Battleship
It's from 1967, before you were born.
- Maker
- Milton Bradley / Hasbro
- Type
- Board game (strategy)
- Debuted
- 1967
- Note
- Began as a WWI-era pencil-and-paper game
As an Amazon Associate, OlderThan earns from qualifying purchases.
About
As of 2026, it's 59 years old.
Battleship started life as a pencil-and-paper game played in the WWI era before Milton Bradley turned it into the iconic plastic two-case version in 1967, complete with little gray ships and the immensely satisfying red and white pegs. 'You sank my battleship!' became one of gaming's all-time great catchphrases.
The whole game is a tense exercise in calling out coordinates — 'B-7?' 'Miss.' — and slowly triangulating where your opponent hid their fleet behind that little raised divider. Peeking was, and remains, the cardinal sin.
Tense, grid-based, and gloriously naval, Battleship is the game that turned 'A-1, hit!' into the soundtrack of a thousand rainy afternoons.
