How to Play
- Arrange your fleet on your own 10×10 grid. A random layout is ready the moment you start — tap Shuffle ships for a new one, or tap a ship and then a square to move it.
- Use Rotate to turn the chosen ship between across and down, then tap Ready!.
- When both fleets are hidden, take turns firing one shot each into enemy waters by tapping a square.
- A red cross marks a hit and a small dot marks a miss. When every square of a ship is hit, that ship sinks and is crossed off the list.
- Sink all five enemy ships before your own fleet goes down to win.
Rules
Each fleet has five ships: the Flagship (5 squares), the Cruiser (4), the Frigate (3), the Submarine (3) and the Patrol boat (2). Ships lie in straight lines across or down, never diagonally, and must stay fully inside the grid. Two ships may not share a square, but they are allowed to touch side by side.
Players shoot one square per turn, strictly taking turns, even after a hit. You always learn straight away whether your shot hit or missed, and when a ship sinks, everyone is told which one it was. Your own board shows every shot your opponent has aimed at you.
Tips & Strategy
- Hunt on a checkerboard. Every ship is at least two squares long, so shooting only at squares of one colour on an imaginary chessboard still finds every ship while using half the shots.
- Follow up every hit. After a hit, try the four squares around it. Once you have two hits in a line, keep going along that line in both directions until the ship sinks.
- Think about which ships are left. If only the Flagship remains, it cannot fit in a gap three squares wide, so skip those areas completely.
- Aim for the middle of big empty areas. Open patches with no misses can hold the most ship positions, so your chances of a hit are highest there.
- Hide ships where players rarely look. Many people search the centre first. Ships along the edges, or pressed against each other, often survive longer.
Game Modes
Play vs Computer has three captains to face. Easy fires almost at random and rarely chases its hits. Medium fires randomly until it scores a hit, then hunts that ship down. Hard spaces its searching shots cleverly and weighs up every place the remaining ships could still be hiding, so it usually sinks your fleet with fewer than half the squares fired at.
Play with Friend works with a single phone passed between two people. Before each turn a cover screen asks the other player to look away. After firing, you see the result and then tap Done to hand the phone over, so nobody sees the other fleet.
Play Online lets each person arrange their ships on their own screen at the same moment, so there is no waiting and no peeking.
Play with Friends Online
Tap Play Online and start a new room. A share link and a short code appear; send the link in a chat or read the code aloud. Your friend’s browser opens straight into the lobby after they type a name. The host starts the match, both players arrange their fleets privately, and the shooting begins once each side taps Ready. Shots land on both screens a moment after they are fired.
Sea Battle FAQ
Can ships touch each other?
Yes. Ships cannot overlap, but they may sit right next to each other. Packing ships together can confuse an opponent who assumes there is always a gap.
Do I get another shot after a hit?
No. In this version every player fires exactly one shot per turn, hit or miss, which keeps the game fair and quick.
Does the computer peek at my ships?
Never. The computer only knows what you would know in its place: where it has fired, what it hit, and which ships it has sunk.
How long does a game take?
Most games last between five and ten minutes. A game against Hard is often quicker, because it finds ships fast.
Why does my friend not see my ships during pass-and-play?
A cover screen appears before each turn, and your fleet is only shown after the right player taps to reveal the board.
Last updated: 2026-09-30
