Free Battleships [HTML5]

True Valhalla

Full-Time Developer
GMC Elder
Battleships is a modern twist on a classic game of chance and tactics. Test your skill against realistic computer opponents with various play styles!
  • 100% free to play
  • Works on PC and mobile
  • Realistic AI with multiple personality types
This game is part of a series of experimental high definition games that I'm producing; my goal with this series is to test the limits of what I can achieve with HTML5 technology, and to produce content with a longer lifespan in the licensing market.

Feedback regarding the design, gameplay, and performance is very welcome. Have fun!

PLAY NOW »

 
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Snail Man

Guest
It's a nice rendition of battleships, but I have one very random and specific gripe, which is that a bird on the menu passes in front of the title even though it appears to be a sillhouette and seems like it should be in the background.
Also the option of rotating your ships during placement seemed to be nonexistent
 
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itameio

Guest
I'm going to try this out right now, do you do the art for your games?.
 
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itameio

Guest
the game is very smooth and the graphics are amazing, it's also pretty fun and tempts you to replay, it would be very awesome if you can implement pvp mode on this.
 
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icuurd12b42

Guest
Works on all browsers but chrome... Hmm actually works in incognito. must be some interference from the add blockers
 
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F_Clowder

Guest
Pretty smooth, plays well, fun for a few minutes of play here and there. Keep it up!

Will the vessels be eventually rotateable, when placed at start of game? I see the enemy AI can do that.

Also, I see the crosshairs can be temporarily placed to other sections of the vessel during the placement phase but then it reverts to the center when it's put in place. Glitch, or am I missing something?
 

True Valhalla

Full-Time Developer
GMC Elder
Pretty smooth, plays well, fun for a few minutes of play here and there. Keep it up!
Thanks!

Will the vessels be eventually rotateable, when placed at start of game? I see the enemy AI can do that.
No, we made the intentional design decision to automate the rotation phase. By simplifying core mechanics, we've made the gameplay more accessible to our target audience.

Also, I see the crosshairs can be temporarily placed to other sections of the vessel during the placement phase but then it reverts to the center when it's put in place. Glitch, or am I missing something?
This is also an intentional design (unless I'm misinterpreting what you're describing). It's not a glitch.
 
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itameio

Guest
do you plan to make a pvp mode?, if so, i believe rotation is a must.
 
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F_Clowder

Guest
This is also an intentional design (unless I'm misinterpreting what you're describing). It's not a glitch.
So, what purpose does it serve? I mean why not just stick solely with a center "box" of the vessel?

I guess it seems like a glitch to me because it's purpose is not very obvious to me, sorry.

Still like it though :)
 

Nocturne

Friendly Tyrant
Forum Staff
Admin
do you plan to make a pvp mode?, if so, i believe rotation is a must.
There are currently no plans for a PvP mode.
Y'know, after playing (and the game is lovely... very slick, well presented, simple and fun... :) ), I can't help feeling that this is a 100% must have feature. The AI is good, but being able to play against others, even if it was a random person (but ideally friends I've challenged) would add sooooooo much more it. I'd seriously consider it, especially for iOS (as you say you're porting it to iOS just now), as it would be a great selling point in a market that is really really saturated.
 
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Forgeio

Guest
Y'know, after playing (and the game is lovely... very slick, well presented, simple and fun... :) ), I can't help feeling that this is a 100% must have feature. The AI is good, but being able to play against others, even if it was a random person (but ideally friends I've challenged) would add sooooooo much more it. I'd seriously consider it, especially for iOS (as you say you're porting it to iOS just now), as it would be a great selling point in a market that is really really saturated.
I agree, I just played it and I thought the exact same thing. PvP would be awesome. @truevalhalla
If your skeptical of programming it (even though you probably could do it because your the valhalla) you could always use gamemakerserver.com, it has free unwatermarked servers for game maker games and a super easy to use plugin.
 
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Guest User

Guest
PvP is a very big thing in a game...
The thought that you're not just playing with code, that you're playing with a real other person halfway around the world who can think for themselves makes ALL the difference.

It generally feels extremely lonely playing single player; in fact I barely play non-multiplayer games at all. PvP or even P+PvE is a ton more fun. The tonniest ton you will ever ton in tonville more fun.
 

Roa

Member
I think you guys are missing the point. It's design by subtraction pretty much. The minimalist feature set, so you can get right in and get right out. This is for mobile after all.

I can't imagine it would take someone very long to make a multiplayer version of this though.
 
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mazimadu

Guest
I like your games production values. I have been doing my art for years so I can have an unique style. Still can't get backgrounds like these ones. I would like to work with your artist.
 

True Valhalla

Full-Time Developer
GMC Elder
Currently I don't know anyone who is experienced enough with both GM and WebSockets/Node.js to make this a reality - the networking would have to meet the same high standard the rest of the game sets.

