BattleTabs is Battleship reimagined — a free online Battleship game you play in your browser against real opponents, turn by turn. Hidden fleets on a grid, alternating shots, and one twist the board game never had: ships carry their own abilities. More than 5 million captains have registered, and it is made by Gangbusters Ltd, a UK indie studio. Play Battleship free at battletabs.io.
BattleTabs runs in any web browser at battletabs.io. There is nothing to install and no trial period — the game is free on web, iOS, Android, Steam, and Discord. You can open it and start a match without signing up; linking an account is what makes progress durable, syncing your fleet and rank across devices. Battle Club is an optional paid subscription for cosmetic perks, and ranked play is not pay-to-win.
Start a Friendly Battle, then either invite someone from your friends list or share the battle link with anyone. Friendly battles give reduced rewards compared to ranked: gold, trophies, and Research Points are a fraction of ranked, Challenges do not progress, and your BTN skill rating is unaffected. To find someone without searching for a name, share your friend code — an 8-character code that identifies your account.
Ranked matchmaking puts you against real opponents 1v1, in real time or asynchronously — queue a move, close the tab, come back when they have replied. Wins push your BTN (BattleTabs Number) rating up and losses push it down, which is what feeds the live leaderboard. There is also AI practice for learning the game, though it pays almost nothing in rewards. See How to Play BattleTabs for the step-by-step version.
Progression is cross-platform: your fleet, rank, and cosmetics sync across every platform below on the same linked account, so you can start a match on your phone and finish it in a browser.
BattleTabs is a Discord Activity — you launch it inside a voice channel and play against the people you are already talking to, without anyone leaving Discord. It is the same game and the same account as web, mobile, and Steam, so your fleet and rank carry over either way.
BattleTabs starts from the Battleship idea — a hidden fleet on a grid, alternating guesses — and adds ship abilities, which is the part that changes the game.
| Classic Battleship | BattleTabs | |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden fleet on a grid | Yes | Yes |
| Turns | Alternating guesses | Alternating turns, in real time or asynchronously |
| Ships | A fixed set of ships | Build a fleet of four from a roster of 40+ |
| Ship abilities | None — the twist the board game never had | Every ship except the passive ones has a unique ability on a cooldown |
| A match | A guessing game | A few minutes, and more like a strategy puzzle |
| Opponents | Whoever is in the room with you | Ranked 1v1 matchmaking, or a friend via a battle link |
| Price | Buy the board game | Free to play on web, iOS, Android, Steam, and Discord |
Every ship except the passive ones has a unique ability on a cooldown that scouts, defends, or attacks multiple squares: one-shot a ship you have already located, reveal how far away the nearest enemy is hiding, or steal your opponent's last move and fire it back. The classic shooting heuristics still apply — chase a hit in a line, switch axes when a line dies — but the winner is decided by better reads, not better luck.
Yes. BattleTabs is free to play in your browser at battletabs.io — there is no purchase and no trial period. It is also free on iOS, Android, Steam, and Discord. Battle Club, the optional subscription, sells cosmetics rather than an edge in ranked.
No. BattleTabs runs in any web browser, so you can start a match without installing anything. Native apps for iOS, Android, and Steam exist if you want one, and your fleet, rank, and cosmetics sync across all of them.
Yes. Start a Friendly Battle, then either invite someone from your friends list or share the battle link with anyone. Friendly battles pay out less than ranked — a fraction of the usual gold, trophies, and Research Points — and they leave Challenges and your BTN skill rating untouched.
Yes. Every BattleTabs match is a 1v1 duel between two captains, played in real time or asynchronously against a real opponent. There is also AI practice for learning the game, though it pays almost nothing in rewards.
Yes. BattleTabs has native apps on iOS and Android, and it also runs in a web browser. Progression is cross-platform, so you can start a match on your phone and finish it on a computer.
Yes. BattleTabs is a Discord Activity you can launch inside a voice channel and play with the people you are already talking to. It is the same game and the same account as web, mobile, and Steam, so your fleet and rank carry over.
No — you can open battletabs.io and start a match in your browser without signing up. Linking an account is what makes progress stick: your fleet and rank follow you between devices, your score survives an uninstall, and you can add friends.
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