Battleship

I don't know of anyone who *hasn't* played "Battleship" at some point in their life. I'm 36 now but I remember well the iconic Battleship commercials that would play on Saturday morning TV featuring two buck-toothed youths squinting deviously over the backs of their respective blue and red gameboards at each other and one stating "You sunk my battleship!" (it seemed odd he should sound so gleeful about it, considering he just lost a ship). We had the regular version and the Electronic Battleship which I used to play with my mom at the tender age of 6.

Battleship is one of those timeless games that has left an indelible mark on boardgamers everywhere. It doesn't rely on dice or cards, making it a nice break from games like "Sorry" or "Monopoly". What it does have are dozens of little red and white plastic pegs, 10 grey plastic ships of varying types and sizes, and two folding plastic gameboards. The premise is very simple. You place your fleet comprised of 5 ships (Aircraft Carrier, Battleship, Destroyer, Submarine, and what I assume to be a PT Boat) onto a perforated plastic grid (each ship has pegs on the bottom which allow it to be placed on the board). The plastic grid is numbered in rows on the horizontal plane and lettered A, B, C, etc. on the vertical. On the up-folded section is an identical grid which is used to track shots one fires at the enemy fleet. The game begins with one player announcing coordinates (B-4, D-8, etc) in an attempt to narrow down where their opponents vessels may be. The defending player reports "Hit" if the opponents scores one, and "Miss" if they hit empty ocean. If you land a hit on an opponent's ship you use a red peg to mark the location on your map, and white if you miss. In this way you can track out where the opponents ships out using deduction.

The dynamic is simple, fast-paced, and fun, and perhaps that what makes the game as popular as it is. This is a game that is perfect for kids 12 and under, and after a few games you'll start to see a few, budding Admiral "Bull" Halsey's growing on the vine. As a teaching tool, if you're looking for that kind of thing in a kid's game, "Battleship" somewhat limited. There's no doubt that it will develop your little tyke's deduction centers in the brain. It's also a pretty good introduction into the world of coordinates and how to use them.

I would say that each individual red or white peg costs about $10.00, or did at the time that I was a child. How did I arrive at this value? That was the cost of the replacement belt for my Mom's vacuum cleaner, which sucked up dozens of my little plastic artillery shells, along with my old GI Joe rifles and clear plastic legos (my Mom's bane). This is not helped by the fact that all the pegs come in one clear baggie, which makes sorting something of a chore. The gameboards themselves are compartmentalized so you can store the pegs in it once you've sorted them.

The wife and I have begun to collect boardgames like "Battleship" in preparation for the children we plan on having someday. We played a couple of matches and found that the game is sorely lacking in the same "fun factor" it gave us as children, so if you're looking for some deep, realistic nautical wargame for adults, look elsewhere. For this reason I wanted to give the game an overall score of 3 1/2 stars, but since Amazon doesn't allow that I'll have to give it 3 even.

This game will most certainly provide a staple of your average family game night and will provide a lot of fun time with the kids.

Based on nostalgia for my own childhood, we got this for our soon-to-be 6 year-old for Christmas. I wasn't sure if my memory wasn't serving me properly or not, but other reviews here seem to confirm what I thought: the current version is very flimsy and cheaply-made compared to the older versions from years ago. The pegs easily fall out of their holes. The letters and numbers are hard to see as they are the same color as the board. That said, my son really enjoyed his first time playing, although he needed help from an adult navigating the grid. I do believe if the letters and numbers had better visibility he would grasp this sooner.
I recommend finding an older version of this game on eBay or somewhere.

Okay, I used to love this game. Played it when I was a kid, when we had to draw a new game out on paper each time we played. It was instant nostalgia on plastic game boards, and lots of memories from many many moons ago. And, guess what ~ I still love it. No one else does, or at least the ones who play with me. I have no mercy.

The game doesn't look real sturdy, but will outlast me, probably. I had a bit of a problem getting the play pieces mounted on the play board, but with a little determination, and some surgical trimming with my pocket knife, we got a game underway. The game didn't last long as I sunk my opponents ships one after the other. Nothing like a sore loser in a war game. They want revenge!!

One thing in particular that I didn't like: The game has red pegs and white pegs to denote hits and misses on the enemy's ships. All of these pegs come packed in a SINGLE CELLOPHANE BAG. What a pain, having to separate those little things before you can fire your first shot. Come on, guys (whoever makes this thing), use two cellophane bags. I promise, you won't go broke, and you'll do wonders for your image (and my language).

It's a fun game, but apparently frustrating for those who lose. I don't get the feeling I'll be playing this much, but it'll still make a nice gift - and I'll include two bags of separated colored pegs!

This was one of the most interesting & fun games of all times! We were known to play for hours when all the cousins got together for the holidays! We looked more forwrds to playing battleship than we did Grama's Christams Pudding! Of course if we could've kept up with the pieces Grama might not have taken our pudding away!

Battleship was one of my favorite games as a child. Now, my son is able to share in that experience. We just picked up the new Battleship game about a week ago, and he loves it! I also like the changes that have been made to the game. For instance, when I was a child, the game was fairly basic. By that I mean that the containers were plain and there weren't many graphics to give the game a real "military" feel. Now, the game is much more realistic. The bottom part of the playing grid where the ships are placed has waves etched into the surface. In addition, the top part of the playing grid has the look of a submarine periscope. And, the game boxes themselves look like mini laptop computers.

The ships included in the game have remained the same over the years; a battleship, aircraft carrier, submarine, destroyer, and patrol boat. Each player takes turns "shooting" at the other player by calling out grid coordinates, such as B-3 or J-5. This goes on until one player's ships are sunk by the other player.

This game has seen many versions over the years since I was a child, but it still remains one of my favorite games. I really enjoy playing against my son as he's become quite good at it in a very short time. If you're looking for a fun, action-packed game, then "Battleship" is a good choice.