CAPTAIN SONAR

Designer: Roberto Fraga, Yohan Lemonnier | Publisher: Asmodee

Captain Sonar is one of the best team games ever made. You and up to three friends sit on one side of the table with four enemies sitting across. Each group operates a military submarine with each player performing various roles such as Engineer or First Mate. The crews are separated by a large divider, creating a sort of group Battleship feeling. The tension and energy is powerful.

This game just delivers on its lively premise. I’ve had games where the coordinated strategic discussion was broken by players hurling gummy bears over the separator, laughter punctuating the hushed discussion and then the status quo broken again by a Captain yelling “Fire!”

There is an element of camaraderie at work which produces these moments of excellence. To succeed you must work together. Each role in the ship feeds into the effort and positioning of the whole. The Captain forms the connective tissue of the moving parts, shouting orders to the crew and attempting to make sense of the real-time chaos.

The most interesting role is that of the Radio Operator.

This person sits with a map and simply listens to their opponents verbal discussion. They attempt to map the

enemy’s movement - Captains must verbally declare which cardinal direction they are moving with each action. It feels as though you are decrypting and relaying communications to the Captain, all the while people are dropping mines and launching torpedoes. Everything comes together so well. When you connect with one of your attacks, blindly firing into a grid coordinate, it feels special in a way few games manage. The information filtered by your Radio Operator connects with preparation completed by the Engineer and First Mate, all pushed through the central node of the commander.

This game can be an intimidating experience for a newcomer. There’s a temptation to teach using the optional turn-based variant. The problem is that the magic of Captain Sonar exists in the friction and mess created by rushed decisions and building pressure. It’s a game you need to just dive into and fumble around, eventually coming out the other side a grizzled veteran.