Hasbro's Battleship Grab and Go (item F8252), the box our link goes toPhoto: Hasbro
Two battle cases, ships and pegsPhoto: Hasbro
Red pegs for hits, white for missesPhoto: Hasbro
For two players aged 7 and upPhoto: Hasbro
The back of Hasbro's North American boxPhoto: Hasbro
Video

Two-player game

Battleship Grab and Go

Two slide-together battle cases: hide your fleet, sink theirs

2players · best with 2
15–30 minplaying time
7+recommended age
Learning curve
Very easy1 / 5
EasyDemanding
Luck & skill
More luck than skill
LuckSkill
Interaction
Medium
Set-up
About 2 min
Reading
None

The quick verdict

Full verdict ↓

Great for Two children, or a parent and child, on a train, a flight or a long car journey

Think twice if You want a game for three or more: this is strictly for two

How we rate it

Learning curve. Place five ships, call a letter and a number, mark hit or miss. Like the full-size game, it sits at 1 on our scale with UNO and Connect 4.

Luck & skill. Early shots are guesswork, but once you score a hit, working out which way the ship runs, and spacing your search shots, makes a real difference.

Interaction. Every shot is aimed at the other player's fleet, and you answer each other's calls all game, but there is no trading or talking tactics.

Set-up. The first time, an adult twists the ships off their frame. After that, slide the cases apart, share the pegs and hide your ships, which takes a minute or two.

Reading. Only the letters and numbers along the grid; nothing to read during play.

Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.

Is Battleship Grab and Go right for you?

Great if

  • Two children, or a parent and child, on a train, a flight or a long car journey
  • Children from 7 learning grid references, letters and numbers without noticing
  • Quiet play in waiting rooms and hotel rooms, since all the pegs store in the cases
  • A small gift for a child who loves the full-size Battleship

Skip it if

  • You want a game for three or more: this is strictly for two
  • You mostly play at home and want the larger cases and Salvo rules of the full-size box
  • There are toddlers at home: the pegs and ships are small parts, not for children under 3

How Battleship Grab and Go plays

Set-up: the first time, an adult twists the ships off their plastic frame. For each game, slide the two battle cases apart and take one each, then sit facing each other with the lids raised so neither of you can see the other's ocean grid. Share out the red and white pegs and put them in the storage areas of your case.

  • Time to teach: about 5 minutes.
  • Reading and language: You call out positions as a letter and a number, such as 'D-4', and answer 'hit' or 'miss', so players need the letters and numbers along the grid. The ship names can be said in any language, and the short rules leaflet is in English.

Battleship Grab and Go Portable 2 Player Game Unbox How To Play · bwcpublishing

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A turn, step by step

  1. 1
    Hide

    Secretly press your five ships into your ocean grid, across or up and down, behind your raised lid.

  2. 2
    Fire

    Call one shot a turn by letter and number. Your opponent says hit or miss, and which ship; mark it with a red or white peg on your target grid.

  3. 3
    Sink

    A ship with every hole hit is sunk. The first player to sink all five enemy ships wins.

Read the official rulesBattleship Grab and Go instructions (Hasbro item F8252) · English
The full explanation: how a game of Battleship Grab and Go goes

Hide your fleet: each player secretly presses five ships into the holes of their ocean grid: a carrier (5 holes long), a battleship (4), a submarine (3), a destroyer (3) and a patrol boat (2). Ships go across or up and down, never diagonally, must sit wholly on the grid, and can't be moved once the battle starts.

A turn: agree who goes first, then take turns calling out one shot, a letter and a number from your target grid. If it hits, your opponent says which ship; you put a red peg on your target grid and they put a red peg in the ship. If it misses, you put a white peg on your target grid so you don't call that shot again.

Winning: when every hole in a ship has a red peg, it is sunk and its owner says so. The first player to sink all five enemy ships wins. Afterwards, the ships can stay on the ocean grids, the pegs go back in the storage areas, and the cases close and slide together into one unit.

How it differs from our full-size Battleship page: the box on that page (Hasbro India's item E8260) has two larger battle cases, 168 white and 84 red pegs, and rules on the box back that add Salvo and Advanced Salvo games, and it calls its 3-hole and 2-hole ships a cruiser and a destroyer. The travel box has the same five ship sizes and the same one-shot-a-turn rules in small cases that lock together, with a one-page leaflet and no Salvo variant, though nothing stops you playing Salvo as a house rule.

What's in the box

Two battle cases, ships and pegs · Photo: Hasbro
  • 2Battle cases
    one per player: an ocean grid for your ships, a lid with the target grid that also screens your fleet, and storage for pegs; the cases slide together to pack away
  • 10Ships
    five per player: carrier (5 holes), battleship (4), submarine (3), destroyer (3) and patrol boat (2), twisted off a plastic frame the first time
  • –Red pegs
    for hits
  • –White pegs
    for misses
  • 1Instructions

Box: 25.4 × 15.9 × 4.8 cm, 0.19 kg. Handy to know for gifting and travel.

