How to play Battleship

The objective

Your goal is simple: locate and sink an opponent’s hidden fleet by calling grid coordinates. This guide uses the most common beginner-friendly rules. Families and groups may agree on variations before starting.

What you need

A Battleship game or two hidden paper grids per player.

How to set up

1. Secretly place every ship horizontally or vertically without overlap.
2. Keep your fleet grid hidden from the opponent.

How to play: step by step

1. Take turns calling one coordinate such as B7.
2. The opponent announces hit or miss and both players mark the result.
3. Announce when every space of a ship has been hit and it is sunk.
4. Sink the entire opposing fleet to win.

Beginner strategies

• Spread guesses in a pattern before finding a hit.
• After a hit, test adjacent spaces to learn the ship’s direction.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Placing ships diagonally.
• Forgetting to record called coordinates.

Frequently asked questions