How to Play Sea Battle Online with Friends
To play Sea Battle online with a friend, open Sea Battle on GameLake, choose Online, then Play a friend, and send the link it gives you. As soon as your friend opens it, you both hide your boats at the same time, press Ready! and take turns firing. It's free, works on phones and computers, and neither of you needs an account.
Invite a friend, step by step
Sea Battle is the classic naval guessing game many people know as Battleship. On GameLake you can play it against Hop the frog, or against a real person at an online table. Here's how to set up a game with someone you know:
- Open Sea Battle and tap Online next to Easy, Medium and Hard.
- Choose Play a friend. GameLake opens a private table for the two of you and shows a link.
- Tap Share to send it in any message or chat app, or Copy link and paste it yourself. The preview your friend sees reads something like "Lily557 invited you to play Sea Battle".
- Your friend taps the link. It opens the game in their browser and sits them at your table, with no download and no sign-up.
- The battle starts the moment they arrive. Keep the page open while you wait.
The link keeps your table open for up to an hour, so it's fine to send it now and play when your friend gets home. Press Cancel if you change your mind.
Hiding boats and taking turns online
Online, both players arrange their fleets at the same time, so nobody waits for the other. Press Shuffle boats until you like your layout, then Ready!. You have about a minute; if the clock runs out, a random legal fleet is placed for you. Then the firing starts, and who shoots first swaps every game.
| Online Sea Battle | |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 |
| Fleet | 5 boats: 5, 4, 3, 3 and 2 squares, never touching |
| Time to hide your boats | About 60 seconds (a random fleet if time runs out) |
| Time per shot | 30 seconds |
| After a hit or a sink | You fire again |
| Run out of time on a shot | The game goes to the other player |
| Lost connection | 30 seconds to come back |
Quick match: play someone new
No friend around? Choose Quick match instead. GameLake pairs you with the next person who's looking for a Sea Battle game. If nobody turns up within 20 seconds, Hop takes the seat and you play him instead, so you never sit staring at an empty lake.
Wins against real people count on the Online tab of the leaderboard under the game, for today, this week and all time. Games against Hop are kept on the Easy, Medium and Hard boards.
How to beat a person, not a bot
- Change your layout every game. People remember where your boats were last time; Hop doesn't.
- Search in a checkerboard. Every boat is at least two squares long, so firing at every other square finds them all.
- After a hit, fire around it, then follow the line once you have two hits in a row.
- Skip the water around a sunk boat. Boats never touch, so those squares are always empty.
- Watch the clock. Thirty seconds is plenty, but don't let a slow think hand your friend the game.
For the full search plan, see Sea Battle strategy. New to the game? Start with how to play Sea Battle.
Free, no account and family-friendly
Online play costs nothing and there's nothing to sign up for. The first time you play, GameLake gives you a guest name like Lily557, and that's the name your friend sees. There's no open chat: players can only send six friendly emotes such as "👋 Hi!", "👍 Nice move!" and "🤝 Good game!". If you'd like to keep your progress on another phone or computer, you can create an account later, but you never have to.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play Sea Battle online with a friend for free?
Yes. Open Sea Battle, choose Online, then Play a friend, and send the link. The game is free on phones, tablets and computers, with no download.
Do we need an account to play online?
No. GameLake gives each player a guest name automatically. You can create an account later if you want to keep your progress on another device.
Can one of us play on a phone and the other on a computer?
Yes. The game runs in any modern browser, so a phone can play a laptop, a tablet or another phone.
What happens if nobody joins my game?
A friend's table stays open for up to an hour while you wait. In Quick match, if nobody turns up within 20 seconds, Hop the frog takes the seat and you play him instead.
Can we play again after a game?
Yes. When the game ends, both players press Rematch. The table keeps score between games, and who fires first swaps each time.