Battleship Darts

Sink all of your opponent's hidden fleet before they sink yours. Each player secretly positions a navy of ships across the dartboard's segments, then takes turns throwing darts to locate and destroy the enemy vessels — just like the classic board game Battleship, but played on a standard dartboard.

Two players are required. Each player needs a pencil and a paper grid that maps to every segment of the dartboard (numbers 1–20, with columns for the double ring, large single, triple ring, and small single of each number). The inner and outer bullseyes cannot be used for fleet placement.

Each player secretly arranges their fleet on the grid. The fleet consists of the following vessels, each occupying specific segment types:

• 1 Aircraft Carrier (5 segments): 5 adjacent large single numbers — e.g., the large singles of 20, 1, 18, 4, and 13 (five numbers that sit next to each other around the board).
• 1 Frigate (4 segments): 1 number's double + large single + triple + small single — all four segments of a single number, e.g., all four segments of the 16 bed.
• 1 Cruiser (3 segments): 3 adjacent triple-ring segments — e.g., triple 19, triple 7, and triple 16 (three triples that neighbour each other on the board).
• 2 Destroyers (2 segments each): Each destroyer occupies 2 adjacent double-ring segments — e.g., double 6 and double 13.
• 3 Submarines (1 segment each): Each submarine occupies 1 small single segment — e.g., small single 5, small single 12, and small single 9.

Ships cannot overlap — no segment may be assigned to more than one vessel. "Adjacent" means the numbers sit next to each other around the physical dartboard (e.g., 20 and 1 are adjacent, as are 1 and 18). To determine throwing order, each player throws one dart at the bullseye; the player closest to the bull throws first and chooses their preferred side of the oche.

Players alternate turns, each throwing 3 darts per visit. After all three darts have been thrown, the opponent must honestly announce the results for each dart:

• Whether the dart was a hit or a miss.
• If a hit, which vessel type was struck (e.g., "Hit — Cruiser").
• If all segments of a vessel have now been hit, the opponent must announce that the ship has been sunk (e.g., "Hit and sunk — Destroyer").

Hitting a segment that has already been hit on a previous turn does not count as a new hit. That dart is effectively wasted — it does not damage a different vessel and does not register a repeated hit on the same ship. All segments of a vessel must be struck to sink it: the Aircraft Carrier requires 5 hits, the Frigate requires 4, the Cruiser requires 3, each Destroyer requires 2, and each Submarine requires just 1.

Both players should maintain two tracking sheets: one showing where their own fleet is placed, and one recording every shot they have thrown (marking hits and misses) so they can build a picture of the opponent's layout. Accurate record-keeping is essential to avoid wasting darts on previously targeted segments.

For example, if Player A throws at triple 19, small single 7, and double 13, Player B checks their fleet grid and might respond: "Triple 19 — hit, Cruiser. Small single 7 — miss. Double 13 — hit and sunk, Destroyer."

There is no numerical point scoring in Battleship Darts. Instead, players track hits and misses against the opponent's fleet on their recording sheet.

• Hit: The dart lands in a segment occupied by part of the opponent's fleet.
• Miss: The dart lands in an unoccupied segment, the bullseye (unless the Radar rule is in play), or a segment that has already been hit.
• Sunk: When every segment of a particular vessel has been hit, that vessel is sunk and removed from play.

For reference, the total number of segment hits required to destroy the entire fleet is: Aircraft Carrier (5) + Frigate (4) + Cruiser (3) + Destroyer (2) + Destroyer (2) + Submarine (1) + Submarine (1) + Submarine (1) = 19 hits.

The first player to sink all 8 vessels in the opponent's fleet wins the game. There is no tiebreak mechanism — because players alternate turns, one player will always have thrown an equal or greater number of darts. If the player who threw second sinks the final ship on the same round that the first player also completed their sinking, groups should agree before the game whether to allow the trailing player their final turn for a potential draw, or whether the first player to sink the fleet outright wins regardless of turn order.

For a longer match format, players may agree to play best of 3 or best of 5 games, swapping who throws first in alternating games.

Radar (Bullseye Intelligence): If a player hits the inner bullseye during their turn, the opponent must reveal one target area on the board that contains part of an unsunk ship or submarine. This powerful intelligence ability may only be used once per game — if the same player hits the inner bullseye again on a later turn, no additional information is provided. Some groups also allow the outer bullseye to trigger the Radar ability, making it slightly easier to activate; this should be agreed upon before play begins.

Simplified Fleet: For a faster game or less experienced players, the fleet can be reduced — for example, removing the Aircraft Carrier and one Destroyer, leaving only 5 vessels and requiring just 12 hits to win. This shortens game length considerably while retaining the core guessing mechanic.

Hide submarines in obscure small singles: Submarines occupy a single small single segment and require only one hit to sink — but the small single beds are among the hardest areas on the board to hit deliberately. Place your submarines in less commonly targeted numbers (e.g., small single 3, small single 17) rather than popular areas like 20 or 19 where opponents may naturally aim.

Spread your fleet across the board: Resist the temptation to cluster your ships on one side of the dartboard. A well-spread fleet forces the opponent to cover more of the board, reducing the chance that a single exploratory grouping of three darts discovers multiple vessels at once.

Follow up on hits immediately: When you hit part of a multi-segment ship (especially the Aircraft Carrier or Cruiser), focus your next turn's darts on adjacent segments. Ships must occupy neighbouring numbers, so a hit on triple 19 means the Cruiser likely extends to triple 7 or triple 3. Methodical follow-up is far more efficient than scattering darts randomly.

Save Radar for the endgame: If playing with the Radar variant, do not waste your single-use intelligence early when there are many ships still to find. Instead, save it for the late game when you are hunting for one or two remaining submarines hidden in small single segments — that is when Radar information is most decisive.

Track every dart meticulously: Unlike most dart games, Battleship Darts relies heavily on information management. Mark every miss on your tracking sheet just as carefully as every hit. Knowing which segments are clear narrows down where enemy ships must be hiding and prevents you from wasting darts on already-explored territory.