Free logic puzzle
Ships (Battleship solitaire)
Also known as Bimaru or battleship solitaire
Battleship, but with logic instead of luck: the numbers tell you where the fleet is hiding.
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How to play
- Find the hidden fleet. The numbers show how many ship squares sit in each row and column.
- Ships never touch, not even diagonally. Tap a square to cycle through water and ship, or drag to paint several.
- A few squares are revealed to get you started. Every ship in the fleet legend must be found.
First moves
Zeros and full lines
Start with the numbers. A row or column marked 0 is all water. When a line already holds as many ship squares as its number, the rest of it is water too. And when the empty squares left equal the ship squares still needed, every one of them is ship.
Water around every ship
Ships never touch, not even at a corner. So the four squares diagonal to any ship square are always water. Once a ship is complete, every square around it is water as well. Marking this water early shrinks the board and makes the row and column numbers easier to read.
Read the revealed pieces
A revealed piece tells you its shape. An end piece shows which way the ship continues, so the next square in that direction is ship. A one-square ship has water all around it. A middle piece means the ship carries on to both sides, along its row or its column.
The biggest ship first
Check the fleet legend and look for the longest ship you have not found yet. Often there are only one or two rows or columns with a number big enough to hold it. Try each place in your head: when only one works, draw it, then surround it with water.
Origin
The puzzle was invented in Argentina by Jaime Poniachik and first appeared in 1982 in the Argentine magazine Humor & Juegos. It made its international debut at the first World Puzzle Championship, in New York in 1992.
It borrows its ships from Battleship, the guessing game for two, but you play it alone and by logic. On Expert, Ships uses the classic fleet on a 10 by 10 grid: one ship of four squares, two of three, three of two and four of one.
Sources: Wikipedia: Battleship (puzzle)
Why play it here
- Every puzzle has exactly one solution, and logic gets you there.
- Four levels: Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert.
- A new daily puzzle for everyone, and, with Premium, every past daily since 1 January 2026.
- Three free hints a day that explain the next step.
- Challenge a friend with a link to the very same puzzle.
Questions
Is Bimaru the same as Battleships?
Not quite. Battleships is a guessing game for two players who take turns firing at each other's hidden fleet. Bimaru, or battleship solitaire, is a puzzle for one based on it: there is no shooting, and the numbers beside the grid tell you where the ships are.
Does every Ships puzzle have one solution?
Yes. The fleet fits in exactly one way. A hint points out the next square and tells you why it is ship or water.
How big is the fleet?
It grows with the level: from six ships on a 6 by 6 grid on Easy to the classic ten ships on a 10 by 10 grid on Expert. The fleet legend shows which ships you still have to find.
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