How to Play Sea Battle: Rules and Setup
In Sea Battle, two players each hide a fleet of boats on a 10×10 grid, then take turns calling out squares to fire at the other player's grid. The defender answers hit or miss, and a boat sinks once every one of its squares has been hit. The first player to sink the whole enemy fleet wins.
What you need
Sea Battle is a two-player guessing game that has been played with pencil and paper for generations. Each player needs two 10×10 grids: one for their own boats and one to record the shots they fire at the opponent. Columns are usually lettered A to J and rows numbered 1 to 10, so every square has a name like B2 or I7.
Playing online does the bookkeeping for you. On GameLake you play against Hop the frog: your lake is shown with your boats, Hop's lake is hidden, and every hit and miss is marked automatically.
The fleet
| Boat length | How many | Squares |
|---|---|---|
| 5 squares | 1 | 5 |
| 4 squares | 1 | 4 |
| 3 squares | 2 | 6 |
| 2 squares | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 5 boats | 17 |
That's the most common fleet, and it means 17 of the 100 squares hide a boat. Some paper versions use more, smaller boats; agree on the fleet before you start.
Setting up your boats
- Place each boat in a straight line, across or down. No diagonal boats.
- Every square of a boat must be inside the grid, and boats can't overlap.
- On GameLake, boats never touch, not even at the corners: there's always at least one square of water around each boat. Many paper players use the same rule.
- Keep your layout secret. On paper, sit so your opponent can't see your grid.
On GameLake you don't drag boats one by one. Press Shuffle boats until you like the layout, then Start battle. Every shuffle follows the rules above.
Taking turns: how firing works
- On your turn, call a square on your opponent's grid (on GameLake, tap it).
- Your opponent answers miss if it's water or hit if part of a boat is there. Mark the result: GameLake shows a hit as an orange marker and a miss as a white ring.
- When every square of a boat has been hit, the defender says sunk. GameLake reveals the sunk boat on the grid.
- On GameLake, a hit or a sink earns another shot. After a miss, it's Hop's turn to fire at your lake.
- You fire first. Play continues until one fleet is gone.
Keeping track on paper
If you play with pencil and paper, good bookkeeping prevents arguments. Mark your shots on your second grid: a cross for a hit and a dot for a miss. Mark your opponent's shots on your own grid the same way, so you both always know which squares have been called. Keep a list of the fleet and tick off each boat as it sinks.
Say every shot out loud by its letter and number ("C7"), and answer honestly and straight away. The game only works if both players trust the answers, which is one reason playing online against Hop is handy: the computer can't fib.
How to win
Sink all five of your opponent's boats, all 17 squares, before they sink yours. On GameLake, the end screen shows how many shots you took and your accuracy, so you can try to win in fewer shots next time.
Rule differences you might meet
Sea Battle has been played with paper and pencil for a long time, so families and countries play it a little differently. These are the usual differences:
| Rule | GameLake | Common alternative |
|---|---|---|
| After a hit | Fire again | One shot per turn, hit or miss (the usual rule in the boxed board game) |
| Boats touching | Not allowed, not even diagonally | Allowed, as long as boats don't overlap |
| Saying which boat sank | The sunk boat is shown on the grid | The defender says "sunk" and often names the boat |
| Shots per turn | One at a time | Salvo variant: one shot for each of your boats still afloat |
The no-touching rule makes the game more of a puzzle: as soon as a boat sinks, you know every square around it is empty.
Three beginner tips
- Search in a checkerboard pattern. The smallest boat is two squares long, so it always covers one square of each colour. Firing only at one colour finds every boat with half the shots.
- After a hit, try the four squares around it. Once you have two hits in a line, keep going along that line until the boat sinks.
- Skip the water around sunk boats. Boats never touch on GameLake, so those squares are always empty.
Hop's three levels play differently too. On Easy he fires at random but finishes off boats he hits; on Medium he hunts in a checkerboard; on Hard he works out where your boats are most likely to fit.
Frequently asked questions
How many boats are in Sea Battle?
On GameLake, five: one of 5 squares, one of 4, two of 3 and one of 2, for 17 squares in all. Paper versions sometimes use a different fleet.
Can boats touch in Sea Battle?
Not on GameLake: every boat has at least one square of water around it, diagonals included. Some paper and board-game versions allow touching.
Do you get another turn after a hit?
On GameLake, yes: a hit or a sink lets you fire again. In some versions, including the usual boxed game rules, each player fires once per turn whatever happens.
Is Sea Battle the same as Battleship?
It's the same classic naval guessing game that many people know by that board game's name, played here on a lake with wooden boats. The grid, fleet and idea are the same; a few small rules differ.
Who goes first in Sea Battle?
On GameLake you always fire first. On paper, players usually flip a coin or take turns starting.