The Doppit Almanac · No. 43

Fleetit

Find the fleet hiding in the grid

What it is

Fleetit is Bimaru, the pencil-and-paper version of Battleships. A fleet is hidden in the grid, and the rail under the board says what you are looking for: on an expert board that is one four-cell ship, two three-cell, three two-cell and four single-cell ships. Every ship is a straight run of cells, lying across or down.

No two ships touch, not even at a corner, so every ship has water all round it, and each cell you mark as ship rules out its four corners at once. A handful of cells are turned face up before you start, either as water or as part of a ship, and those are the easiest place to begin.

How it plays

• Find the whole fleet. The rail under the board says how many ships of each length are hiding.
• The number beside a row or under a column counts the ship cells in that line.
• No two ships touch, not even at a corner.
• Gold-edged cells are given: a wave is water, a round block is a one-cell ship, a square block is the middle of a longer ship, and a rounded end shows which way its ship runs.
• Ship places a ship cell, Water marks a cell you know is water. Tap a cell, or drag along a run of them.
• Placing a ship waters its four corners for you, and water marks are only your notes, so a cell you leave blank counts as water.
• Stuck? Hint names the next forced cell and says why.

The difficulties

Easy is four by four with three ships, and half a minute of counting lines finishes it. Medium is six by six with five ships, the same counting on a wider board. Hard is eight by eight with seven ships and keeps more of its face-up cells, so most boards ask for one look ahead and no more. Expert is ten by ten with ten ships: a typical board needs five or six separate stretches where you suppose a cell is water, follow it until the fleet no longer fits, and take the other answer. A fresh board is dealt every day, for nothing.

Nearby in the almanac: Nonit, Campit and Stellit