Printable Battleship Game

By the Iron Tide team · Last reviewed October 9, 2026

Battleship was a paper game long before it was a board game, and it still works with nothing but a pencil. Print one sheet per player, fold it so your opponent cannot see, and you are ready.

Only the grids and the checklist print; the rest of this page is left out. Each player needs one copy.

My fleet
ABCDEFGHIJ
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Enemy waters
ABCDEFGHIJ
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Ships to place: Carrier (5) ☐ Battleship (4) ☐ Cruiser (3) ☐ Submarine (3) ☐ Destroyer (2) ☐
Marks: ✕ = hit   ● = miss

How to play Battleship on paper

  1. Each player takes a sheet and sits where the other cannot see it.
  2. On “My fleet”, draw your five ships by outlining squares in a row: lengths 5, 4, 3, 3 and 2. Horizontal or vertical only, no overlapping.
  3. Take turns calling a square, such as “C5”. The other player answers “hit” or “miss”.
  4. Mark your own shots on “Enemy waters”, and mark your opponent’s shots on “My fleet”.
  5. When every square of a ship has been hit, say which ship sank. Tick it off on the checklist.
  6. The first player to sink all five ships wins.

No printer? Any squared paper works: draw two 10×10 boxes and label them A–J across the top and 1–10 down the side. The full rules are here, or skip the paper and play online.