Updated
About Sea Battle
Sea Battle is a classic naval strategy game. Each side hides a fleet of five ships on a 10×10 grid, and the two sides take turns firing at squares on the other’s grid. Each shot is a hit or a miss, and a ship sinks when every square it covers has been hit. The first player to sink the whole enemy fleet wins.
The game began as a pencil-and-paper game and has been played that way for generations. This TapGameHub version is an original game played against the computer. You can place your own ships or let the game do it for you. The computer hunts with a sensible strategy, and the game keeps count of your victories.
How to play
- Place your fleet on your own grid. Move the pointer over the grid to preview a ship, press Rotate to switch between horizontal and vertical, then click to place it. The ships are placed in order from the Carrier down to the Destroyer.
- If you prefer, press Random fleet to place all five ships at once.
- Press Start battle when your fleet is ready.
- Click a square on the enemy grid to fire. Hits, misses and sunk ships are each marked on the grid, and a message tells you what happened.
- After a hit you fire again. After a miss, the computer takes its turn on your grid.
- Sink all five enemy ships before the computer sinks yours.
The counters at the top show how many ships each fleet has left, how many shots you have fired and how many games you have won.
Controls
| Action | Mouse or touch | Keyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Preview a ship | Move the pointer over your grid | Not available |
| Turn the ship | Rotate button | R key |
| Place the ship | Click or tap your grid | Not available |
| Place the whole fleet at random | Random fleet button | Not available |
| Begin firing | Start battle button | Not available |
| Fire a shot | Click or tap the enemy grid | Not available |
| Start over | New game button | Not available |
Strategy tips
- Search in a checkerboard pattern. Every ship is at least two squares long, so firing at every other square is enough to find them all. It roughly halves the number of shots you need.
- Finish what you hit. After a hit, try the four squares around it. Once you have two hits in a line, keep firing along that line in both directions.
- Hunt the big ships first. Early on, the open middle areas of the grid are most likely to hold the Carrier and the Battleship.
- Use the gaps. When only small ships are left, ignore areas too narrow to hold them.
- Spread your own fleet out. Ships placed in a tight cluster can be found one after another, because the computer searches around every hit.
- Use the edges carefully. Edge squares are only next to three others, so a ship along the edge can be harder to finish off. But a fleet hidden entirely on the edges is easy to guess.
Frequently asked questions
Which ships are in each fleet?
Both fleets have the same five ships, a Carrier of five squares, a Battleship of four, a Cruiser of three, a Submarine of three and a Destroyer of two. That makes 17 squares to find on each 10×10 grid.
Do I get another shot after a hit?
Yes. Whenever a shot hits a ship, the same player fires again. Your turn only ends when you miss. The computer follows the same rule, so a lucky run of hits can swing the game quickly.
Can ships touch each other?
Yes. Ships cannot overlap, but they may sit side by side or end to end. The computer's fleet can do the same, so a hit next to a sunk ship may belong to a different ship.
How does the computer choose its shots?
While it is searching, the computer fires in a checkerboard pattern, because every ship covers at least two squares. As soon as it scores a hit, it switches to the squares around it and follows the line of the ship until it sinks.
Can I move a ship after placing it?
Not individually. If you want a different layout, press Random fleet to place all five ships at random, or New game to start placing from the beginning. Once the battle starts, your fleet is fixed.
Is my game saved?
The number of games you have won is saved in this browser. A battle in progress is not saved, so reloading the page starts a new game with a new enemy fleet.
Game not loading or controls not responding? See help with loading, controls and saves.
