Want to include a bit of nostalgia into your classroom gaming this week? Try these variations of the classic Battleship game.
Battleship
Predating World War I, Battleship is a two-player guessing game. Battleship began as a pencil and paper game until 1967 when it was released by the Milton Bradley Company as a physical board game. The game is now owned by Hasbro. Battleship can be used in the classroom for two players. Communication skills are key for success. Students will be reviewing coordinate grids naturally in this game. Graphing skills could be added. Problem-solving and strategy skills can be taught during gameplay.
What You’ll Need:
- Spreadsheets for online gameplay can be found here: https://teambuilding.com/spreadsheet-battleship
- Graph paper for an in-class option
Prep Work:
Make a copy of the sheet for each player in your Gmail account if you are playing digitally. If you are playing in the classroom give each student their own piece of grid paper.
Each individual player adds the ships in the bottom right table to the board on the left. Place an “s” in each cell according to the size of the ship. Ships can only be placed horizontally or vertically (never diagonally).
How to Play:
Players take turns guessing the coordinates of ships on the opposing player’s board.
To make a guess, just name the coordinates.
For example, “G-6” would target Column G, Row 6.
Players track their own shots on the “Enemy Ships” tab at the bottom of the sheet.
The other player marks the targeted spot with an “X” if it hits a ship and an “O” if it missed.
When every spot on a ship has been guessed you say, “you sunk my battleship!” You could change this wording for variations of the game. The last player with the remaining ships wins.
