Board & classics
Play Battleship online
Two fleets, two grids, one goal: sink the other side first. A hit earns you another shot straight away, a miss ends your turn. On higher levels the computer fires in a checkerboard pattern – no ship can hide between those squares – and switches to hunt mode after a hit. Sunk ships burn and smoke.
Play Battleship nowFree · no download · no sign-up
At a glance
- Category
- Board & classics
- Controls
- mouse or finger
- Price
- free
- Sign-up
- not required
Yes. Battleship is played against the computer here, across several strengths from easy to very strong. A win also pays chips into your account.
Where Battleship comes from
The game began as a pen-and-paper pastime – it is documented among French and Russian soldiers around the First World War, circulating as L'Attaque and as Sea Battle. The first commercial version appeared in the United States in 1931, and in 1967 Milton Bradley turned it into a worldwide hit with the plastic case and the pegged ships. Placing your own fleet is how the original was played.
How it works
Click the right-hand grid to fire. A hit earns you another shot – a miss ends your turn.
Both fleets have five ships: carrier (5), battleship (4), cruiser (3), submarine (3) and destroyer (2). Enemy ships only become visible once sunk.
First to sink the whole fleet wins.
Three tips for better results
- 1Search in a checkerboard pattern yourself: every second square is enough to find any ship of length two or more.
- 2After a hit, work out the axis first, then push in one direction until you miss.
- 3Do not put your own ships along the edge – the computer looks there last, but people look there first.
Frequently asked questions
Is Battleship free to play?
Yes. Battleship runs straight in your browser, costs nothing and needs no installation. There is no paywall – the chips in the game are play money and cannot be bought. The site is funded by advertising, which appears only if you agree to it.
Do I need an account to play Battleship?
No. The home page offers “play now without an account” – that starts you straight away and your progress stays in this browser. An account is only worth it if you want the same progress on several devices; name and PIN are enough, and we never ask for an email address. A guest profile can be turned into an account at any time without losing anything.
How do you play Battleship?
Click the right-hand grid to fire. A hit earns you another shot – a miss ends your turn.
Where does Battleship come from?
The game began as a pen-and-paper pastime – it is documented among French and Russian soldiers around the First World War, circulating as L'Attaque and as Sea Battle. The first commercial version appeared in the United States in 1931, and in 1967 Milton Bradley turned it into a worldwide hit with the plastic case and the pegged ships. Placing your own fleet is how the original was played.
Does Battleship work on a phone?
The site adapts to the screen size, and anything you can click can also be tapped. Games controlled with arrow keys do need a keyboard, though.
Do I have to download anything to play Battleship?
No. Battleship runs in the browser – on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iPhone alike. There is no app, no plugin and nothing to install.
Can I play Battleship against the computer?
Yes. Battleship is played against the computer here, across several strengths from easy to very strong. A win also pays chips into your account.
Does Battleship work without an internet connection?
The page has to load once; after that the game itself runs entirely in your browser and needs no connection. If you use an account, your progress syncs again as soon as you are back online.
Also known as
These are the terms people use to look for Battleship.
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- pen and paper game