The ten squares that matter
Every plane in BoomWick covers ten squares. Facing up, it has a single cabin at the nose, a five-square wing directly below, one body square below that, and a three-square tail on the last row. Rotating the plane changes its orientation, not its shape.
A hit tells you that a square belongs to a flying plane’s wing, body, or tail. It does not tell you which of those parts you found. Several cabin positions can explain the same hit, so firing blindly beside it can spend turns on shapes that earlier misses already rule out.
All ten squares must fit inside the board, and planes cannot overlap. Those restrictions are clues too. Near an edge, some orientations are impossible before you have fired a second shot.
Two proposals for a hit at E4
Consider two upward-facing planes: one with its cabin at D3, the other at F3. Both have a wing through E4. We show the proposed plane so you can inspect the reasoning; in a match, this outline is hidden from you.
Which proposal survives the next clue?
C = proposed cabin · H = known hit · × = revealed miss. Blue squares show the proposed plane, not confirmed hits.
Both proposed cabins can explain the hit at E4. Now suppose the shot at C4 misses.
The D3 proposal needs a wing running from B4 to F4. That includes C4, so a miss there makes the whole proposal impossible. The F3 proposal needs a wing from D4 to H4. It includes E4, but not C4, and therefore survives this clue.
This does not prove the cabin is F3. We deliberately compared only two proposals; a full game can contain other positions, orientations, and clues from other planes. Eliminating one candidate is useful progress without being a complete solution.
Ask what a shot will distinguish
When several shapes fit, look for a square on which those shapes disagree. In the example, firing at E4 again would add no information and is not allowed. C4 separates the two proposals because one occupies it and the other does not.
A possible cabin is also a useful target because a cabin hit removes the entire plane. You do not need to clear its wing and tail. Once a plane is down, its unshot squares answer as air, so continuing to trace that old outline will not uncover another flying plane.
Before each shot, briefly ask: which plane could explain my hit; which misses contradict that shape; and which square would separate the remaining explanations? This routine is more reliable than assuming every nearby hit belongs to one plane.
Take it to the game
These examples describe BoomWick’s rules. Found a mismatch or an unclear explanation? Report it so the guide can be corrected.