Battleship: Card Game
Battleship: Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Get Ready
Got younger players? Skip ahead to the Beginner Game Rules.
- Each player chooses to play as either the red or blue fleet, then takes all cards of that color. Separate your 12 Coordinate cards from your 26 Battle cards. Remove your two Reference cards and keep them nearby.
- Your Coordinate cards: This deck contains five Ship cards and seven Miss cards. Shuffle the deck, then place your Coordinate cards face down in front of you, in a 3x4 grid. (See diagram below.)
- Your Battle cards: Shuffle this deck, then deal yourself a hand of five cards. Form a face-down Draw pile with the remaining cards. Establish a Discard pile next to your Draw pile once you start playing.
Setup diagram (as printed): each player has a Discard Pile and a Draw Pile, a Battle Cards stack, and a grid of Battleship cards. The Red Player's Grid is laid out as a block of red-backed cards and the Blue Player's Grid as a block of blue-backed cards.
Let's Play
The younger player goes first.
On Your Turn
- Play one card. Choose one Battle card from your hand to play — either a Peg card or a Power card.
- Reload your hand. Take enough Battle cards from your Draw pile to replenish your hand to five cards. (If you already have five or more cards, just skip this step.) This ends your turn.
If your Draw pile runs out, form a new one by shuffling your Discard pile.
Battle Cards
Peg Cards
Usually, you'll play White Peg cards to search for hidden enemy ships, and Red Peg cards to damage revealed enemy ships. Each Ship card has a number that represents the number of hits needed to sink a ship. Once you've played at least that many pegs on a ship, you've sunk it!
White Peg cards: You'll play these cards to search for hidden enemy ships, or to damage certain ships when they're in play (see Ship Powers for more info). To play a White Peg card, tap a face-down card in your opponent's grid. Your opponent flips that card face up, and it stays face up for the rest of the game. Place your Peg card in your Discard pile.
- If the card is a miss, nothing happens.
- If the card is a ship, on future turns you may play Red Peg cards on this revealed ship to score hits.
Red Peg cards: To play a Red Peg card, slide it under a revealed enemy ship, leaving the peg(s) showing. Each red peg on the card counts as one hit on the ship. If the Red Peg card has at least as many pegs as the Ship card, the ship is sunk! If not, you'll need to play another Red Peg card, on your next turn.
When a ship is sunk, place your Peg cards in your Discard pile. Your opponent places the sunk Ship card out of the game.
Note: You may if you wish or are out of White Peg cards, play a Red Peg card to search for an enemy ship. If it's a miss, discard your Red Peg card. If it's a ship, each red peg on the card counts as an immediate hit.
Example: A Hit! You play a Red Peg card on your opponent's Aircraft Carrier. Count two hits for the two red pegs on your card.
Example: Sinking a Ship You play a second Red Peg card on the Aircraft Carrier, for a total of six hits. You sank the Carrier!
Power Cards
To play a Power card, place it face up where both players can see it, then follow the directions on it. When you play a card with two powers, choose only one.
There are three kinds of Power cards:
SHIELD: Place this card on one of your revealed ships. Your opponent must play enough pegs to destroy the shield before they can attack the ship. When your Shield card is destroyed, discard it.
Example: Using a Shield Placing a shield on a Destroyer that already has one peg of damage does not remove the damage, but your opponent must play two pegs to destroy the shield before they can do any further damage to your ship. When your Shield card is destroyed, discard it.
DISCARD OR PLAY TWO: Either: Discard one or more White Peg cards (this allows you to draw more cards when reloading your hand). Or: Play two more cards.
REPAIR OR DRAW THREE: Either: Repair a ship by removing one Peg card from one of your damaged ships, then play another card on the same turn. This power does not work on shields. Or: Draw three cards from your deck, then play one of them. Keep the remaining two cards in your hand.
Ship Powers
Each ship has a special power that is in play from the moment the ship is revealed until it's sunk. Take advantage of your ships' powers while you can!
- SUBMARINE: Only White Peg cards can damage this ship, including the one that reveals it. Your opponent discards any Red Peg cards played on this ship.
- PT BOAT: At the start of your turn, remove one Peg card from any one of your revealed ships. This power does not work on shields.
- DESTROYER: You may now play White Peg cards as well as Red Peg cards to damage enemy ships or shields. Exception: Only White Pegs can damage a Submarine.
- BATTLESHIP: Add one red peg to each of your Red Peg cards in play. For example, a 2-peg card now counts as a 3-peg card.
- AIRCRAFT CARRIER: At the end of your turn, reload your hand to seven cards, instead of five.
Example: Ship Powers Your opponent finds your Destroyer. Now you can play White Peg cards to damage all enemy ships! If your Destroyer is sunk, its power is no longer active. Discard any White Peg cards used for damage (except on a Submarine).
Strategy Tips
- Always be aware of the powers of all revealed ships — both yours and your opponent's.
- Instead of a Peg card, consider playing a Power card — for example, one that will let you play two cards instead of one on your turn. The more cards you play, the more you can draw when reloading.
- Your 4-peg card is a valuable weapon: it will immediately sink any ship except the Aircraft Carrier. But be careful when playing it alone on the Carrier, because your opponent could use a Power card to remove it!
Beginner Game Rules
- The game setup is the same as in the standard game, except that the Power cards are not used, so remove them from the Battle decks.
- Game play is also the same as in the standard game, except that the ship powers are not used, so just ignore them.
How to Win
The first player to sink all five of their opponents' ships wins the game!
Object
Find, hit, and sink your opponent's fleet of five Ship cards before your opponent sinks yours!
Contents
80 playing cards (24 Coordinate cards, 52 Battle cards, and 4 Reference cards).