Battleship

1 Introduction

Battleship is one of the most iconic two-player games ever made. The premise is brutally simple: you and your opponent each hide a fleet on a 10×10 grid, then take turns calling out coordinates trying to sink each other's ships. You see only your own fleet and the growing pattern of hits and misses on your tracking grid. Everything else is hidden.

The game is fundamentally about deduction. Every miss narrows down where the ships are not. Every hit starts a search pattern. A good Battleship player develops a systematic targeting strategy, never guesses randomly when logic points somewhere, and places ships in positions that are hardest to find efficiently. A single game takes 20–30 minutes and is endlessly replayable because setup is different every time.

2 Components

• 2 ocean grids — each player has a double-sided unit with a lower grid (your fleet) and an upper tracking grid (where you record shots at the opponent)
• 5 ships per player: Carrier (5 pegs), Battleship (4 pegs), Destroyer (3 pegs), Submarine (3 pegs), Patrol Boat (2 pegs)
• Red pegs — placed on your ships to mark hits your opponent landed on you; also placed on your tracking grid to mark your successful hits
• White pegs — placed on your tracking grid to mark misses

The Grid

Each grid is a 10×10 square. Columns are labeled A through J (left to right). Rows are numbered 1 through 10 (top to bottom). A coordinate like "B-7" refers to column B, row 7. The lower grid is where you place your own ships; the upper grid is where you track shots at your opponent.

3 Setup

Each player sets up their unit so their fleet grid is hidden from the opponent. The units typically clip together in a "tent" formation, raising a screen between players.

Placing Your Fleet

Place all five ships on your lower grid. Ships may be placed horizontally or vertically (not diagonally). Ships cannot overlap. Each ship occupies a number of consecutive grid squares equal to its length (Carrier = 5 squares, Battleship = 4, etc.).

Ships may touch each other — official rules do not require spacing between ships. However, some players use a house rule requiring one space between ships.

Take time with placement. Your opponent's ability to find your ships depends entirely on how you arrange them. Once both players have placed their fleets, play begins.

4 Objective

Sink all five of your opponent's ships before they sink all of yours. A ship is sunk when every grid square it occupies has been hit (all its peg holes are filled with red pegs). The first player to sink the entire enemy fleet wins.

5 How to Play

Decide who goes first (youngest player, coin flip, or the player who was most recently at sea). Players alternate turns throughout the game.

Calling a Shot

On your turn, call out one coordinate (e.g., "E-5"). Your opponent checks their fleet grid for that coordinate:

• Miss: If no ship occupies that square, your opponent says "Miss." You place a white peg on that coordinate on your tracking grid as a record. Your opponent also places a white peg on the corresponding coordinate on their fleet grid (to remind them you already shot there).
• Hit: If a ship occupies that square, your opponent says "Hit." You place a red peg on your tracking grid. Your opponent places a red peg on the ship part that was hit.

Regardless of hit or miss, your turn ends after one shot. There are no bonus shots for hitting.

Announce Sinking

When all squares of a ship have been hit, your opponent must announce which ship was sunk: "You sunk my Battleship!" (or Carrier, Destroyer, etc.). This tells you the size and identity of the ship — useful information for targeting the rest of the fleet.

6 Sinking Ships

Sinking a ship requires hitting every grid square it occupies. A 4-square Battleship requires 4 hits, all on its correct squares. Knowing when a ship is sunk is important: once a ship is sunk, you know those squares are accounted for and any additional hits in that area come from a different ship.

Ship Sizes Reference

7 Strategy

Systematic Searching

Random firing is inefficient. The optimal opening strategy is a checkerboard pattern: fire only on squares of one color in a mental checkerboard. This guarantees you will hit every ship of length 2 or more (the Patrol Boat being the smallest). Once you hit something, switch to hunt mode.

Mathematically, the most likely locations for ships are near the center of the grid, not the edges. Ships placed near edges have fewer valid orientations. The corners are the worst squares to target first.

Hunt and Target

When you score a hit, you know the ship is on one of the four adjacent squares (unless it is at an edge). Fire at the adjacent squares systematically: up, down, left, right. Once you hit again, you know the ship's orientation (horizontal or vertical) and can target along that line until it sinks.

Placing Your Ships

Good placement is half the game. Avoid putting ships at the very center of the grid — systematic players target the center first. The edges and corners, while intuitive hiding spots, are where most players do not look last — make your placement unpredictable. Separate your ships so that one good hit streak cannot cascade into multiple sinkings.

Avoid Patterns

Experienced opponents look for patterns: all ships horizontal, ships near edges, ships bunched together. Vary your placement in every game. Randomness within smart placement principles is your best defense.

8 Wrong House Rules

"You Get an Extra Shot on a Hit"

Not official. Standard Battleship: one shot per turn, period. The bonus-shot house rule is extremely common but significantly changes the game by rewarding early luck exponentially. Official rules: one shot, then your turn ends.

"Ships Must Have a Space Between Them"

Not in the official rulebook. Ships may touch — they just cannot overlap. The no-adjacent-ships house rule is popular because it makes ships easier to identify once found, but it is not standard.

"You Can Move Ships If You Haven't Been Hit Yet"

Completely wrong. All ships are placed before the first shot and never move. No ship movements are legal at any point during play.

"Announce What Ship Was Hit (Not Just Hit or Miss)"

Wrong. You say "Hit" or "Miss" after each shot. You announce the name of a ship only when it is fully sunk. Announcing which ship type is hit (but not sunk) is not standard and gives away too much information.

9 History

Battleship's origins lie in paper-and-pencil grid guessing games played by soldiers during World War I, primarily French and Russian troops according to game historians. The paper version appeared in puzzle books in the 1920s and 1930s. Milton Bradley published the first plastic board game version in 1967, and it became one of the best-selling games in history.

Electronic versions appeared in the 1970s and 1980s, culminating in the Electronic Battleship (1977) by Milton Bradley, which featured sound effects and automatically tracked shots. Hasbro (which acquired Milton Bradley) has published numerous variants including Battleship Grab & Go, Battleship Electronic, and special editions. The game inspired a feature film in 2012. Today it remains a staple of family game nights and is recognized worldwide as a symbol of classic board gaming.

10 Frequently Asked Questions