How to Play Bimaru
Bimaru (also called Battleships, Yubotu or Solitaire Battleships) hides a fleet in the grid and tells you only how many ship cells each row and column holds. Logic alone finds the ships.
The rules
- The fleet listed beside the board hides in the grid: each ship is a straight line of 1 to 4 cells, horizontal or vertical.
- Ships never touch, not even diagonally: every ship has water all around it.
- The number beside a row or under a column is the count of ship cells in it.
- Some squares are revealed: water, or a ship part drawn with its shape (end, middle or single).
Playing on kawu
- Tap a square to mark it a ship, tap again for water, again to clear. Revealed squares can't be changed.
- A count turns red when its line already breaks it; ship cells that touch diagonally are outlined in red.
- Undo steps back; Hint fixes a wrong square or marks one that is forced.
- Sizes 6×6, 8×8 and 10×10 with fleets of 6, 8 and 10 ships; the daily puzzle is an 8×8 shared by everyone.
Then read Bimaru solving tips.
Frequently asked questions
Can two ships touch at a corner?
No. Every ship is surrounded by water on all eight sides, so the diagonal neighbours of a ship cell are always water. That rule does most of the work in solving.
What do the revealed ship parts tell me?
Their shape: a rounded single is a one-cell submarine; a rounded end points along the ship; a square middle has ship cells on both sides in one direction. Revealed water is simply water.
Last updated 2026-10-21