Captain Sonar

Captain Sonar

Designers	Roberto Fraga Yohan Lemonnier
Illustrators	Sabrina Tobal Ervin Tobal Piotr Forkasiewicz
Publishers	Matagot Asmodee
Publication	2016 (2016)
Genres	Deduction Strategy
Players	2–8
Playing time	45 minutes
Age range	12+

Captain Sonar is a strategy board game about submarine warfare designed by Roberto Fraga and Yohan Lemonnier, and published in 2016 by Matagot. Teams of players attempt to locate the map coordinates of the opposing team's submersible, and damage it using their weapons systems in order to eliminate the other vessel.

Gameplay

Setup

Two teams sit on either side of a screen divider placed in the middle of the table. Each is composed of up to four roles:

1. The Captain: chooses to the action for the turn, and shouts these directions to the crew. If they choose to move, they pick the direction (north, south, east, or west) and track the submersible's path on their map.
2. The First Mate: marks an empty space on any gauge (Mine, Torpedo, Drone, Sonar, Silence, Scenario) when the Captain announces a movement. Once all spaces on a gauge are marked, they announce that system as readied.
3. The Radio Operator: tracks the opponent's path on a transparent plastic sheet and attempts to deduce their map coordinates.
4. The Engineer: crosses out a system type (weapons/red, detection/yellow, special/green) on the control panel corresponding to the announced direction each time the Captain announces a course. That system type is then broken down and cannot be activated.

A scenario (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, or Echo) is chosen, and the corresponding maps are placed in front of the Radio Operator and Captain to track movement, and energy and damage gauges. Clear plastic sheets are given to the radio operators to record the opposing submarine's movement, so they can be overlayed on the maps. There are two modes of play: turn-by-turn or real-time.

Turn-by-turn

Each turn, the Captain chooses one action to take: either to move, use a system ability, or surface, each of which must be announced for both crews to hear. The submarine can move one space at a time in a direction chosen by the Captain and announced to the opposing crew, but cannot move onto a space it has already been to, a space with an island, or a space with its own mine. Surfacing allows restart their entire path and refresh their energy gauges, but they must announce their sector to the opposing team and skip three turns. If a submarine cannot move to a valid space, it must surface. There are six system abilities, each of which cost energy gauges to use:

1. Sonar - the opposing Captain must announce one truth and one lie about their position, each statement corresponding to a different type (either column, row, or sector coordinates).
2. Drone - a player asks if the opposing submarine is located in a particular sector, and the opposing Captain must truthfully answer.
3. Silence - the Captain moves the submarine up to four spaces in a straight line without announcing the direction to the opposing crew.
4. Scenario - a special ability depending on the map being used.
5. Torpedo - the Captain launches an attack on any space 1–4 spaces away, and the opposing Captain must announce if it hit. Deals variable damage depending on opposing submarine's proximity to where it was fired.
6. Mine - drop a mine on a space adjacent to the submarine, which the Captain can remotely activate at any time (except when surfaced) to deal damage to any submarines in the vicinity.

All system break downs can be fixed either by surfacing or taking one damage, and all system types corresponding to direction are self-repaired if they all become broken down. If a submarine suffers four damage, the game ends and the other team is the winner.

Real-time

The real-time mode functions much the same as turn-by-turn, but rather than waiting for the opposing team to complete their actions before starting theirs, a team takes their turns one after the other, at any pace, without waiting. If a submarine surfaces, that team must pass around a map of the submersible with each person outlining a section of the ship until all have been before they may begin resetting their path and energy gauges.

Reception

Dicebreaker included Captain Sonar in their list of the "best hidden movement board games," with contributor Sean Weeks praising its gameplay and roles, but noting that the high player requirement and fast-paced turns may not appeal to all. Luke Plunkett, writing for Kotaku, described the game as "an almost peerless example of the medium, its interaction, teamwork and conflict."

Captain Sonar was recommended for the 2017 Kennerspiel de Jahres.

Adaptations

Published in 2017, Sonar is a reimplementation of Captain Sonar designed for smaller groups of 2–4 players. Unlike Captain Sonar, only turn-by-turn mode is offered, and there are only two roles: the Captain (a combination of the roles of the Captain and the First Mate) and the Radio Operator. On a team's turn, their submarine can take one of five actions: Sonar, Silence, Torpedo, Surface, or Move, which draw from a shared energy pool that is recharged by movement, rather than individual gauges needing repair. Torpedos deal a single point of damage on a direct hit, and a submarine is sunk if they take two points of damage.

Sonar Family is a simplification of Captain Sonar designed for families with children that was published in 2018; it removes submarine operation mechanics and roles, and reduces movement options.

External links

• Captain Sonar at BoardGameGeek