Battleship
Tap a square in the top grid
What is Battleship?
Battleship is the free naval guessing game played on two grids: the enemy fleet above and your own below. Each side hides five ships, and you take turns firing at single squares trying to find and sink them. What starts as blind guessing turns into deduction the moment you land a hit, because a ship occupies a straight line and every hit tells you where the rest of it must be.
How to play Battleship
Controls: Tap a square in the top grid
- 1Your five ships are placed on the lower grid; the enemy fleet is hidden on the upper one.
- 2Tap a square in the upper grid to fire at it.
- 3A red burst means a hit, a small pale dot means a miss.
- 4When you sink a ship you are told which one it was.
- 5Sink all five enemy ships before they sink yours.
Battleship tips and strategy
- Do not fire at random. Shooting in a checkerboard pattern guarantees you will find every ship of length two or more, using half the shots that sweeping every square would.
- The moment you hit, work that hit. Fire at the four squares around it to find the ship's direction, then follow that line until the ship sinks.
- Once you know the direction, stop testing the perpendicular squares. Every shot spent proving something you already know is a shot the enemy gets for free.
- Track what is left. If only the four-square carrier remains, ignore any area that cannot fit four squares in a line.
Battleship FAQ
What is the best strategy in Battleship?
Fire in a checkerboard pattern rather than at random, since every ship is at least two squares long and so must touch one of those squares. Once you get a hit, switch to hunting: fire at the four adjacent squares to establish the ship's orientation, then work along that line until it sinks.
How many ships are there?
Five per side: one four-square carrier, two three-square cruisers and two two-square patrol boats, for seventeen squares in total.
Does the computer cheat?
No. It fires at squares it has not tried before and cannot see your ship positions. On Admiral difficulty it does play better, switching from random fire to hunting the neighbours of any hit, which is exactly the strategy a good human uses.
Can I place my own ships?
Ships are placed automatically at the start of each game, for both you and the enemy, so a round begins the moment you pick a difficulty.
