Sea Battle
Shortcuts: Ctrl+P pause · Ctrl+M sound · Enter play again
Top players this week
Loading…
Resets every Monday (UTC).
About Sea Battle
Sea Battle is the naval guessing game played on two ten-by-ten grids. Your fleet of five ships is hidden from the computer, and its fleet is hidden from you. You take turns calling out squares, and a hit shows a flame while a miss leaves a ripple. The first side to sink every enemy ship wins.
It suits players who enjoy deduction and a little luck, with a match of five to fifteen minutes. There is no placing ships by hand: the game scatters your fleet and you can reshuffle it before starting. A great game finds the ships in few shots, sinks them before the computer finds yours and keeps healthy ships left over.
How to play Sea Battle
- Shuffle your fleet as often as you like, then press Start battle.
- Tap a square in the top grid, which is the enemy waters, to fire.
- A hit lets you fire again right away; a miss passes the turn to the computer.
- After a hit, probe the squares next to it to work out which way the ship lies.
- Sink all five enemy ships before the computer sinks yours.
Controls
| Keyboard and mouse | Use the Shuffle fleet button to re-roll your ship positions, then click Start battle. During the battle, click a square in the top grid to fire at it. |
|---|---|
| Phone and tablet | Tap Shuffle fleet until you like the layout, then tap Start battle. Tap a square in the top grid to fire; the lower, smaller grid only shows your own fleet and the enemy's shots. |
Scoring
A victory scores 500, plus 5 points for each shot you saved under 100, plus 10 points for every undamaged square of your own fleet still afloat. If the computer sinks your fleet first, you get 10 points for each hit you landed. Winning in fewer shots with a healthier fleet gives the best score.
Tips and strategy
- Fire in a checkerboard pattern at first. Every ship covers at least two squares in a line, so hitting every second square still finds all of them while using half the shots.
- Once you hit, test the four squares around it. Two hits in a row show the ship's direction, so follow that line until it sinks.
- The fleet has a carrier of 5, cruiser of 4, two ships of 3 and a patrol boat of 2. As ships sink, you know which lengths are left to look for.
- Remember that a hit gives an extra shot, so chains of hits are very strong. Spend a few careful shots on the ship you have found rather than wandering off.
- Shuffle your fleet before starting if the ships look bunched together. Spread-out ships make it harder for the computer's follow-up shots to finish them quickly.
Sea Battle FAQ
▸Can I place my ships myself?
No. Your ships are placed randomly, and you can only reshuffle them with the Shuffle fleet button before the battle begins. Once you press Start battle the layout is fixed.
▸Is the opponent a real person?
No, you play against the computer. It fires after a short pause, and after it scores a hit it starts testing the squares around that hit to finish the ship.
▸Who goes first?
You do. Both sides keep firing while they keep hitting, and the turn passes on the first miss.
▸Does my score count toward the weekly leaderboard?
Yes. When the match ends, the score is submitted, so it can earn XP and appear on the weekly leaderboard.
More Board & Cards games
See all
