BATTLESHIP CARD GAME



OBJECTIVE OF BATTLESHIP CARD GAME:  Be the first to sink all of your opponent’s ships

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 players

MATERIALS: 24 Coordinate cards, 52 Battle cards, and 4 reference cards 

TYPE OF GAME: Combat

AUDIENCE: Ages 7 and up


INTRODUCTION OF BATTLESHIP CARD GAME

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Hasbro Gaming Battleship Card Game for Kids Ages 7...
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The Battleship Card Game is a fast action combat game for 2 players.  It incorporates gameplay from the classic Battleship game, and it also puts a great spin on an old classic.  Rather than playing on a coordinate grid, players establish their fleet location at random with Coordinate cards.  Each turn, players will play Battle cards to discover and attack ships, boost their hand size, or bolster their defenses.  The first player to sink their opponent’s entire fleet wins the game.

MATERIALS

There are many different card types in the Battleship Card Game.  

COORDINATE CARDS

There are 12 blue and 12 red Coordinate cards.  These cards will be randomly laid out face down in a 3×4 grid.  Each card is either a MISS card, or it is a ship.

BATTLE CARDS

There are 26 blue and 26 red Battle cards.  These cards will be used to perform different actions during the game.

POWER CARDS

Power cards are a type of Battle card that allow the player to perform special actions.

REFERENCE CARDS

For new players or players who have trouble remembering the symbol meaning, the game also includes a set of reference cards.

SETUP

Each player should shuffle their 12 Coordinate cards and lay them out face down in a 3×4 grid.  Players should also shuffle their 26 Battle cards and deal themselves a starting hand of 5 cards.  Place the rest of the cards face down as a draw pile.  

HOW TO PLAY BATTLESHIP CARD GAME

On a player’s turn, they will play one Battle card from their hand.  The Battle card will either allow the player to search/attack, or perform an action.  

In order to search for an opponent’s ship, use a white peg or a red peg card to tap a Coordinate card in their opponent’s grid.  The opponent turns the tapped card over to reveal whether it is a ship or a miss.  If the player searches with a white peg card and a ship is found, the ship is simply activated and the turn ends.  

If the player searches with a red peg card, the ship is activated, and it takes the peg damage as well.  When a ship is hit with red peg damage, the red peg card is placed under the ship card with the peg exposed.  

If a player chooses to play a Power card, they complete the action on the card.  There are a variety of action cards that might be played

SHIP ACTIVATION

When a ship is activated, it also has a special power that is activated along with it.  Ship powers are active until the ship is destroyed.  Each ship’s power will have an important effect on gameplay, so do not forget about them.

ENDING A TURN

When a player has finished their turn, they draw back up to their beginning hand size.  Typically this is a hand size of 5 cards unless that player’s Aircraft Carrier has been activated.  When a player’s draw pile is empty, they shuffle their discard pile and turn it over to begin the draw pile anew.  Play like this continues until the game ends.

WINNING

The first player to destroy all of their opponent’s ships wins.

Mark Ball
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