How to make a homemade Off-Shore Battle game

By Jodie Mangor
Illustrations by David Brooks

This classic game is even more fun when it’s homemade, so charge up your power drill, sharpen that saw and make this cool Off-Shore Battle game.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Ruler
Tracing paper and tape
Power drill
Saw
Awl and hammer
Anvil pruning shears
Fine-tipped permanent marker
Wood glue
Screws
3 10-inch-by-10-inch-by-3⁄4-inch boards
2 small wooden door knobs
4 hinges
1 latch
Drill bit slightly larger than game pegs
1 package of wooden skewers
Enough pine scraps to make the ships
Sandpaper
Red paint

WHAT YOU’LL DO

The Boards:

1. With lines spaced 3⁄4-inches apart, mark out a 7 1⁄2-by-7 1⁄2-inch grid on all three game boards. The center, vertical board has a grid with holes on both sides. The side boards have a grid only.

2. Tape tracing paper over your grid and draw diagonal lines as shown. Use an awl to punch starter holes for drilling.

3. Drill 1⁄4-inch-deep holes in the center of each square.

4. Use decals or a fine-tipped permanent marker to label the vertical squares A through J and the horizontal squares 1 through 10.

5. Attach the vertical board to the base with wood glue and screws.

6. After all the grids are complete and the holes are drilled, attach the knobs and give the boards an oil finish.

7. Put it all together using the 4 hinges.

The Pegs:

1. Use the pruning shears to cut the skewers into 3⁄4-inch pegs. You’ll need at least 140 pegs.

2. Paint 40 of them red.

The Ships:

Fashion 2 sets of 5 ships from scraps of pine.
Drill the 1⁄4-inch-deep holes before cutting out the ships.
Make 2 ships 3 3⁄4 inches long with 5 holes.
Make 2 ships 3 inches long with 4 holes.
Make 2 ships 2 1⁄4 inches long with 3 holes.
Make 4 ships 1 1⁄2 inches long with 2 holes.
Sand the ship bottoms smooth.

Get ship templates here:

You can also make the ships from plastic clay.

HOW TO PLAY

Players place ships on the grids of their individual boards. One player calls out a coordinate on the grid. If it’s a hit, he goes again. A miss means it’s the other player’s turn. Red pegs are used to track hits and natural-colored pegs to track misses. Whoever sinks all their opponent’s ships first wins.