Last updated: March 2026
Play Battleship Online for Free
Play Battleship online instantly in your browser — no download, no account, no waiting. This is the classic naval strategy game where you arrange a fleet of five warships on a 10x10 grid and take turns firing at your opponent's grid to locate and destroy their ships.
The game dates back to pencil-and-paper origins in the early 20th century and became a household name when Milton Bradley released the plastic board game version in 1967. Our browser-based version captures the same strategic gameplay with modern polish and smart AI opponents.
Choose from Easy, Medium, or Hard difficulty to match your skill level. Hard mode AI uses real competitive strategies including checkerboard search patterns and intelligent ship tracking, making it a satisfying challenge for experienced players.
How to Play
Set up your fleet by clicking the grid to place each of your five ships. Toggle between horizontal and vertical orientation, or click a placed ship to rotate it. Hit the Randomize button for instant random placement if you want to jump right into the action.
Take turns firing at the enemy grid. A red cell means you hit a ship, a gray cell means you missed. When every cell of a ship has been hit, the entire ship is marked as sunk. Keep firing until one fleet is completely destroyed.
Your stats are tracked automatically including games played, win rate, best game by shot count, and your current win streak. Everything is saved in your browser's local storage.
Game Features
Smart AI opponents at three difficulty levels. Easy fires randomly. Medium hunts adjacent cells after a hit. Hard combines checkerboard pattern searching, hunt-and-target mode, and awareness of remaining ship sizes for optimal play.
Intuitive ship placement with visual preview, click-to-rotate, and one-click randomize. The setup phase is designed to be fast and frictionless whether you are placing manually or going random.
Runs perfectly on desktop, tablet, and mobile with responsive grids that adapt to your screen size. Touch-friendly cell sizes ensure comfortable play on any device.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many ships are in Battleship?
A standard Battleship game has 5 ships per player: Carrier (5 cells), Battleship (4 cells), Cruiser (3 cells), Submarine (3 cells), and Destroyer (2 cells). That adds up to 17 total cells you need to find and hit to win.
What's the best strategy for Battleship?
Use a checkerboard firing pattern to cover the grid efficiently, since every ship occupies at least 2 cells. When you get a hit, systematically check all four adjacent cells to find the ship's direction, then follow the line until the ship sinks.
Is this Battleship game completely free?
Yes. No signup, no ads, no download. The game runs in your browser on any device. Your game stats are saved locally so you can track your improvement over time.