Sinking ships

Sink Ships is a strategy game for children in which two players take it in turns to find and sink their opponent's ships on a grid. The captain of the fleet with a clever strategy and a bit of luck wins. This classic game promotes coordination and logical thinking and is great fun both at home and when traveling, for example.

The aim of Sink Ships is to be the first to hit all of your opponent's ships. The game is played with two people and is suitable for children aged 7 and over.

Material required:

• 2 game sheets
• Pens for each player to mark

Each player has a fleet of ships that they must hide. The fleet usually consists of the following ships:

• 1 aircraft carrier with 5 spaces
• 2 sailing ships with 4 spaces each
• 3 submarines with 3 spaces each
• 4 inflatable boats with 2 spaces each

Both players enter their ships in the left-hand space. The boats may sail vertically and horizontally, but they may not touch each other or be placed diagonally.

Important: Where the ships are placed remains secret. No one tells the other where their own ships are placed on the game sheet.

The players take it in turns to guess where their opponent's ships might be by announcing the position of the square. For example, "A3" or "D8". The opponent responds with the word "hit" if a ship is on the named square, or with "sunk" if all the squares of a ship have been hit. If a hit is made, the other player marks the corresponding square on their own grid to remember where they have already guessed correctly.

The game continues until all of a player's ships have been sunk. The first player to hit all of their opponent's ships wins!