Battleship (game)
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The game Battleship is a guessing game played by two people. Although made popular throughout the world as a commercial board game published by the Milton Bradley Company, it was originally played as a pencil and paper game.
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Description
The game is played on four grids, two for each player. The grids are typically square, and the individual squares in the grid are identified by letter and number. On one grid the player arranges his own ships and records the shots by the opponent. On the other grid, the player records his own shots.
Before play begins, each player arranges a number of ships secretly on the grid for that player. Each ship occupies a number of contiguous squares on the grid, arranged either horizontally or vertically. The number of squares for each ship is determined by the number of pegholes in the ship. The ships cannot overlap (a square is used in one ship only--no intersecting ships). The number of ships allowed is the same for each player.
After the ships have been positioned, the game proceeds in a series of rounds. In each round, each player has a turn. During a turn, the player announces a square in the opponents' grid. If a ship occupies that square, the players place red pegs on their corresponding grid for the targeter and ship for the targeted. If the announced square does not have a ship, a white peg is placed instead. When all of one player's ships have had red pegs in all of their pegholes, the other player has won the game.
Battleships with ships
A commercial version which sticks to its namesake is played on a 10 by 10 rectangular grid with these vessels: 1. Battleship (5 squares x 1 square) 2. Destroyer (4 x 1) 3. Cruiser (3 x 1) 4. Frigate (3 x 1) 5. Submarine (2 x 1)
When all the squares of a vessel is hit, its owner declares its name and that it has been sunk. The player who sinks all of his or her opponent's vessels first wins. Some variants allow each player to fire as many shots as he or she has vessels afloat in each turn, instead of the single shot per turn.
Variations
Many variations in the basic rules are possible, including the sizes of the grids, the numbers and sizes of the ships, the numbers of shots allowed, and when hits are announced. Most of the variants simplify the game, which is useful for younger players.
In one variant, the opponent announces a hit after each target square is given. This reduces the challenge of guessing the locations of the ships.
In another variant, the number of shots allowed is reduced by each individual hit, rather than by ships sunk. This reduces the benefit for locating ships precisely.
A logical variation of battleship in which guessing is not required is more common in puzzle magazines. There will be some form of clues, either as row or column tallies or neighboring ship segment tallies in such a way that no guesses are needed to solve the puzzle. See Battleship (puzzle).
External links
- Logical Variation of Battleship puzzle in a hexagonal Grid (http://www.yoogi.com/hexip.htm)
- Home of Fathom It!, Solitaire Battleships for logical buffs. (http://www.mountainvistasoft.com)
- Play it online (free) (http://www.anothersite.co.uk/news.php?artc=42&)he:צוללות (משחק)