Printable Battleship Game Paper

Battleship (Sea Battle): Printable Paper Game for Two Players

Battleship — known as Sea Battle in many countries — is a classic two-player strategy game played on a pair of grids. It began as a pencil-and-paper game during World War I and gained worldwide popularity in the 1930s. In 1967, Milton Bradley released the iconic plastic board version, and the game has since inspired video game adaptations and a Hollywood film.

How to Play Battleship

Each player uses two grids: one to place their own fleet in secret, and one to track shots at the opponent's fleet.

• Place your ships on the grid — each ship occupies a row of consecutive squares (horizontally or vertically).
• On each turn, call out a coordinate (e.g., "B7"). Your opponent says "hit" or "miss" — mark the result on your tracking grid.
• When all squares of a ship are hit, it is sunk — announce "you sunk my battleship!"
• The first player to sink the entire enemy fleet wins.

Standard fleet (classic rules): Carrier (5), Battleship (4), Cruiser (3), Submarine (3), Destroyer (2).

Strategy Tips

• Hunt in a checkerboard pattern — since the shortest ship is 2 squares, you only need to probe every other square to guarantee a hit eventually.
• After a hit, fire at adjacent squares in a cross pattern to find the ship's orientation, then follow the line to sink it.
• Avoid placing ships on the edges — experienced opponents often start there. Cluster your fleet toward the center or use asymmetric placements.
• Never leave ships adjacent to each other; a hit near one ship reveals information about a neighbor.

Variations to Try

• Salvo rules – each player fires one shot per surviving ship per turn (more shots = faster, more complex).
• Solo challenge – set up a full fleet yourself and try to sink it in the fewest possible shots by following a strict search pattern.
• Mini grid – play on a 7×7 grid with a reduced fleet for a quick 5-minute game.

Looking for another printable paper game? Try our tic-tac-toe paper for a quick classic.