The connection to the movie is tenuous (alien-looking ships on one side) but it's Battleship, after all. This is a throwback to the "classic" edition -- non-electronic with separate player boards that lock together into a futuristic-looking carrying case with a handle.
Play modes include:
The time-worn original Battleship, with each player firing a single shot each turn.
Almost equally-time-worn Salvo where you start out with five shots per turn and lose one each time one of your ships sinks.
A "Special Ops" mode with a card draw each turn to determine player actions. Most of these are from 1-3 shots, but there's a variety of special actions, e.g.:
attacking an entire row or column
converting all future one-shot cards into salvoes (as in the Salvo game above)
having the other player tell you a coordinate on their ship to hit
scanning a row for number of hits (but not exactly where)
firing one shot, then drawing and playing another card
An "Advanced Special Ops" mode with a hand of the above cards, and two card actions (either draw or play) per turn. This last one can get confusing, as the rules for the cards are obviously written with the assumption that you're playing one per turn, requiring some house rules to fill in the logical holes.
The last wrinkle is Comm Tower cards (which presumably has something to do with the movie) which persist when played. The first player to collect four of them has their subsequent shots go nuclear, destroying the entire target regardless of size with a single hit.
The following is manufacturer's marketing copy, or at least written like it is:
Includes three exciting games in one portable case that’s always ready for the battle. Play the traditional game, taking turns calling your shots. Or choose the Salvo game in which you stack up as many shots in one turn as you have ships afloat. Finally, call on the movie-based Special Ops cards for a third game. These strategy cards give you special powers such as Blitz, Scan, and Reveal as you plot to prevail over your enemy.
Deduction, Movies / TV / Radio theme, Nautical, Science Fiction · Secret Unit Deployment
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