Reef Salvo

Setup

• Players: two, each with a square ocean 10 cells a side.
• Fleet: five ships of 5, 4, 3, 3 and 2 cells.
• Place: place ships in that order, each straight across or straight down, fully inside the ocean. Ships never overlap, but may touch.
• Start: the first player places a whole fleet, then the second player does. Then the first player calls.

How to play

1. 1Call a cell. On your turn, call one cell of the other ocean. At the classic table each turn is one shot, and then the other player shoots.
2. 2Hear the answer. The answer is a miss, or a hit. At the classic table a hit also says which ship was struck.
3. 3Sink a ship. A ship sinks when every one of its cells has been hit. Its sinking is announced, so you always know which ships are left.
4. 4Hunt around a hit. After a hit, call the cells beside it. When a second hit shows the direction, follow that line until the ship sinks.
5. 5One call, one cell. A cell can be called only once.
6. 6Take it back. Until the shooting starts you may take the whole fleet back and place it again.

Winning

Be the first to sink every ship of the other fleet. The game ends the moment the last one sinks.

Scoring

The first player has a small edge at the classic table and a larger one in salvo, because nobody gets a last turn to catch up.

Key terms

Ocean:

The square grid of cells where a fleet hides.

Fleet:

The ships a player hides on their ocean.

Call:

Naming a cell on the other ocean. The answer is hit or miss.

Hit:

A call that lands on a cell of a ship.

Miss:

A call that lands on an empty cell.

Sunk:

A ship with every cell hit.

Afloat:

A ship that has not sunk yet.

Salvo:

A turn with one shot for each of your ships still afloat.