Battleship on Surface Duo is kind of brilliant

Just don’t try to sink your Duo.

What you need to know

• Developer Alexis Menard has created a web-based version of Battleship that takes advantage of Surface Duo’s dual screens.
• Your ships appear on one screen while the enemy’s fleet is on the other.
• You can try out out Menard’s Battleship creation on the web now.

We’re bound to see no shortage of fun apps, games, and concepts that make use of Surface Duo’s dual displays in unique ways now that it’s out in the wild. One such idea is a web-based version of Battleship built to make the Duo’s displays work like the Battleship grids from your childhood.

The Battleship experience was created by Alexis Menard, who works on the Blink/Chromium web engine at Intel and also focuses on “supporting dual screen/foldable devices on the web,” according to his Twitter bio. The setup places your ships on the bottom screen, while the computer-controled enemy’s grid sits on the top screen when folded in laptop mode. Once loaded up, you take turns with the computer, tapping on spaces to try to hunt down the its ships.

Now with the hardware it really shines. If you have a @surface duo just head to https://t.co/ujepZinDvc. You can install it on your home screen if you want. All with the web! cc @surfaceduodev #pwa #surfaceduo #surface #DoOneBetter pic.twitter.com/uL75Tg05wf

— Alexis Menard (@darktears) September 11, 2020

It’s a fun little experience that shows some of what makes the Duo unique. There are also options to adjust the game to work on Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo, and even the forthcoming Surface Neo. Of course, you can just play in a web browser at your PC, clicking the grid to shoot. But where’s the fun in that?

Surface Duo is available now starting at $1,400 at Microsoft, Best Buy, and AT&T. And if you need some protection while virtually dropping shells into the high seas, we’ve rounded up some of the best Surface Duo cases currently available.

Double the fun

Microsoft Surface Duo

From $1,400 at Microsoft
From $1,400 at Best Buy
From $1,400 at AT&T

Two screens are better than one

Microsoft delves into the future of foldables with an ambitious dual-screen device, featuring two ultra-thin 5.6-inch AMOLED displays bound by a 360-degree hinge. This pocketable inking-enabled Android smartphone marks the latest in the Surface lineup, geared for mobile productivity.