by Matt Bird

Created on: May 03, 2009

Who HASN'T wanted to engage in a good round of naval warfare at least once in their life? I'd have to call them a liar if anybody put their hand up.

Battleship is a strange little fusion of oceanic ship-to-ship combat and Bingo. Two players sit on either side of a large, plastic game board with a gridded ocean provided to each. Separating the oceans is a vertical grid representing the other player's stretch of ocean. All four grids are divvied up into letters and numbers, and at the beginning of play the players must lay out their various warships on their respective oceans. Each ship is a different length and therefore takes more or less hits to destroy, their power represented by the number of squares they occupy.

The players then take turns 'firing' at the opposing side's ships, trying to guess where they are on the grid. Calling A1, for example, would represent a turn. The opponent then declares the attack a hit or a miss, and applies colored pegs to their ships accordingly. Red pegs signify hits while whites are misses. The attacker also keeps track on their vertical grid, ensuring they don't accidentally attack the same vacant spot twice. Play continues until every ship on one side or the other has been sunk, and the player with ships left over is the winner.

Pretty simple, really, though much of Battleship's appeal comes from trying to anticipate your opponent's placement of their ships. Some novice players like to use the same strategies repeatedly, and will group their ships in similar manners time and time again; others, the veterans, will typically play in an unpredictable fashion and attempt to confuse their aggressor. Battleship can, between two players with steely faces, prove as much a round of bluffing as any good game of cards, albeit with a great deal less chance involved.

Consequently Battleship is more of a thinking game than one might realize. Some players wear their hearts on their shoulders and will react in certain ways if a shot has strayed too close to their vessels. Careful attention to the other side's reactions can be the key to winning some games rather than mere random shooting. This doesn't mean it's a game restricted to the bright alone, of course - Battleship is so simple that anybody can play - but mastering the art is trickier than other board games.

Battleship's only real downfall is its cost. Typically a copy of the game will be outfitted with flashy lights and electronic sounds that burst into action whenever a ship is hit. This puts its price tag above that of other board games, which though worth it in the end may be enough to dissuade some buyers.

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