Fathom It 2.2

Overview

Battleship puzzles is a well known game where you have to follow logical steps and try to locate the underlying fleet of ships and win the opponent. Fathom It! is a digital adaptation of this game that allows you to work on your logic and enjoy yourself playing more than 20,000 Battleships puzzles, and if those aren't enough, you can create your own ones and print them as well. The puzzles come in different sizes, ranging from 6x6 and 10x10 for more advanced players.

Installation

After downloading the game, you are just two clicks away from playing it. The installation is really short and will only take a few seconds before finishing. It does not contain any malware/spyware or additional software like toolbars.

It works perfectly under any Windows OS.

Interface

When you first launch the game you will be presented with an introductive window, followed by a window containing helpful tips that you can use. The main window has a toolbar below the menu bar that contains shortcuts of commands. In the main screen you can see the grid with the ships, the icon parts that each ship is represented by and a score board next to a moves counter. There are also 3 buttons for easy access (“Undo Guesses”, “Finalize Guesses” and “Start Solver”). This is basically the whole interface of the game and its size varies depending on the dimensions.

Pros

It really simplifies the process of playing and lets you enjoy the game more than in the classic paper-and-pen style.

There are different difficulty levels depending on your experience with the game: Easy, Intermediate, Hard and Expert. The dimensions of the board can be customized too. You can play in a 6x6, 7x7, 8x8, 9x9 or a 10x10 sized board. Creating your own boards is also supported.

The colors, buttons and sounds can all be configured.

The help file includes strategies and tips to use while playing. Reading them will certain improve your gaming skills. In addition, during gameplay, the player may request a hint that will help him continue the game.

The application records the best scores and categorizes them depending on board size and difficulty.

Personally the most important advantage is that the game is purely logical. Guesses will take you nowhere.

Cons

The game could use some improvement in the area of graphics to become a little more attractive to the users, although one might argue that it's clearly not a game played for its graphics.

Alternatives

Many websites offer Battleship as an online flash game. One of them is Pogo.com. You can register in the site and keep track of your games and earn tokens, or play for fun as a guest player.

Conclusion

It is a very enjoyable game that you can play in your free time. It takes very little space in your hard drive and loads in just a few seconds, so you can keep it in your computer and fire it up when you’re in the mood for some fun. Remember, reduction to the absurd is your guide in this game,