Strategy · versus the computer

Battleships

The pen-and-paper classic on two ten-by-ten grids. Hide your five ships, then take turns with the computer calling shots until one whole fleet has been sunk. The computer plays on three levels.

Your fleet

The computer’s waters

Level

Your shots: 0
Computer’s shots: 0
Your ships afloat: 5
Computer’s ships afloat: 5
Best: –

How to play

Set up your fleet first: tap a ship in the tray, then a square on your grid. “Rotate” switches between across and down, “Place randomly” lays out the whole fleet for you, and tapping a placed ship picks it up again.

Press “Start”, then tap squares on the computer’s grid to shoot. A dot is a miss, a cross is a hit, and a sunk ship is outlined. The computer answers every shot with one of its own.

The first side to sink all five ships takes the game. The fewest shots you have needed to finish is kept as your best for each level.

A tip

After a hit, try the four squares around it; once you have two hits in a row, keep going along that line.

With the keyboard, use the arrow keys to move around a grid, Enter to place or shoot, and R to rotate a ship while setting up.