How to Play Battleships
Everything a new commander needs to know — the board, the fleet, the rules, and a few strategies that win games.
The Objective
Two fleets face each other on hidden halves of a 10×10 grid. You cannot see where the enemy ships are, and the enemy cannot see yours. Players take turns firing shots at grid squares. The first player to sink every ship in the opposing fleet wins.
The Fleet
Each side commands five ships. Every ship occupies a straight line of squares on the grid:
| Ship | Size (squares) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier | 5 | The largest target — and the biggest loss |
| Battleship | 4 | The classic centerpiece of the fleet |
| Cruiser | 3 | Fast, mid-sized warship |
| Submarine | 3 | Same size as the Cruiser |
| Destroyer | 2 | The smallest and hardest-to-find vessel |
Ships may be placed horizontally or vertically, never diagonally, and no two ships may share a square. In our online version both fleets are placed automatically at random at the start of each battle, so you can jump straight into the action.
Taking a Turn
- Fire. On your turn, click any square in the enemy waters that you haven't fired at before.
- Hear the result. A red ✕ means hit; a grey circle means miss. When every square of a ship has been hit, it is announced as sunk.
- Brace for return fire. The AI admiral immediately fires back at one random square in your waters.
- Repeat until one fleet is completely destroyed.
That's the whole game. Unlike the playground version, there's no calling "B7!" across the room and no arguing about whether that was a hit — the game tracks everything for you in the battle log.
Strategy Tips From Veteran Admirals
1. Use the parity search
The smallest ship is 2 squares long, which means ships always cover at least one square where row and column are both even (or both odd). If you fire only on those "checkerboard" squares first, you're guaranteed to touch every possible ship position while taking roughly half the shots. Once you've covered the board this way, sweep the remaining squares.
2. Switch to hunt mode after a hit
The moment you score a hit, stop searching and start hunting. The rest of that ship lies in the same row or column. Fire at the four neighbours of your hit; once you know the ship's direction, keep firing along that line until it sinks.
3. Think about what can still fit
After a few ships have sunk, count the sizes still afloat. Late in the game, only the 2-square Destroyer may remain — so long open stretches of water become the most likely hiding spots, and tight clusters near sunken wrecks can be safely skipped.
4. Don't waste shots on sunk ships' borders
Ships can't overlap, so squares adjacent to a fully-sunk ship are guaranteed empty along its length. Cross them off mentally and put your next shot somewhere useful.
5. Stay calm against random fire
Our AI fires completely at random, which means its hits come in unpredictable bursts. A lucky early strike doesn't mean the enemy knows where you are — it just got lucky. Stick to your search pattern and the mathematics will usually carry you to victory.
Ready to Command?
You now know everything you need. The fleet is waiting.
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