Whoever picks it up.

Go has been played in East Asia for thousands of years, and for decades it was the game computers couldn't win. When one finally beat one of the world's best players, it was news everywhere. If you've always been curious but it looked a little quiet, this is the loud version: real Go with a show on top, and it works whether you have never played or play every week.

• 🔰Never played GoTwenty short lessons and four drills on a real board, whenever you want them.
• ⚫Already playReal rules on 9×9, 13×13 or 19×19, against four levels of computer.
• 🤝Two at one phonePass and play with a friend, each of you one of the world's two fighters.
• 🥊Here for the fightsIn Full show, the default, every capture of three or more stones turns into a cartoon brawl.

A capture, in four frames.

1. One breath left.Three white stones, hemmed in.
2. They stand up.The move that takes them starts a brawl.
3. The rumble.Several little fights at once.
4. The knockout.Then back into the stones.

In Full show, every capture of three or more stones becomes a brawl on the board. Smaller captures get a quick gag instead, and so does a big one in Quick show or with Reduce Motion on. Nobody is ever hurt in a way that stops being cartoon, and the board always ends exactly where the move left it. Tap the board during any animation to skip it.

Two worlds, two very different fights.

Each world has its own board, its own pair of fighters, its own jokes and its own music. The heads are always Go stones, black and white, so you always know whose side is whose.

• VS
  Zen GardenFind your balance.Shinobi Shale and Master MarbleA garden at golden hour, calm until it isn't: a koi slap, a gong to the head, a rake stepped on, an anvil from nowhere, and a very rare koi. The music is rain on the garden, and when the game heats up, the weather does too.
• VS
  Cyber DojoHigh tech. Higher stakes.Hot Rock and Cool QuartzA rooftop dojo over a neon city at night. Hot Rock runs so hot his stone has to be air-cooled; Cool Quartz is stuck in power-save and grumpy about it. The music is a neon hum over the city, turning to synthwave as the game heats up.

Two more worlds show in the app, locked: they aren't released yet.

Learn Go, if you want it.

Never played? Twenty short lessons and four drills, on a real board, from the first liberty to counting a finished game. Each world's own two fighters teach them, and the white one volunteers for every demonstration.

1. Twenty lessons, four drills.Five chapters, with drills at the end.
2. Taught on the board.The teacher talks; the stones react.
3. Counting, taught.Count with me numbers every stone and point.

Short lessons on a real board, whenever you want them. Nothing is locked and none of it is required.Learn Go's own first line. A game is always one tap away.

Play it your way.

• 🤖Against the computerFour levels, and it plays on your phone. Battle Go's own engine plays to start; a KataGo neural-network opponent, still in beta, is a choice in Settings.
  • Beginner
  • Casual
  • Club
  • Strong
• 🤝A friend on this phonePass and play: each of you is one of the world's fighters, black moves first, and you hand the phone over after each move. The winning fighter gets the victory pose and the headline.Hand the phone over
• ⚪9×9, 13×13 or 19×19A quick tap places a stone on any board. If you'd rather aim first on the big boards, Confirm moves on big boards is in Settings. The size button on the game screen starts the same match again on another size.Placing stones
• 🎬As much show as you likeFull show, every capture a fight. Quick show: the same personality, cut short. Quiet board: a traditional board, stones come and go quietly. With Reduce Motion on, nothing flies or shakes.Show

Restart and Resign sit right on the game screen. In the first ten moves Restart starts over at once, and after that it asks; Resign always asks. Undo, Hint, Pass and Menu are underneath, and Explain moves names atari, ladders and ko as they happen.

What you pay.

What stays on your iPhone.

What the game keeps is kept on your iPhone: your settings, the game you're in the middle of, and which lessons you've finished. The computer opponent, the music and the art all run on the phone, and in this version the game has no internet connection and no link to other phones. There's no account, no server of ours, no analytics and no advertising. The details are in the privacy policy below.

Battle Go is still being made. It runs on its maker's phone today, it's coming to testers soon, and it isn't on the App Store yet. It's made for iPhone, held upright: there is no iPad or Mac version. Not in this version: playing against a friend's phone nearby, and the two locked worlds.