From the contents printed on Hasbro's photo of the F8252 box back, its 2023 leaflet and Hasbro's instructions page, for the box our link goes to; Hasbro gives no peg counts. The full-size Battleship on our Battleship page (Hasbro India's item E8260) has larger cases, 168 white and 84 red pegs, and a label sheet, with rules printed on the box back.

Where to buy

Check price on Amazon.in
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.

About the editions

Hasbro sells this 2023 travel box (item F8252) in India through its own store on Amazon.in, and our Amazon.in link goes to it. The listing gives India as the country of origin, but Hasbro's own photo of the North American box back says it was made in Vietnam, so we can't say which factory your box comes from. Either way it is the same Hasbro travel game. For home play, our full-size Battleship page covers Hasbro India's bigger box.

Before you choose

  • The box should carry the Hasbro Gaming and Battleship logos and the Grab & Go name. Hasbro's item number for the 2023 travel box is F8252; the older box is B0995.
  • Check the contents against Hasbro's list: 2 battle cases, 10 ships, red pegs, white pegs and instructions.
  • Each case should open with a lid that hides your ocean grid, hold its pegs in built-in storage, and slide onto the other case to close as one unit.
  • Hasbro's barcode for F8252 is 195166231006. Toys sold in India should also carry the ISI mark.
  • Pocket sea-battle games from other brands play much the same but are not Hasbro's. A listing that uses the Battleship name but names another brand, or none, is not this game.

What reviewers and players say

We found no written reviews or forum threads about the 2023 travel box, so this summary leans on Hasbro's own description and rules, and on the classic game it shrinks. Hasbro pitches it as the same Battleship in a travel size, for road trips, train and plane journeys and holidays, with each case opening to screen your fleet and storing its own pegs. Hasbro launched its Grab and Go range in India in 2019 with a TV advert of a family on a train, and Battleship was part of it. For Indian families it is the classic two-player guessing game in a box that fits a school bag; the trade-offs are small pegs and grids, and no Salvo rules in the leaflet.

What people love

  • The full Battleship game, five ships and all, in two small cases
  • Each lid hides your fleet, so there is no need for a table between players
  • The pegs store in the cases and the two halves slide together, so packing up is quick
  • Quick to teach, and good practice with grid references for 7-year-olds

Common complaints

  • Small pegs are easy to drop and lose in a moving car or train
  • The leaflet leaves out the Salvo variant of the full-size rules
  • Strictly two players, so siblings have to take turns
Based on 4 reviews and discussions

Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.

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Players2222
Best with2222
Play time15–30 min20–30 min15–20 min10–20 min
Age7+7+7+6+
RulesEasyEasyEasyEasy
Indian editionAvailableAvailableImportedAvailable
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Questions people ask about Battleship Grab and Go

What is the difference between Battleship and Battleship Grab and Go?

Grab and Go is Hasbro's travel version: the same hide-five-ships, call-a-shot game in two small cases that slide together to store the pegs. The full-size box has larger cases and rules for the Salvo variants, which the travel leaflet leaves out.

Which ships come in Battleship Grab and Go?

Each player gets five: a carrier (5 holes), a battleship (4), a submarine (3), a destroyer (3) and a patrol boat (2), ten ships in all. Hasbro's older travel box and the Indian full-size box call the 3-hole and 2-hole ships a cruiser and a destroyer, but the sizes are the same.

Can you play Salvo with the travel version?

The travel leaflet only explains the classic one-shot-a-turn game. You can still agree to play Salvo, where you fire one shot for each of your ships still afloat, since it needs nothing extra.

Is Battleship Grab and Go made in India?

We can't confirm it. The listing behind our Amazon.in link gives India as the country of origin, but Hasbro's own photo of the North American box back says it was made in Vietnam. It is Hasbro's own item F8252 either way, sold through Hasbro's store on Amazon.in.

What age is Battleship Grab and Go for?

Hasbro rates it for ages 7 and up, for two players. Children need to read a letter and a number off the grid; the ships and pegs are small parts, so keep them away from children under 3.

Game facts

Publisher
Hasbro (Hasbro Gaming)
In India
Hasbro India Toys, Mumbai (named as importer and manufacturer on the Amazon.in listing)
First published
2023
Players
2
Barcode
195166231006
Language
Little reading – You call out positions as a letter and a number, such as 'D-4', and answer 'hit' or 'miss', so players need the letters and numbers along the grid. The ship names can be said in any language, and the short rules leaflet is in English.
Box size and weight
25.4 × 15.9 × 4.8 cm, 0.19 kg
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.

Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.