If you know such a developer please send them my way.
 
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seanm

Guest
Game runs impressively well on iphone 6, chrome browser.

Though I think the people who are suggesting pvp are missing the point. This is a very simple game, and tbh, one that little kids are likely to enjoy far more than an adult.
Perhaps my assessment of the mobile market is off though. Its not like anyone here has more mobile experience than True Valhalla.

Nice work :)
 
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Juxxec

Guest
I really liked the game. The AI is good, it managed to beat me :D. The graphics are nice and polished, the sound fit just right with the picture.

I would really like to be able to rotate the ships at the beginning and a PvP mode would be amazing. I know you aren't planning one, but please do consider it.

I played it on my PC using Chrome and had no problems at all! :)

Ratings:
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Gameplay: 8/10 ( Because of the no rotation at the beginning and no PvP )
 

True Valhalla

Full-Time Developer
GMC Elder
Battleships has been updated.

Change log:

- fixed GM analytics bug (causes issues with AdBlock/Ghostery)
- fixed a rare bug where two rockets would be fired at once
- leaves have been moved down so that they don't overlap the bottom left/right corners
- a rock has been moved so that it doesn't fill the bottom left corner

We don't think any "ties" actually occurred, as reported, because you either win or lose. But it's likely that the people that reported "ties" didn't realize that they could shoot in the bottom left/right corners where the enemy may have had a ship. This could cause the impression that a tie had occurred.

Thanks for all the feedback that helped us address these issues.
 
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True Valhalla

Full-Time Developer
GMC Elder
Thanks!

@icuurd12b42 Could you refresh your cache and test the game again? We made some changes that should solve the issues with AdBlock and Ghostery. Please let me know if it works outside of incognito now.
 
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icuurd12b42

Guest
Thanks!

@icuurd12b42 Could you refresh your cache and test the game again? We made some changes that should solve the issues with AdBlock and Ghostery. Please let me know if it works outside of incognito now.
Yep that fixed it.

I'm thinking you probably should add a difficulty levels... The AI does not seem to be aware it sunk something. maybe the next difficulty level should add this knowledge to the AI so it stops bombarding around the sunk ship... unles it thinks the ships are packed.

The next level after that should be that I dont know what was sunk. only that I sunk something. knowing what was sunk makes for a pretty easy win, seeing hits around the ship not part of the ship I sunk or knowing what I sunk make the voley spread much more efficient. But I never played the game like this. its interesting to know that I have the 4 shot ship to find and therefore I should only shoot the places it could fit in.
 

True Valhalla

Full-Time Developer
GMC Elder
Yep that fixed it.
Awesome - thanks for reporting that issue!

No plans for difficulty levels, but currently the way the AI works is that there are multiple "personalities" which play in different ways. Some play poorly, some play well, some play erratically. It's very much intentional. We could make the AI perfect but I always opt for flawed AI that has more of a human feel to it.
 

True Valhalla

Full-Time Developer
GMC Elder
Update: you can now rotate your ships!

This was the #1 requested feature by far, so we finally decided to add it. We've also started building a networking framework to add experimental multiplayer to the game, but this needs a lot of work before it goes public.

Play Battleships »
 

Roa

Member
giving players that tiny bit of control pays off as it reflects on the real game. The more control you have, the less seemling random the game will be and people will keep playing if they lose more often.
 

Micah_DS

Member
I really enjoyed sitting back and playing a game of this. I only scored 810 in the end, but it was fun. Whoever the artist is, they did a fine job, and the game ran perfectly (I played in Chrome browser).

I did find it a bit strange that the AI seemed to forget what it was doing on its last turn. To give an example of what I mean: The AI could hit one of my ships, then it would fire around that position in its attempt to find the rest of my ship. Then, if it eliminates all other possibilities and then finally hits, it continues to move in the direction that was hitting because it knows my ship must be continuing on in that direction, but if it runs out of shots before sinking my ship, it does not pick up where it left off on its next turn. Its as if it totally forgot that my ship was even there. Perhaps you just didn't want to make it too smart? Even so, the AI is pretty good. Well done.
 

Jezla

Member
Very fun! I played two games and got trounced both times, lol! The AI is pretty good, though I did notice a flaw. It scored a hit on one of my ships with the last shot of its turn, and it took three more turns before it got around to following up on it, when it seems that that would be the logical place to start on its next turn. I can't really complain, because it would have kicked my butt even faster if it had been better!
 

Sabnock

Member
a brilliant game. really enjoyed whiling a bit of time away on your version of an old classic.

let my 7 year old play it and he loved it as well.

top job.
 

True Valhalla

Full-Time Developer
GMC Elder
Thanks for all of the positive feedback! We've just completed a round of funding for our networking framework, and Battleships will be one of the first candidates for experimental multiplayer. I'm really excited to see how that turns out.
 
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