Battleship Game

History of the Battleship Game

Battleship wasn't always a board game. In fact, it wasn't until 1931 when the Milton Bradley Company turned what was a simple two-player, paper-and-pen game into a popularized children's board game. The gist of the game -- both then and today -- it is to capture or sink the other person's battleships through a series of strategic moves.

The original version, reportedly created as a French World War I game, was played on square grids, and each player drew in where their battleships had landed. Each square was identified by a series of letters and corresponding numbers. (A-1, B-2, C-3, etc.) As each square was called off by the opposing member, you either marked your grid as a "hit" or "miss." The game is played in rounds and depending on how many ships each person has left afloat in each round determines how many shots he or she has at hitting the opposing player's boats. For instance, if Player A had all five ships still afloat, he or she can take five hits at Player B's vessels. The first person to sink all of the other player's ships is declared the winner.

Types of Battleships

There are customarily five kinds of ships used in Battleship, each having a set number of squares in which it occupies:

• Patrol Torpedo boat (two squares)
• Destroyer (three squares)
• Submarine (three squares)
• Battleship (four squares)
• Aircraft carrier (five squares)

Board Game Version of Battleship

The Battleship game became even more popular when its board version was invented. Based exactly on the pen-and-paper version, each package came with (and still comes with today):

• One red and one blue fold-up, plastic battle stations (one for each player)
• 10 plastic ships
• 168 plastic white pegs (for misses)
• 84 red pegs (for hits)
• Instructions (Spanish instructions are included today)

The concept of the game is the same as the original version -- seek and destroy your opponent's battleships through strategic hits. The game is supposed to be for children ages seven and older, but many adults love the game as well. Friends and family members gather together and engage in Battleship tournaments, the same way they did when this board game was created more than 70 years ago.

Basic Strategies to Playing Battleship

Battleship is a game of strategy -- to really win, you cannot guess the positions of your opponent's ships, you must know. The first vessel you want out of the way is the PT boat, since it only occupies two spaces; it will be the most difficult to find and destroy. Space your shots throughout the grid and eventually, you will sink it. It is also best to cancel out all of the spaces around each ship you sink to make sure none of the ships are stacked next to each other. On the other hand, when you are looking to strategically place your ships, place the same two-space vessel on the outside of the grid, but not in a corner. This may drive your opponent nuts at trying to find it.

The Many Versions of Battleship

While the pen-and-paper version may still be the easy, no-frills way to play Battleship, there are several commercialized board games that are just as enjoyable and competitive:

• Original Battleship: You can purchase the original board game with everything as "real" as it was when you were a kid.
• Travel Battleship: Can't get enough of the board game at home? This convenient travel size snaps together quickly and can be played anywhere -- in a car, on a plane or elsewhere.
• Electronic Battleship Advanced Mission: This electronic version of the classic board game has an updated arsenal of weapons including voice commands, radar, search planes and battle sounds. It's designed to be held like a laptop computer.
• Battleship Command Pirates of the Caribbean: The version, based on the popular Johnny Depp movies, has multi-level grids, more ships and more power to sink your enemies.
• Electronic Battleship Star Wars Game: Although not as popular as its original electronic counterpart, this version allows you to strategically destroy your enemy fighters. A "must" for Star Wars fans.

A Great Gift

Board games always make great gifts for holidays or birthdays. But a game such as Battleship can be given to children or adults alike at any time of the year, especially to those who have a love for competitive and strategic family games.