Battleship

Wage war on the open sea! Find and sink your opponent's ships before he does the same to you in this classic family game which takes place on 10 × 10 grids in which you and your opponent secretly place ships, then take turns "firing torpedoes" in an attempt to locate each other's vessels, which include an aircraft carrier, battleship, destroyer, submarine, and patrol boat.

Each shot either hits an opponents boat, or misses. Each hit damages the ship, and when the maximum damage level has been reached – 5 for the aircraft carrier, 4 for the battleship, 3 for the destroyer, 3 for the submarine, and 2 for the patrol boat – the ship is "sunk". Whichever player sinks all of his opponent's ships first wins!

Battleship is a game that walks the narrow line between strategy and luck, and has remained a family favorite since it was first produced as a board game in 1967 (and even earlier as a paper and pencil puzzle game).

Battleship Games

Battleship History

Battleship was originally developed as a paper-and-pencil puzzle game, perhaps as an homage to World War I sea battles. Each player drew a grid on their paper (the most common size is 10x10, but various other sizes are used as well), then drew rectangular boxes to indicate the ships (again, the original game used various ship names and ship sizes, but that didn't really matter as long as the two players agreed).

The game then proceeded as described earlier, with each "shot" denoted by a row and column, with rows typically labeled 1-10, and columns A-L, so that a shot in the upper left would be "A-1", and the lower right would be "L-10".

To the right is an example of a grid, with a game in progress, with each shot marked off by an "X".

Battleship Variations

The rules described above are the most common, but a number of variations have been devised:

• Battleship Salvo: Instead of taking one shot per round, each ship takes one shot each round. So during the first round(s), each player takes 5 shots. Once a ship is sunk, he'll take 4 shots, and so on. All shots are taken in sequence, then the results are announced (rather than one at a time).
• Indian Battleship: Each player takes 3 shots at a time, and rather than announcing whether each shot is a hit or miss, the players report how many hits, and which ships were struck. This produces more strategic gameplay.
• Hexagonal Battleship: Rather than a square, the grid is in a shape of a hexagon, with several randomly-placed island in the "ocean".

Battleship Official Rules

• Battleship Advanced Mission
• Battleship Card Game
• Battleship Classic
• Battleship GI Joe Rise of Cobra
• Battleship Pirates of the Caribbean
• Battleship Salvo
• Battleship Star Wars Advanced Mission
• Battleship Torpedo Attack
• Battleship U-Build

Battleship Software

• Agean
  Agean is a sea battle game of luck and skill that can be very addictive. You strategically place your ships on a board, as does the computer opponent. Your objective is to sink all of the computers ships before it sinks yours. Requires Macintosh.
• Battle of Words
  Here is an interesting twist on the classic Battleship game that makes you think and spell all at the same time. Load each ship with a noun, carefully plan your strategy, head out to sea and let the battle begin! Colorful graphics enhance the playing field while real sound effects accompany the sinking of your opponents battle ship as you watch him go down.
• Battleship
  Deploy your nautical fleet and blow your competition out of the water in this all-new version of the classic naval strategy game. Just like when you were a kid, fire strategically to locate and sink enemy ships, but this time, use 4 different firing options: Single Shot, Triple Shot, Salvo (one shot for every ship afloat) or Volley (fire until you miss). You can also play the "Fleet Command" mode with different weapons and multiple firing solutions for each kind of ship.
• BattleStar
  A small single-player game similar to the classic BattleShip. The BattleStar game board is a 9x9x9 grid representing a 3-D galaxy. The galaxy contains 927 sectors, 60 of which contain enemy warships. You must locate and destroy these enemy invaders before they can establish bases in the galaxy.
• Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games
  Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games provides all of your favorite classic board and table games, with advanced features to enhance your gaming experience. Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games offers a game for every player and a game for every night! Get ahead faster with In-Game Tutorials that walk you through the fun, step-by-step. With animated opponents who talk back and speak their minds - now it's more than just a game. Bend your mind around more than 60 challenging board and puzzles games, including Backgammon, Battleship, Checkers, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Dominoes, Mahjong Tiles, Mancala, Pachisi, Reversi, Scrabble, Yacht, and more family favorites! Includes both Windows and Mac versions.
• Net Sea War
  Net Sea War is a "battleship"-type board game you can play against computer or real-life opponents. You can play with the computer opponent or with your friend over the Internet, LAN, modem or direct connection. You can exchange messages with the help of a built-in chat; a warning sound is emitted when players connect; and there is a built-in option to connect players over the Internet using on-line server.
• On Land and Sea
  This game is recommended for children and adults who wants to develop memory and logical thinking skills. Your aim is to find all enemy units in the sea or land and to destroy them. Your global aim is to reach the rank of "admiral" or "general".
• SeaWar: TheBattles
  SeaWar: TheBattles is the hottest and coolest 3D battleship game ever made. It looks like a beautiful toy you'll want to play again and again. The game features four episodes with your own ship sets, networked play, embedded chat and unforgettable gameplay.