Battleship Design May Vary
by Hasbro
Our Price: $19.99
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Category: Toy
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Product Summary
Manufacturer: HasbroBrand: Hasbro
Model: 4730
Product features:
- Classic naval warfare game
- Look for your opponent's fleet by calling out squares on the grid
- Requires strategy and logic
- Game sets are portable, making them easy to play at home or on the road
- For 2 players
Toys and Games Reviews of Battleship Design May Vary
Customer Review: A trip down memory lane
Summary: 3 Stars
I don't know of anyone who *hasn't* played "Battleship" at some point in their life. I'm 36 now but I remember well the iconic Battleship commercials that would play on Saturday morning TV featuring two buck-toothed youths squinting deviously over the backs of their respective blue and red gameboards at each other and one stating "You sunk my battleship!" (it seemed odd he should sound so gleeful about it, considering he just lost a ship). We had the regular version and the Electronic Battleship which I used to play with my mom at the tender age of 6.
Battleship is one of those timeless games that has left an indelible mark on boardgamers everywhere. It doesn't rely on dice or cards, making it a nice break from games like "Sorry" or "Monopoly". What it does have are dozens of little red and white plastic pegs, 10 grey plastic ships of varying types and sizes, and two folding plastic gameboards. The premise is very simple. You place your fleet comprised of 5 ships (Aircraft Carrier, Battleship, Destroyer, Submarine, and what I assume to be a PT Boat) onto a perforated plastic grid (each ship has pegs on the bottom which allow it to be placed on the board). The plastic grid is numbered in rows on the horizontal plane and lettered A, B, C, etc. on the vertical. On the up-folded section is an identical grid which is used to track shots one fires at the enemy fleet. The game begins with one player announcing coordinates (B-4, D-8, etc) in an attempt to narrow down where their opponents vessels may be. The defending player reports "Hit" if the opponents scores one, and "Miss" if they hit empty ocean. If you land a hit on an opponent's ship you use a red peg to mark the location on your map, and white if you miss. In this way you can track out where the opponents ships out using deduction.
The dynamic is simple, fast-paced, and fun, and perhaps that what makes the game as popular as it is. This is a game that is perfect for kids 12 and under, and after a few games you'll start to see a few, budding Admiral "Bull" Halsey's growing on the vine. As a teaching tool, if you're looking for that kind of thing in a kid's game, "Battleship" somewhat limited. There's no doubt that it will develop your little tyke's deduction centers in the brain. It's also a pretty good introduction into the world of coordinates and how to use them.
I would say that each individual red or white peg costs about $10.00, or did at the time that I was a child. How did I arrive at this value? That was the cost of the replacement belt for my Mom's vacuum cleaner, which sucked up dozens of my little plastic artillery shells, along with my old GI Joe rifles and clear plastic legos (my Mom's bane). This is not helped by the fact that all the pegs come in one clear baggie, which makes sorting something of a chore. The gameboards themselves are compartmentalized so you can store the pegs in it once you've sorted them.
The wife and I have begun to collect boardgames like "Battleship" in preparation for the children we plan on having someday. We played a couple of matches and found that the game is sorely lacking in the same "fun factor" it gave us as children, so if you're looking for some deep, realistic nautical wargame for adults, look elsewhere. For this reason I wanted to give the game an overall score of 3 1/2 stars, but since Amazon doesn't allow that I'll have to give it 3 even.
This game will most certainly provide a staple of your average family game night and will provide a lot of fun time with the kids.
Description of Battleship Design May Vary
Do you have what it takes to command your own fleet of five ships' Can you survive thrilling, ruthless combat on the high seas' Find out with this classic Battleship game, a test of strategy, determination and luck! Stalk your enemy and plan your attack, even as the enemy is stalking you! Keep track of your hits and misses so you never waste a shot! Try to sink all five of your opponent's ships before your own are found and sunk. The game is portable - the game units fold up to keep everything shipshape and ready to go! Includes two fold-up game units, 168 white peg, 84 red pegs, 10 ships, label sheet and instructions in both English and Spanish. For 2 players.Battleship captains plot their strategies, send out torpedoes, and as the last ship (often the smallest, two-peg patrol boat) hides in an unsuspected corner, anticipation mounts. Like many classic games, Battleship walks a fine line between strategy and luck. The goal is to conceal the location of your ships while finding and destroying your enemies' fighters. The playing arena is a notebook-size plastic board updated for '90s sensibilities: the "floor" of the board is printed with waves and the exterior vaguely resembles a laptop. The design mimics the view a submarine captain would have, complete with a glimmer of radar waves. The game is perfect entertainment to share: simple enough for children, yet gratifying enough for adults to enjoy. One design decision keeps this edition from being truly stellar: the playing boards don't lock securely, allowing the small pegs to fall out and spill from the sides if jostled. --Jennifer Buckendorff
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