About

Battleships is a two-player strategy guessing game where each player secretly arranges a fleet on a personal grid, then takes turns calling coordinates to locate and sink enemy ships. It's a game of deduction and probability — each shot narrows the field of possibility and informs where to aim next.

When a hit is confirmed, the pressure shifts: determine the ship's orientation before your opponent repairs the situation. Systematic targeting strategies can dramatically reduce the number of shots needed to sink the fleet.

Digital Battleships against AI runs in 5–10 minutes, making it a satisfying self-contained break activity.

How to Play

• Secretly place your fleet of ships (sizes 2–5 squares) on your 10×10 grid.
• Players alternate calling a grid coordinate; the opponent reports hit or miss.
• When all squares of a ship are hit, it sinks — the opponent announces which ship.
• Sink all opponent ships to win.

Tips

• Use a checkerboard targeting pattern — since the smallest ship is 2 squares, alternating squares covers all possibilities with half the shots.
• After a hit, shoot adjacent squares in a line to determine ship orientation.
• Avoid placing your own ships along edges — experienced opponents probe the perimeter early.

History

Battleships evolved from pencil-and-paper coordinate games played in the early 20th century. Milton Bradley introduced the definitive plastic peg-and-grid format in 1967. The game was adapted into electronic versions starting in the late 1970s and published in over 30 countries. Battleships also serves as a benchmark problem for Bayesian search algorithms in academic AI literature.