello

Experience a visually stunning Othello game with 30 difficulty levels for all skill sets. Challenge the computer to unlock special boards and stones, or play with friends on a single device. Save your progress, get hints, and even share game records via email.

Highlights
  • 30 difficulty levels
  • Unlockable special boards and stones
  • Human vs Computer play
  • Human vs Human play (single device)
  • Handicap game option
  • Save/Load game records
  • Email game record transmission
Features
Read full description

If you are looking for a real Othello app with beautiful graphics and animation, this is it! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Othello" is a wonderful version. With this single app alone, you can play with all of iPhone/iPod touch/iPad ! And... Enjoy "real" Othello whenever you like, wherever you want. *30 difficulty levels from beginner to expert. You will find the most suitable strength among the 30 levels for "head-to-head" game. *Challenge to win the special style boards by defeating computer! If you defeat computer under the given conditions, you will get the new surprising boards and stones to replace. *Other features: - Human vs Computer, Human vs Human (sharing a single device) - Handicap game(a game starting with 1-4 black handicap-stones) - Save/Load game record - Hint - transmit game record by e-mail - play this game while listening iPhone music

Screenshots

Little Go4 screens
The Othello4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Little Go at none against The Othello's 1. Little Go also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (121 vs 40). The Othello's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. The Othello sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Little Go asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Othello holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 121 and 40 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Little Go's written reviews are positive against 55% of The Othello's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Little Go ships an update every 4 months, The Othello every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Little Go versus The Othello: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLittle GoThe Othello
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (121 ratings)3.5 (40 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews55.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings121 — better40
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB63 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPatrick Naf MoserUNBALANCE Corporation

Customer experience

Little Go

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

The Othello

All ratings40 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral7.5%
Negative32.5%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive55.3%
Neutral9.2%
Negative35.5%

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

The Othello

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Little Go

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

The Othello

One-time1
  • Remove Ad$2.99

Questions

Is Little Go free?
Little Go is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Othello free?
The Othello is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Little Go or The Othello?
The Othello is rated higher. Little Go averages 3.3 out of 5 from 121 ratings, while The Othello averages 3.5 from 40 ratings.
Do Little Go or The Othello have ads?
The Othello shows ads; Little Go does not.
Which is updated more often, Little Go or The Othello?
Little Go ships an update every 4 months, and The Othello every 3 months. Most recently, Little Go was updated on November 1, 2026 and The Othello on November 1, 2026.

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