Featured: ChessBattleship Online: Play Free vs a Friend or the Computer
Hide your fleet, call your shots and sink all five enemy ships first. Free, no download, works on any phone or computer.
How to play Battleship
New to Battleship? Read the full rules and strategy guideShip sizes, smart fleet placement and the checkerboard search that sinks ships faster.Place your fleet
Put your five ships on your grid, across or down. Your opponent never sees them.
Call your shot
On your turn, tap one square in enemy waters to fire at it.
Hit or miss
Orange means a hit, a blue dot means open water. Hit every square of a ship to sink it.
Sink them all
The first player to sink all five enemy ships wins the battle.
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The five ships in your fleet
| Ship | Size | Squares |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier | 5 | |
| Battleship | 4 | |
| Cruiser | 3 | |
| Submarine | 3 | |
| Destroyer | 2 |
That is 17 squares to find on a board of 100. Ships go across or down, may touch, and can never overlap.
Battleship strategy tips to win more
Search in a checkerboard. The smallest ship covers two squares, so every ship must cross a square of one color on a checkerboard. Firing only at those squares finds every ship with half the shots.
Hunt, then target. After a hit, try the four squares around it. Once you find a second hit, keep firing along that line in both directions until the ship sinks.
Think in probabilities. Ships fit more ways through the middle of the board than in the corners, so early shots near the center are more likely to hit. Our Hard computer uses exactly this idea.
Hide your fleet well. Avoid lining ships up along the edges or in a neat pattern. Spread them out, and remember that two ships touching can confuse an opponent who is following a line of hits.
Play Battleship online for free
Battleship is one of the best known strategy and guessing games in the world. Two admirals each hide a fleet on a grid of ten rows and ten columns, lettered A to J and numbered 1 to 10, and then take turns calling out squares to bomb. It is simple enough to learn in a minute, yet the best players win again and again by searching smartly and reading the board. This free version runs right in your browser with no download, no account and no sign up.
Battleship against the computer
When nobody is around to play, take on the computer. Easy mode fires at random and is perfect for kids and first games. Normal mode hunts down a ship as soon as it scores a hit. Hard mode is a real challenge: it calculates where your remaining ships can still fit and aims at the most likely square every turn, just like an expert human player.
2 player Battleship with friends
To play Battleship with a friend online, create a private room and share the code. Each player places a fleet in secret on their own phone or computer, then the battle begins. A 30 second shot clock keeps the game moving, the last shot is always highlighted, and when the game ends both hidden fleets are revealed so you can see how close the battle really was. Players take turns going first in every rematch.
A short history of the sea battle game
The game started as a pencil and paper game played on squared paper long before it appeared in shops. It became a popular boxed board game in the twentieth century and has been a family favorite ever since, also known around the world as Sea Battle or Battleships. Playing online keeps every rule the same while the computer keeps track of all the hits and misses for you.
Battleship FAQ
How do you play Battleship online?
Each player hides five ships on a 10 by 10 grid. Players then take turns calling a square on the enemy grid. A shot is either a hit or a miss, and when every square of a ship has been hit, that ship is sunk. The first player to sink all five enemy ships wins.
Can I play Battleship against the computer?
Yes. Choose vs Computer and pick a level. Easy fires at random, Normal hunts around every hit until the ship sinks, and Hard uses probability targeting to aim where ships are most likely to be hiding.
How do I play Battleship with a friend online?
Choose Play a friend, enter your name and create a room. Send the six letter room code or the invite link to your friend. You each place your fleet in secret on your own device, then take turns firing in real time. Each shot has a 30 second timer so nobody can stall.
What ships are in Battleship?
Every fleet has five ships: a Carrier (5 squares), a Battleship (4), a Cruiser (3), a Submarine (3) and a Destroyer (2). That makes 17 squares to hit in total.
What is the best strategy to win Battleship?
Search in a checkerboard pattern so you never waste shots next to squares you have already ruled out, since the smallest ship is two squares long. When you get a hit, check the four squares around it, then keep firing along the line until the ship sinks. When placing your own fleet, avoid obvious patterns and spread your ships out.
Can ships touch each other?
Yes. Ships can sit right next to each other in this game, but they cannot overlap and must be placed in straight lines, either across or down. Touching ships can be a clever way to confuse your opponent.
Does Battleship work on phones and tablets?
Yes. The game works in any modern browser on phones, tablets and computers. You can even play a friend who is on a different kind of device.
Is this the official Battleship game?
No. This is an independent version of the classic naval guessing game made by OnlineGames2Play.com. Battleship is a trademark of Hasbro, and this game is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro.
Battleship is a trademark of Hasbro. This game is an independent version of the classic naval guessing game by OnlineGames2Play.com and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro.
More board games to play online
Want to get better? Read our Battleship online strategy guide.