Stats:
No. of players: 2-8
Amount of time to play: 30-60 min
Age requirements: 10+
Set-up time: 5 min

Captain Sonar is a real-time submarine game of Battleship. You must find the opposing team’s submarine and sink it.

Captain Sonar Rules Description:

To start Captain Sonar you spilt into two teams and each team needs to choose what roles each player is going to take on. The four roles are the captain, first mate, engineer and radio operator. If you have fewer than eight players you might need to take on more than one role.

The captain picks a spot on the map to start and then gives the direction he wants to move. When the submarine moves two things happen. The first mate is allowed to check a box on the systems board and the engineer must cross off one symbol on their control panel. Your submarine’s systems include the torpedoes, mines, sonar and a few others. The first mate tells the captain a system is ready once all the spaces next to it are full. The captain can use a readied system at any time unless the engineer has crossed off that system on their control panel. Fortunately certain systems are linked and will refresh if all those symbols are checked

The other way to clear all systems is to surface. You cannot move during this time and each team member is required to outline a section of the submarine and initial it one the engineer’s control panel sheet. Once it is returned to the engineer the opposing engineer inspects the outlines to ensure they don’t cross into the drawing of the sub on the sheet and that each member has initialed it. After this is verified the engineer can erase all marks on the sheet and the captain can dive and maneuver freely again.

Meanwhile the radio operator has a copy of the scenario map and a clear sheet to plot the opposing crew’s course on. They do not know the other team’s starting position but after tracking their movements they can begin to narrow down their position. There are islands on the map and the opposition cannot run into them. The sonar and drone systems can help them find their enemy too.

You damage your opponent by exploding mines you have laid or shooting torpedoes at them. Direct hits cause two damage and things that explode within a space of your foe does one damage. After four hits they are sunk.

A Quick Review of Captain Sonar:

Captain Sonar is a unique real-time, hidden-movement, team board game that is a lot of fun. You need to communicate well and coordinate across roles. This game is easy to teach and plays quickly too.

The components for the game are really nice. The maps, role sheets and dividers all look great. The rules are well written and easy to follow.

I really like real-time games and this is an excellent one. It has a turn-based mode for learning but some groups can just skip it. You will talk about the non-stop action and tense moments this game brings you for a while. Your group will want to play it a few times each sitting.

This game is especially good for six to eight people. It is hard to find board games for groups that size. And can keep eight people really entertained at one table instead of splitting into two groups.

The only thing I think to be wary of with this game is how it scales. With two to five players this game might be less of the experience it is with more players.

If you want a fun unique board game that combines some great mechanics into a great game pick up Captain Sonar. It is one of the best games I have played this year and I highly recommend it.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 2 out of 6
Player Interaction 6 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 6 out of 6
Overall 6 out of 6