About Battleship Solitaire
Battleship Solitaire (also called Bimaru) is the single-player logic-puzzle version of Battleship — there's no hidden opponent and no guessing. You're given a fixed fleet of ships, a number for each row and column showing how many ship segments it contains, and sometimes a few revealed cells. From those clues alone, you deduce the exact position of every ship.
The Rules
Place the full fleet on the grid using the row and column ship-count clues, so that no two ships touch — even diagonally.
Step by Step
- You're given a fixed fleet of ships of different lengths, plus a count for each row and column showing how many ship segments it holds.
- Ships are always straight (horizontal or vertical) and never touch another ship, not even diagonally.
- Some cells may already be revealed as water or as part of a ship to help you get started.
- Use the row/column counts and the no-touching rule to deduce which remaining cells must be water and which must be ship.
- The puzzle is solved when the entire fleet is placed and every row and column count matches.
Tips & Strategy
- A row or column clue of 0 means every cell in that line is water — mark it immediately.
- Once a ship segment is placed, mark every cell touching it (including diagonally) as water — no other ship can go there.
- Start with the longest ship in the fleet — it has the fewest possible placements on the board.
- If a row's remaining unrevealed cells exactly match its remaining clue count, all of them must be ship cells.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same as the classic two-player Battleship game?
No — that's a guessing game against a hidden opponent. Battleship Solitaire (Bimaru) is a single-player logic puzzle with row/column clues and exactly one deducible solution — no guessing involved.
Can ships touch each other?
No — not even diagonally. There must be at least one water cell of separation between any two ships.
How do I know the fleet composition?
It's shown alongside the board — typically one ship of each length from longest down to several 1-cell ships, though the exact fleet scales with grid size.
