Battleship With Special Abilities, Free to Play

Plain Battleship is a guessing game. You call a square, you hear “hit” or “miss”, and after a few rounds you've mostly stopped thinking. We wanted the version where you actually make decisions, so we gave every ship a power of its own.

That's BattleTabs. It's still a hidden grid, alternating turns, and a race to sink the other fleet. The difference is that each ship can do something the others can't, and it does it on a cooldown, so you're always deciding whether to use it now or save it. Play free at battletabs.io.

What “abilities” means here

You bring four ships into a match. Each one has an ability that recharges after a set number of turns. A few examples:

  • Explorer reveals three tiles at once, as long as they sit next to tiles you've already uncovered. It recharges after a single turn, so it's a scouting workhorse.
  • Seagulls pick a tile you've already revealed and sonar every tile around it.
  • Octopus sonars two random tiles and shows how far away the nearest enemy ship is.
  • Longboat keeps firing, up to five shots, until it misses or sinks a ship.
  • Coracle sinks a ship in one hit, but only on a tile you've already revealed.
  • Magic Mirror copies the last ability your opponent used, and you get to play it yourself.
  • Valkyrie attacks twice, and gets an extra attack for every ship you've already lost.

There are more than 30 ships in all. You won't see most of them in your first week, and that's fine. Picking which four to bring is half the game, and reading which four your opponent brought is the other half.

Why it plays differently

Because abilities are on cooldowns, turns have a rhythm. You might spend a few turns on plain shots while your Longboat recharges, then let it fire off up to five in a row. Your opponent is doing the same maths about you. Bluffing, baiting out an ability, and saving your Magic Mirror for the right moment are all real plays. None of that exists in the paper version.

It's still quick to learn. If you've played Battleship, you already know the board and the turn order. The abilities are the only new thing, and each ship's info screen spells out what it does.

Free, and playable wherever you are

BattleTabs is free to play. Matches are 1v1 against another person, and you can challenge a friend, share a link with anyone, or practise against an AI first. There's an optional membership called Battle Club, but you don't need it to play.

You can play in your browser with nothing to install, on Steam, on iOS and Android (where to play), or inside a Discord voice channel. More than 5 million people have registered so far.

Try it

Start a match in your browser, or grab it on Steam. Our how to play guide walks through your first game, and the ships wiki lists every ship and what it does. Playing with a friend? See play Battleship online with friends.

FAQ

Is there a Battleship game with special abilities?

Yes. In BattleTabs every ship has its own ability that recharges on a cooldown, and it's free to play.

Is BattleTabs free?

Yes. You can play ranked and friendly matches without paying. Battle Club is an optional membership.

How many ships do I bring to a match?

Four. The game has more than 30 ships to choose from.

Can I play it with a friend?

Yes. Challenge someone from your friends list or send a link to anyone.

Where can I play?

In a browser, on Steam, on iOS and Android, and as a Discord Activity.

Play now (web) · How to play · On Steam · Ships wiki · Answers · Free turn-based PvP game