“You sunk my battleship!”
Milton Bradley’s Battleship game pits two players against each other in an effort to decimate the opponent’s navy fleet before losing their own.
Battleship originated during World War I as a pen and paper game. Milton Bradley adapted the popular guessing game for family game night in 1967. Designed for two players ages seven and older, the naval combat game encourages players to leave cooperation at the door and destroy each other’s five-ship fleet, comprised of a destroyer, submarine, cruiser, battleship, and carrier. Inside the box are two foldable game boards (one red and one blue), 10 plastic ships, 168 white pegs, and 84 red pegs.
Players take turns guessing the location of their opponent’s ships in an effort to sink all five ships before their own fleet is destroyed. The red and white pegs are used to mark the hits and misses on the game boards. The player who successfully sinks all the opponent’s ships is the winner. The rules are printed on the inside of the box cover and include instructions for SALVO, a modification of the basic Battleship game designed for seasoned players looking for a more challenging game.
Many versions of Battleship have been released since 1967, including electronic, talking, video, online, and mobile versions of the game. The 2012 film Battleship was loosely based on the game. In 2017, Hasbro released a retro version of the game that harkened back to the 1967 original.
View a selection of Battleship commercials on the Toy Tales YouTube channel.
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