Tsumego Pro (Go problems) vs Smart Othello
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Daily tsumego problems
- Adaptive difficulty modes
- Detailed solutions and bad variations
- Color selection (black, white, random)
- Hint system
- Book theme
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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)
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 ads: Smart Othello at none against Tsumego Pro (Go problems)'s shown. Tsumego Pro (Go problems)'s advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (74% vs 65%). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Tsumego Pro (Go problems) sells 12 one-off in-app purchases and Smart Othello sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Tsumego Pro (Go problems) against 4.6 for Smart Othello. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.8K and 535 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 74% of Tsumego Pro (Go problems)'s written reviews are positive against 65% of Smart Othello's.
Tsumego Pro (Go problems) ships an update every 3 weeks, Smart Othello every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tsumego Pro (Go problems) | Smart Othello |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.8K ratings) | 4.6 (535 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 74.1% of reviews — better | 65.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.8K — better | 535 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Emmanuel Mathis | Smart Go, Inc. |
Customer experience
Tsumego Pro (Go problems)
Smart Othello
User reviews
Tsumego Pro (Go problems)
From 1.8K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Smart Othello
From 535 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
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
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- More content and problem sets
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
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- 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
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- Better online mode instructions and documentation
- Auto-play engine for replay functionality
- Restore previous purchases
- Improve difficulty level progression
In-app purchases
Tsumego Pro (Go problems)
- +150 Basic Problems$0.99
- +150 Intermediate problems$0.99
- +150 Easy problems$0.99
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- 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
Smart Othello
- Pro Pack$2.99
Questions
Is Tsumego Pro (Go problems) free?
Is Smart Othello free?
Which has better reviews, Tsumego Pro (Go problems) or Smart Othello?
Do Tsumego Pro (Go problems) or Smart Othello have ads?
Which is updated more often, Tsumego Pro (Go problems) or Smart Othello?
Other comparisons
