Comparison

Little Go vs Tsumego Pro (Go problems)

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

Tsumego Pro (Go problems)

Enhance your Go skills with a vast library of tsumego puzzles. Learn from detailed solutions and explore variations to understand mistakes. Features daily problems, adaptive difficulty, and customizable game settings.

Highlights
  • Daily tsumego problems
  • Adaptive difficulty modes
  • Detailed solutions and bad variations
  • Color selection (black, white, random)
  • Hint system
  • Book theme
Features
Read full description

Improve your Go game (weiqi, baduk) with Tsumego Pro and its large collection of tsumego problems! Each problem contains all valid answers and a lot of bad variations, to help you know why you are wrong. Features: - 6 daily problems - A simple mode: try to solve all problems in each package - A progress mode: the difficulty increases or decreases depending on your level - Choose your color (black, white, random) - Browse the solution, or just get a hint - A book theme (black and white)

Screenshots

Little Go4 screens
Tsumego Pro (Go problems)4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Tsumego Pro (Go problems) at 4.5 against Little Go's 3.3. Tsumego Pro (Go problems) also leads on review sentiment (74% vs 50%) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months). Little Go's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 12) and ads (none vs shown). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Tsumego Pro (Go problems) sells 12 one-off in-app purchases. Little Go asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tsumego Pro (Go problems) holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tsumego Pro (Go problems) has 1.8K ratings behind it against 120, 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 74% of Tsumego Pro (Go problems)'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Little Go ships an update every 4 months, Tsumego Pro (Go problems) every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Little Go versus Tsumego Pro (Go problems): the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLittle GoTsumego Pro (Go problems)
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (120 ratings)4.5 (1.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews74.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1201.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPatrick Naf MoserEmmanuel Mathis

Customer experience

Little Go

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

Tsumego Pro (Go problems)

All ratings1,780 ratings
Positive89.9%
Neutral4.0%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews255 reviews
Positive74.1%
Neutral9.4%
Negative16.5%

User reviews

Little Go

From 120 App Store ratings

What 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

Tsumego Pro (Go problems)

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Stimulate thinking
  • 👍 Minimalistic, Gets the Job Done
  • 👍 Great app for learning Go on the move!
  • 👍 Great app
  • 👍 Amazing Go app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Do Not Buy All-Access Pack
  • 🐛 Sometimes it says resolved when black loses
  • 🐛 Not for beginners, not helpful at all
  • 🐛 Decent - room for improvement
  • 🐛 Lacking feedback, errors, & lack of control

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

Tsumego Pro (Go problems)

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Purchases do not work
  • Incorrect problems
  • Issues with the progress mode and problem selection

Requested features

6 requests
  • Explanation when a move is correct or incorrect
  • More explanations and instructions for beginners
  • Ability to play out variations and see different outcomes
  • Consistent difficulty ratings for problems
  • Ability to bookmark and revisit problems
Show 1 more
  • More content and problem sets

In-app purchases

None

Little Go

No in-app purchases

12 purchases

Tsumego Pro (Go problems)

One-time12
  • +150 Basic Problems$0.99
  • +150 Intermediate problems$0.99
  • +150 Easy problems$0.99
Show 9 more
  • Beginner problems$1.99
  • Elementary problems$1.99
  • Intermediate problems$1.99
  • Advanced problems$1.99
  • Advanced problems #2$1.99
  • Basic tesuji$1.99
  • Daily problems - Easy$1.99
  • Daily problems - Hard$1.99
  • All-Access Pass$9.99

Questions

Is Little Go free?
Little Go is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Tsumego Pro (Go problems) free?
Tsumego Pro (Go problems) is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Little Go or Tsumego Pro (Go problems)?
Tsumego Pro (Go problems) is rated higher. Little Go averages 3.3 out of 5 from 120 ratings, while Tsumego Pro (Go problems) averages 4.5 from 1.8K ratings.
Do Little Go or Tsumego Pro (Go problems) have ads?
Tsumego Pro (Go problems) shows ads; Little Go does not.
Which is updated more often, Little Go or Tsumego Pro (Go problems)?
Little Go ships an update every 4 months, and Tsumego Pro (Go problems) every 3 weeks. Most recently, Little Go was updated on September 21, 2026 and Tsumego Pro (Go problems) on September 24, 2026.

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