Battleship details
- Designer: Clifford Von Wickler
- Artists: Taavi Oolberg
- Publishers: (Unknown), 3M, Action Games and Toys Ltd, AG Müller (AGMüller), Alexander, Alga, Aristoplay, ASS Altenburger Spielkarten, BCF, Bergsala Enigma (Enigma), Berliner Spielkarten, Bookmark Verlag, Brimtoy, Carlit, CBN Razor Company AB, CEFA (Celulosa Fabril S. A.), Chad Valley Co Ltd., CHH Games, Clementoni, Dal Negro, danspil, Dourios, Edition Michael Fischer GmbH (EMF Verlag), El Greco, Enigma (Bergsala Enigma), Exclusive Toy Corp., Falomir Juegos, Fratelli Fabbri Editori (Fabbri Editore), Games International BV, Gegu Spielwaren GmbH, Gherzi, Goldmerk, Grow Jogos e Brinquedos, Guau, Hasbro, HEMA, House of Games, House of Marbles, Ideal, Inovac Rima SA, Invicta Games, Jouets Mont-Blanc, Kaywood Corp., King International, Klee, Korea Boardgames, Korea Boardgames co., Ltd., Lakeside, Magic Box Int., Maple Toys, Marc Piqué Reg., Max Dähnert & Söhne, MB Giochi, MB Jeux, MB Juegos, MB Spellen, MB Spiele, Merit, Milton Bradley, Montitoys, Mulder, Nilco S.A., Noris Spiele, Novedades Montecarlo, Nu-Bef, Pais e Filhos, Palet spil, Papita, Parker Brothers, Paul Lamond Games Ltd, Peri Spiele, Peter Pan Playthings, Piatnik, Playkar, Poptoy, Ruibal Hermanos S.A., Saitek, Sala, Schmidt Spiele, Selecta Spielzeug, Smethport Specialty Co., Spear's Games, Stellar Games, Super Impulse, Tactic, Tesco, The American Belt Company, The Purple Cow, Top That! Publishing PLC, ToyCo, Transogram, Trixy Games, Unikatoy, Vilpa, Whitman, Wilco Publishing
- Release Date: 1931
- Player count : 2
- Age range : 8+
- Time range : 30 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Deduction, Paper-and-Pencil, Secret Unit Deployment
- BGG Geek Rating: 4.72178 - converted to Meeple Mountain scale: 2.5.
- More articles about Battleship.
Battleship was originally a pencil-and-paper public domain game known by different names, but Milton Bradley made it into the well known board game in 1967. The pencil and paper grids were changed to plastic grids with holes that could hold plastic pegs used to record the guesses.
Each player deploys his ships (of lengths varying from 2 to 5 squares) secretly on a square grid. Then each player shoots at the other's grid by calling a location. The defender responds by "Hit!" or "Miss!". You try to deduce where the enemy ships are and sink them. First to do so wins.
The Salvo variant listed in the rules allows each player to call out from 1 to 5 shots at a time depending on the amount of ships the player has left (IE: players each start off with 5 ships, so they start off with 5 shots. As ships are sunk, the players gets fewer shots). This version of the game is closer to the original pencil-and-paper public domain game. Many versions of the pencil-and-paper game have different amounts of shots based on the ship (IE: Battleship: 5 shots. Destroyer: 3 Shots, Etc.).
In 2008, Hasbro "reinvented" the game into Battleship (Revised).
Some history of the published versions of the game:
1931: Starex Novelty Co. of NY publishes Salvo.
1933: The Strathmore Co. publishes Combat, The Battleship Game.
1943: Milton Bradley publishes the pad-and-pencil game Broadsides, The Game of Naval Strategy.
1943: Also published in 1943 Sink it by the L R Gebert Co. for distribution by G. Krueger Brewing Co.
1940's: Maurice L. Freedman Co. of RI publishes Warfare Naval Combat.
1961: Ideal publishes Salvo.
Other titles over the years have included Swiss Navy, Sunk (Parker Bros.), Convoy (Transogram), Wings (Strategy Games Co. of California), and Naval Battle (3M Paper and Pencil Version) .
In today's Board Game Step Ladder, we take to the seas, or rather under them. Find your opponent before they find you.
Justin and his daughter revisit the 1960 Milton Bradley classic The Game of Life to see if it still holds up!
Justin and his son revisit the 1967 Milton Bradley classic, Battleship! Join us to find out if the game holds up.
