Warships

In the box:
• 2 Game consoles with stickers
• 2 Sets or warships (5 per player)
• 2 Sets of red pegs (40 per player)
• 4 Sets of white pegs (80 per player)
• Includes play instructions in Afrikaans & English
• Suitable for 2 players

Cognitive and intellectual skills

• Deductive reasoning: As a player, you must use the process of elimination to narrow down the possible locations of your opponent's ships. By tracking your hits and misses on your target grid, you can deduce where a ship must be based on the size of the ships remaining and the spaces already eliminated.
• Spatial reasoning: Placing your ships on the grid requires thinking about how different-sized objects fit into a limited space. On offense, you must mentally visualize where your opponent's ships might be located based on the hits and misses you have marked.
• Memory: Warship requires you to remember the coordinates you have already called and the responses you received. You also need to keep a mental map of your opponent's board and adjust it with every new piece of information.
• Problem-solving: Each turn presents a small problem to solve: Where should you shoot next to maximize your chances of hitting a ship, especially after you've already scored a hit? This fosters flexible and adaptive thinking.
• Probability: While the initial shots can be random, experienced players often use an understanding of probability to guide their choices. For instance, it's statistically more likely to hit a ship by aiming for the centre of the board, especially at the start of the game.

Strategic planning and analysis

• Strategic thinking: A skilled player plans their actions and tries to anticipate the opponent's moves. This applies to both offense (developing a "hunt and target" approach) and defence (placing your ships in less predictable locations).
• Pattern analysis: Observing the patterns in your guesses and the resulting hits and misses helps you identify the remaining ship locations more efficiently. For example, if you get a hit, you know to focus your search on the surrounding squares.
• Adaptability: The most successful players are able to adapt their strategy as new information becomes available. You cannot stick to a rigid plan if the feedback from your guesses suggests a different approach is necessary.

Practical and social skills

• Coordinate mapping: Warship is an excellent, low-pressure way for children to learn how to use a coordinate grid system (like A5 or C7). This is a foundational math skill that makes later exposure to graphing and Cartesian planes more intuitive.
• Fine motor skills: Placing the small pegs into the board to record hits and misses can help develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor control, especially for younger players.
• Patience and persistence: The game can take a while to finish, requiring players to stay focused and persistent, even if they have a series of misses.
• Social participation: As an interpersonal game, Warship teaches important social skills, such as taking turns, communicating clearly, and handling both winning and losing with good sportsmanship.