Daily Idea #242: Battleship

We love games in our house— chess, Sorry, Mancala, card games… one of the games we do not have is Battleship; every time I see it in the store, I think, “my kids would really love that game” but for one reason or another I don’t end up buying it.

Well, problem solved! Did you know that Battleship was actually a game played with pencil and paper first? Here’s the game set up and rules:.

Start by making 2 grids that are sectioned 11 by 11. The top row is marked 1-10, the left side column is marked A-J.

Each player sets up or marks the following “ships” on their own board:

carrier (5 squares)

battleship (4 squares each)

destroyer (2 squares each)

cruiser (3 squares each)

submarine (3 squares)

The object is to “hit” your opponent’s ships on their grid by trying to guess where they are hiding.

Each player takes it in turn to guess the other player’s coordinates. Make sure to mark down any hits and misses differently than where your own ships are marked.

Play is over when all of one player’s ships have been sunk.