Goban3D vs GoReview
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Goban3D
Experience the ancient game of Go with stunning 3D visuals or a clean 2D interface. Play against the world's strongest AI offline, challenge friends online via Game Center, or enjoy local matches on a single device. Offers extensive accessibility features for all players.
- Play Go in 3D or 2D
- Offline AI play with KataGo
- Online matches with friends
- Local pass-and-play mode
- Multiple board sizes (9x9, 13x13, 19x19)
- Extensive accessibility features
- Customizable board and stone textures
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Goban3D brings the ancient game of Go — also known as 囲碁 (igo), 바둑 (baduk), or 圍棋 (wéiqí) — to iPhone and iPad. Play on a beautifully rendered 3D goban or switch instantly to a clean 2D board. Local matches, private online games with friends via Game Center requested matches, and the world's strongest Go AI, KataGo, all in one app. Whether you've never placed a stone before, want a private match with a friend or club-mate, or are ready to test your skills against the strongest Go engine on the planet — Goban3D is for you. KATAGO AI (FREE, 100% OFFLINE) • The world's strongest open-source Go engine, running natively on Apple Silicon — no internet, no account, no data sent anywhere. The AI is fully on-device • Board sizes 9×9, 13×13, and 19×19 • 26 skill levels: 20 Kyu (complete beginner) through 5 Dan, plus full-strength AI for serious study • Weaker levels use KataGo's Human-style network (trained on human games) so the AI plays like a real person at your rank — not a crippled superhuman • Full-strength mode runs the latest strongest KataGo network published on katagotraining.org as of 15 April 2026 • There's an old Go proverb: "Lose your first 50 games as quickly as possible." Start on 9×9 at 20 Kyu — after 2 or 3 games, winning comes easier than you might think. Each time you win, raise the skill by 1 or 2. KataGo is the best Go teacher ever built, and it speaks every language ONLINE PLAY WITH FRIENDS • Private matches over Game Center with people already in your contacts • Invite a specific friend — no public matchmaking, no strangers • All online games are untimed — take your time and enjoy the game LOCAL PLAY • Two players on one device, pass-and-play • Board sizes: 9×9, 13×13, 19×19 • Handicap stones (0–9) with automatic komi adjustment • Japanese scoring with 6.5 komi — mark dead stones, confirm the score • Untimed by default — take your time and enjoy the game BOARD & VISUALS • 3D board powered by RealityKit — physically-based materials, 60 fps animations for every placement and capture • Instant 2D mode in SwiftUI for low-power play • 4 board textures, 8 stone textures, multiple ground and gridline options — all free • Haptic feedback and authentic wooden stone sound effects • NHK broadcast-style move announcements with optional Go terminology (atari, tsuke, hane, nobi...) ACCESSIBILITY — GO FOR EVERYONE Goban3D makes Go genuinely accessible — across ability, skill level, device, region, and language. No other Go app on the App Store declares any accessibility features. Goban3D has 100% coverage across all seven Apple categories: VoiceOver with full board-position labels, Voice Control, Dynamic Type, Reduce Motion, Reduce Transparency, Sufficient Contrast, and Differentiate Without Color. The app starts in 2D by default, and the 2D SwiftUI board is where the full accessibility stack lives — including complete VoiceOver board navigation. When VoiceOver is on, the 3D toggle is disabled to keep the accessible experience front and centre. A dedicated high-contrast mode and adjustable grid-line thickness help players with low vision. DEVICES • Also runs on Mac and visionOS via "Designed for iPad" • Minimap on smaller iPhones ensures every intersection meets Apple's 44pt minimum tap target, even on 19×19 Free to play, with gameplay that is always ad-free. A brief ad appears on launch and just before scoring mode, so your time on the board is never interrupted. Remove all ads with an optional yearly subscription. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://goban3d.com/en-US/privacy.html
GoReview
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GoReview is the iPhone and iPad Go reviewer that turns every game you play into your personal learning library — local-first, on-device KataGo, no subscription. YOUR LIBRARY, EVERY SOURCE • OGS: sign in once and your finished games sync automatically. • Other servers: drop SGF or Tygem .gib files into the GoReview folder in iCloud Drive — they appear in your library on the next launch. • Batch import: select multiple SGF files at once, with per-file progress and a result summary. Duplicate games are skipped automatically. • Face-to-face: play someone next to you on another device over a local Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection. No internet needed. • Same device: play the AI at 7 strength levels, or hand the iPad back and forth between two players. • iCloud backup and restore: automatically back up games and settings, then restore or merge manually on another device. Includes overwrite confirmation and protection against replacing a larger library; not two-way sync. REVIEW BECOMES PRACTICE • On-device KataGo reviews your full game in seconds — top-3 candidate moves on the board, win-rate chart, territory overlay (Benson), move-by-move commentary written into the SGF when you export. Mistake detection adapts to the rank you set—kyu players see the big blunders, while dan players catch finer slips. Cancel analysis at any time; completed moves stay saved, and you can resume from the checkpoint with an estimated time remaining. • One tap turns each mistake into a practice problem in your personal library. The AI prefills a solution line and likely failure variations. • Author your own twist: replace the suggested move, write why it works in your own words, add the failure paths you actually want to remember. • Solve as multi-move sequences with SM-2 spaced repetition — not single-guess flash cards. • Interactive review: tap the board to branch a variation, the AI re-analyzes, step back and the original game resumes. No modals, no menus. • 9×9, 13×13, 19×19. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, New Zealand rules. • Pinch to zoom, long-press to preview, board sounds and haptics. • Localized in English, 繁體中文, 简体中文, 日本語, and 한국어. TEN PROBLEMS A DAY, A REASON TO COME BACK • Daily practice: due mistake reviews and rank-matched tsumego form one fixed set. Finish it and you're done—not an endless queue. • Streaks, badges, and reminders: choose a time; GoReview nudges you when your streak is at risk, and stays quiet once you're done for the day. • Progress dashboard: streak calendar, 30-day accuracy, total problems solved, and the next 7 days of due reviews—see yourself improve. • 4,000+ OGS collections: browse offline and filter by rank. Download a collection into daily practice; finished for today but want more? Keep solving from the same collection. PRICING GoReview is free. The free tier includes 1,000 saved games and unlimited AI analysis — enough to make this your everyday review tool. Premium is a one-time purchase that lifts the library cap. No subscription, ever. Family Sharing supported. FOR WHO Whether you're a kyu player trying to break through to dan, a single-digit kyu who wants the bot to actually punish your overplays, or a serious amateur who just wants the strongest pocket review tool — GoReview is built for you. Built by a Go player who got tired of every other reviewer either being a web app, a paid subscription, or both. Free: 1,000 saved games and 7 days of progress history. Premium: 30 days of progress history and lifetime totals for every category. --- SUPPORT https://gameboardlab.com/goreview/support PRIVACY POLICY https://gameboardlab.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: GoReview at every 2 days against Goban3D's every 4 days. GoReview also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Goban3D sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $7.99 per year and GoReview sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Goban3D ships an update every 4 days, GoReview every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Goban3D | GoReview |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 246 MB | 298 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Adam Gibbons | Wei Zhi Qin |
In-app purchases
Goban3D
- Remove Ads (Yearly)$7.991 Year
GoReview
- GoReview Premium$7.99







