It’s time to go head-to-head into battle. Put strategy to work to seek out your opponent’s fleet of ships … And destroy them, one by one! I am of course talking about the classic board game, Battleship. Who could ever forget the immortal cry of “You sank my battleship!” thundering through the room.
Battleship as a game, is thought to have originated during World War I (1914-1918) and was a paper based game. It wasn’t until 1967 that it became the game of naval warfare playing on plastic grids and coloured pegs. A game that brings together competition, strategy, and excitement! In head-to-head battle, 2 players search for their enemy’s fleet of ships and destroys them one by one until somebody cries out those infamous words of “You sank my battleship!”, although the battleship may not necessarily be the last ship to be destroyed.
You sank my battleship!
Battleship is a strategy board game for 2 players, suitable for age 7+. It has a playing time of around 20-30 minutes. The idea is to hunt, seek and destroy your opponent’s Battleship, as well as their Carrier, Cruiser, Submarine and Destroyer before they can sink yours!
In the box:
- 2 Battle Cases
- 10 Ships
- Bag of Red ‘Hit’ Pegs
- Bag of Yellow ‘Miss’ Pegs
- Instructions
Battleship isn’t played on a flat traditional board; it is played on two battle cases. Each player has a battle case that opens (like a laptop) and five ships: Carrier (5 holes), Battleship (4 holes), Cruiser (3 Holes), Submarine (3 holes), and a Destroyer (2 holes). The battle case consists of two 10×10 grids, the bottom being the ocean grid and the vertical being the target grid. Players position their five ships anywhere on the ocean grid, clicking them into place. Now with each player in command of a naval fleet, war begins.
To play, each player grabs a battle case and sits opposite each other. With their battle case open in front of them each player places their ships horizontally or vertically (they can’t be placed diagonally) on the ocean grid part of the case (bottom). Players take half of each colour peg and puts them in their storage spaces in the case. After deciding who goes first, it is time to go hunting, to seek and destroy.
Game play is easy. Players take turns to call out a grid reference (e.g. E6) where they hope to find one of the opponent’s ships. If their opponent has a ship in this position, they must shout out ‘Hit’ and place a red peg in that position on the ship. The firing player marks it on their vertical target grid with a red peg also. If it is a miss, then the player shouts ‘Miss’ and both players mark the spot on their respective board with a yellow peg. When a ship is sunk, all holes are filled with a red peg, the player must say which ship is sunk and remove it from the board. Play continues until one player has all their five ships sunk and destroyed. The player that still has ships remaining is the winner.
Overall, I love playing Battleship, it is a classic game and still lots of fun. It is an easy game to play. Whilst is does have an element of strategy involved, it is mostly a guessing game that requires logic and patience. It is great at helping children with decision making and learning how grids and grid references work.
Battleship is a very competitive and fun game to play, but it also requires co-operation between the players. Without the players co-operating and talking and saying when there is a hit or miss and if a ship has been sunk it wouldn’t work. So is also good for developing social skills and healthy fun competition.
The game boards, or rather the Battle Cases, are strong and sturdy. Once play has finished you can store the ships and pegs in the case and close the lid. They even have carry handles, making them easily portable if you did want to take them elsewhere to play. You can even get a smaller travel size version of the game.
This is an excellent game for family game nights or just for playing on a rainy day. It is lots of fun hunting down and destroying your opponent’s naval fleet. And it is perfect for getting the players to engage in the play rather than just passively moving a pawn around a board.
Battleship is a classic board game that has been around over 50 years and is still just as much fun. It has excellent playability and very replayable. Will it be you crying out “You sank my Battleship!” or your opponent?
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £19.99
Available to buy from Amazon here.
