by Bruce Whitehill
Many games requiring only a pencil and paper are now “manufactured” and some are even available in electronic versions. (Originally called “slate games,” they were once played using chalk on a piece of slate.)
BATTLESHIP. BATTLESHIP, a boxed game sold by Milton Bradley since 1967, appeared as a pencil and paper game in booklet form as early as 1931, when it was called SALVO; the game has been published under many titles since then, including WARFARE NAVAL COMBAT; COMBAT, THE BATTLESHIP GAME; and BROADSIDE, THE GAME OF NAVAL STRATEGY.
TIC-TAC-TOE. TIC-TAC-TOE, once called TIT-TAT-TOE (and known as NOUGHTS AND CROSSES in England), was found carved into stone on the Temple of Kurna in Egypt and is said to be from around 1350 B.C. The name “Tic Tac Toe” has been found in literature at least back to 1820 and seems to be linked to nursery rhymes referring to “three in a row,” such as “tic tac toe, three butcher boys in a row.”
JOTTO. One of the best pencil and paper games is a word game that was published by Selchow & Righter in 1956 called JOTTO (which actually was brought out a year earlier by another company under the name PARRY). The two-player game, which was won by the player who could guess the opponent’s secret word first, has an origin that may be similar to that of MASTERMIND, a game that evolved from employees in the scientific community making up games based on codes and letter/number substitution.
HOW TO PLAY “SALVO, A BATTLESHIP GAME”
by Bruce Whitehill
The object is to find and destroy your opponents ships (on a grid) before your fleet is destroyed.
Prepare The Battlefield. Draw two identical grids on two pieces of paper, numbering down the side and using letters of the alphabet across the top (the more letters and numbers you use, the longer the game will take); beneath each grid write “battleship,” “cruiser,” “destroyer,” and “sub,” and next to the names draw five, four, three, and two squares respectively (see illustration).
Without your opponent being able to see what you’re doing, strategically place your ships on your grid. A battleship (“B”) takes up five adjacent squares in one line, either horizontally or vertically, a cruiser (“C”) takes up four, a destroyer (“D”) three, and a sub (“S”) two; mark the ships’ locations by writing 5 adjacent “B”s, 4 “C”s, 3 “D”s, and 2 “S”s on your grid. Your opponent should do the same.
Take Your Best Shot. The youngest player (or the loser of the last game) goes first. When it is your turn, you are allowed a series, or salvo, of four shots anywhere in enemy territory. Call out the number and letter of each target (such as “B-2,” “G-9,” and so on), and place a check mark in those squares on the enemy grid. If your opponent informs you you have scored a hit, circle those check marks; when you are sure which shot(s) scored a hit, shade in the appropriate square. You and your opponent alternate salvos.
When your opponent is attacking, you place an “X” on the grid marked “You” for each square named. After a salvo is completed, you tell the opponent which ships (if any) have been hit, and how much damage was made to each ship (tell how many shots hit each ship and whether any ship was sunk–do not say what squares were the hits).
Victory and Variations. As you score a hit on your opponent’s ships or your opponent inflicts damage on yours, place an “X” under the grids next to the appropriate ships (yours and your opponents) that have been hit. The victor is the first person to sink all the enemy ships by scoring a hit in all the squares of each ship.
The game can be varied by using ships of different sizes and names, allowing ships to be placed on adjacent diagonal squares, altering the number of shots allowed in each salvo (or allowing only one shot at a time), and by not disclosing which ships have been hit or whether a ship has been sunk (so your opponent doesn’t know if, for example, two adjacent hits have sunk your sub or done damage to a larger vessel).
