Kit Reviews - Captain Sonar

Captain Sonar is a team hunt the invisible enemy game, where opposing teams playing as submarine crews trying to locate the enemy sub whilst avoiding mutual detection. In the 8 player game that we played there were two teams of four; each team consisting of four roles: Captain; First Mate; Engineer and Radio Operator. The Captain calls the direction of travel, ensuring that the sub doesn’t cross a previous path, and orders the launch of torpedoes and mines. The First Mate charges the ships systems and can, along with the Captain, launch drones and sonar to try to find the enemy sub. The Engineer tracks the ships systems that get damaged the further the ship travels and repairs them when they can or tells the Captain that they need to surface to repair. The Radio Operator tracks the directions that the opposing Captain calls, using this to deduce where the opposing sub is.

Source: https://www.noproblemmac.com/blog/2013/04/19/you-just-downloaded-something-so-where-the-hell-is-it/

The aim of the game is to track the opposing sub and deal 4 damage to them using torpedoes and mines, or by forcing them to run and break their ships systems or to cross their own path. The game is frenetic, fast paced and exciting. It is also a relatively short game (depending on the competency of the teams).

This game was an insane amount of fun, the roles have varying degrees of difficulty, and I can imagine that this would make a great party game. I loved this game, I would absolutely play it again, but I would think that it would depend on your group, it’s best played with a sense of fun and tongue in cheek humour.

I scored Captain Sonar a solid 4/5 and this will come down to the five categories: Originality; Theme; Mechanic; Clarity; and Availability.

Originality 3/5

Captain Sonar is basically a cross between battleships and specter ops, but it’s an interesting and original twist.

Theme 3/5

The theme is basic but detailed enough, the box art and the cardboard team screen is gorgeous and each player mat conveys the detail of the role and manages to stay thematic without being cluttered, but this is a very mechanic driven game.

Mechanic 4.5/5

The mechanics of this game are extremely well thought out to give the maximum fun, and stress, and to force the players to communicate. Each role is detailed and the mechanics make you slot into your team and almost take on the persona of your role, the Captain giving orders, requesting information and relying heavily on the first mate, the first mate keeping track of what the engineer and radio operator are doing, the engineer complaining about what the captain is doing and the radio operator confused and trying to track several things at once. Being unable to cross your own path until you have surfaced and given away your position adds an extra layer of complexity and the little mini game of fixing your ships contributes to the sense of excitement and stress to an already ridiculously fast paced game. The simplest role is definitely the first mate, who needs to dedicate most of his time to communicating with the rest of the team, and the hardest by far is certainly the radio operator where you are trying to make sense of a confusing mess of information.

Source: Star Trek, DUH!

Clarity 4.5/5

This is an incredibly easy game to pick up, once you have a handle on the different roles, again the hardest to get being the radio operator. The rules are simple, easy to follow, and fast to start.

Availability 5/5

I have not seen this game in shops before but a quick scout on the internet tells me that it’s readily available and is inexpensive at roughly £30.

Final Score 4/5

This game is a must buy if you play in large groups and like to have a bit of loud shouty fun. It isn’t a relaxing game. If you only play games on a quiet night in, give it a miss, but if you don’t mind getting a bit loud and want to have some high adrenaline fun, GET THIS GAME!

Source https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/shut-up-and-take-my-money

Thanks guys and gals

Kit