Sea Battle Strategy: 5 Tips
Sea Battle is a search problem. Good players search efficiently, then finish what they find. New here? Read the rules first.
1. Hunt on a checkerboard
Every ship covers at least one square of each colour on a chessboard pattern, so firing only at one colour finds every ship in half the shots. The 2-square ship is the one that forces this.
2. After a hit, target
Once you hit, the ship extends in one of four directions. Shoot the neighbours until you hit again, then you know the line.
3. Follow the line to both ends
Two hits in a row fix the direction. Keep going one way until a miss, then go the other way. Don't wander off until the ship is sunk.
4. Clear around a sunk ship
Ships don't touch, so every square around a sunk ship is water. Don't waste shots there, and use that knowledge to narrow where the remaining ships can lie.
5. Think about where the carrier fits
Late in the game, the 5-square ship needs a line of five unknown squares. Often only a few remain; shoot the squares that belong to the most of those lines.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best way to find ships?
Fire at every other square, like the dark squares of a chessboard. Even the smallest ship, two squares long, must cover one of them, so you never need more than 50 shots to find everything.
Last updated 2026-10-20