Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗BattleTabs
Gangbusters Ltd · Published by Gangbusters Ltd · Official site ↗
Positive — 92% positive (37 reviews) · 92 achievements
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
It looks like Battleship. It plays like a duel of wits. 40+ ships, each with a unique ability — build a fleet of 4 and outsmart your opponent in fast 1v1 matches. Free to play, cross-platform, 5M+ players.
Indie, Free To Play, Strategy, Casual · 2026 · More free games
About this game
Take the game everyone played as a kid. Give every ship a superpower. Now you're playing BattleTabs.
A fast, tense 1v1 strategy duel: build a fleet, hunt down your opponent's, and sink it before they sink yours. The board is hidden, the abilities are deadly, and one good read can win the whole match.
So, what's in your fleet?
You bring four ships into battle — and there are 40+ to choose from, each a completely different tool:
🛶 The Coracle one-shots any ship — if you've already found the tile.
🚣 The Longboat keeps firing until it finally misses.
🐙 The Octopus tells you how far away the nearest enemy is hiding.
🛡️ The Loyal Defender takes every hit meant for the rest of your fleet.
🪞 The Magic Mirror steals your opponent's last move and fires it back.
⚔️ The Valkyrie strikes twice — and harder every time one of your own ships goes down.
And many more!
Mix, match, and find the combo that wins the way you want to win.
The board is hidden. So is your plan.
Every shot is a guess you're trying to make less of a guess. Scout with sonar. Bluff your placements. Bait out their cooldowns, then punish the opening. The matches are short. The mind games aren't.
Quick to learn. Brutal to master.
A round takes a few minutes. Getting genuinely good takes a while. Climb the ranked ladder, where wins come from better reads — never better luck.
You don't have to battle alone.
Join a clan and climb together. Drop into tournaments to prove you're the best in the field. Or go solo against the AI in Expedition (prototype) — a roguelike run where you push your fleet through encounter after encounter, upgrading as you go, with only three strikes to spare.
⛵️ 40+ ships, each with a unique cooldown ability
🔧 Collect and build your fleets — think through your strategy!
🧪 Unlock new ships, cosmetics (hats!) through the research tree
🏆 Skill-based ranked play — pure 1v1, no pay-to-win
🏟️ Tournaments — compete for the top of the bracket
🤝 Clans — team up, climb, and represent
🗺️ Expedition (Early Access) — a PvE roguelike against AI fleets
⚡️ Two modes: Intense for fast duels, Casual to take your time
🪐 Cross-platform — your fleet follows you everywhere
🆓 Free to play
5M+ players have battled across 6 platforms — now join us on Steam!
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel Core i3 or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: WebGL 2.0 compatible GPU
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 2000 MB available space
Recommended
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Supported Languages
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Autumn Harvest Season
New season: Autumn HarvestNew ship: Mermaid — when it is hit, it passively reveals up to 8 tiles on the opponent's board.16 new avatar parts, 7 new Autumn Harvest emotes and 2 ship skins.SettlementVisit a friend's Settlement and play with their pet — a free mood boost for them, once per visiting pet each day.Give your pet a name the first time you meet them.Fixed a bug where dismissing the pet card still counted as playing with your pet.Rewards and shopYour first 5 full-length Friendly battles each day now pay full end-of-battle Gold and Research Points.New in the shop: the Treasure Starter — 100 Gems, 8,000 Gold and three exclusive treasure emotes.Fixes and polishAbility shots now highlight the tile a Loyal Defender redirects them to.A faster end-of-battle rewards screen.Read full article on Community Announcements (gangbusters)Patch NotesOfficial
Langauge Support - Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/777038511014281276/1540719167861170266/Screenshot_2026-08-22_at_14.46.31.png?ex=6a8afa0a&is=6a89a88a&hm=8a993e47b95d894b7b60f2c11e4a8926e9e04b3c213ab643afe1ceed680980fa&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=768&height=474 + BattleTabs now speaks Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Every screen is translated — choose a language in Settings, or leave it to follow your device https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/777038511014281276/1540719579846807602/Screenshot_2026-08-22_at_14.49.23.png?ex=6a8afa6d&is=6a89a8ed&hm=a04498a3707b61c3963a003579eec52077b06d7d28902163e0d2c8ffa04bad15&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=768&height=474 + The daily login bonus now fits the screen in every language. Where the text ran taller, the CLAIM button was pushed below the fold and could not be reached + The Free Ticket card in the shop no longer overflows its button, and no longer repeats the same hint twiceRead full article on Community Announcements (gangbusters)Patch NotesOfficial
New Shipyard
+ The Shipyard is rebuilt! Tapping a ship now unfurls its details in place beneath its row — ability, skins and a single USE button — instead of a popup drawn over the ship you were trying to look at. A new berth rail down the side switches between your four fleet slots, so changing one no longer means hitting a tiny 3D hull + Friendly battles now make progress on your battle drop meter. + Live events that boost friendly battle rewards now reach gold, drops and chests, not just Rivalry chests + The Mermaid now telegraphs her reveal volley — target reticles and arrows show which tiles she has picked before they flip + Settings showed "English" for anyone whose device language carries a region (de-DE, pt-BR, es-MX and so on), and picking a language did nothing. It now shows your real language and the switch works. More of the Settings screens are translated too, and the language notice now credits your system settings rather than your browser + Sharing your friend code or a battle invite from iOS now sends the message with the link, instead of a bare link with no context + Accepting a shared battle invite now offers to send that player a friend requestRead full article on Community Announcements (gangbusters)Patch NotesOfficial
Login fix
Fixed: Login on the welcome screenThe Login button on the "How to Play" screen did nothing — the login box opened and closed itself instantly. It now works, so you can sign into an existing account before you start playing.Also in this update:Steam achievements now unlock reliablyOn macOS, the login page no longer opens fullscreen over the gameLogging in with Discord no longer leaves a spinner stuck on screenThe menu now closes when you tap an entryRead full article on Community Announcements (gangbusters)
