Battleship Calculator

Finds the best square(s) to fire at during a battleship game - Read about the methodology

About

Why use this calculator?⌗

This battleship calculator specifically considers the GamePidgeon ruleset and tries to optimize for information gain, meaning it will consider the implications of a shot hitting.

Traditional battleship calculators like this one iterate over the board, only considering the current state of the board. However, with the GamePidgeon ruleset, this calculator is able to consider and optimize for the future of the board.

How should I use this calculator?⌗

First make sure you are using the same ruleset as the GamePidgeon iMessage version of the game (You cannot place ships adjacent or diagonal to another ship).

Adjust the edge/corner weightings according to your opponent. If your opponent distributes their ships randomly, leave them both on 1.0x, otherwise adjust based on their preference to place ships on the edge (increase if more likely, decrease if less likely).

The circle on the pink square denotes the square with the highest score. This is not necessarily the square most likely to contain a ship, but rather the square that will give you the best chance of winning overall. Check out the accompanying blog post for more info.

As ships are eliminated, update the count using the ship counters below the board.

How does this work?⌗

Great question! Check out the accompanying blog post to see the details!

At a high level, the computer iterates over the possible ship placements. Then, by using the ruleset, it can make some assumptions about which cells would rule out the most ships if a hit was made.

Why are there edge/corner multipliers?⌗

The edges/corners are not mathematically preferred, but some opponents prefer placing their ships there.

By boosting/hampering the edges scores, you can adjust the bot to your opponent's playstyle.