Important: there are two different ways to play: real-time mode and turn-by-turn mode. for a first game, or if you are playing in a noisy environment, we suggest you play the turn-by-turn mode. however, the real-time mode will guarantee that you get the stress and adrenaline rush of a real submarine duel! Instead of announcing a course, the Captain spends his turn announcing that he is surfacing, as described above. Then the Engineer erases ALL breakdowns from the submarine.

Which sounds stressful, and it is! This is a tense game, particularly if you’re performing the two main roles of Captain (where it’s easy to be overwhelmed by information, especially in realtime) or Radio Operator (where a single second’s inattention can be the difference between victory defeat). The screen is gigantic and cool. The varying play maps are nifty. All the individual stuff you’re drawing on is dry-erase and very functional. Everything gives you the feeling that you are playing something with heft and importance, even if it’s just a bit of inspired chaos.The #1 Reddit source for news, information, and discussion about modern board games and board game culture. What you get: Your EUR 14,99 or equivalent will buy you Captain Sonar: Operation Dragon, the second expansion for the Captain Sonar game line. It is reminded that Captain Sonar, the base game, is a 45-minute, 2 to 8 player communication-based boardgame that since its release in 2016 it has shot in the top 150 of Boardgamegeek. The base game amassed an impressive number of nominations and awards in 2016 as well as 2017. Operation Dragon is a brand-new expansion, seeing how it has been released in mid-2019. Right then I knew that Captain Sonar was something special. Located deep in the heart of game publisher Asmodee’s sprawling booth on the Gen Con vendor floor in Indianapolis, a crowd had been growing around us this whole time. Few other games attracted more excitement, or larger groups, during the convention’s opening days. Before the weekend was over, it had sold out.

If the Captain cannot announce a course due to islands, mines or the submarine's route, he MUST IMMEDIATELY SURFACE. Advice: When all spaces on a gauge are marked, the First Mate announces it loudly and clearly. For example, an announcement of "MINE READY" lets the Captain know that he can drop a mine when he needs it. From the image above, place the screens in between the players at the center of the table end-to-end. Then both Captains shout "DIVE" to signal the start of the game. Each captain announces the course of his submarine and draws the route on the map on his sheet. In turn-by-turn mode, randomly determine a team to take the first turn. Announcing A Course The radio operator is essentially the goalie, focused more on the other team’s moves than on your own, and any mistakes here are costlier. The engineer crossed off a symbol, thereby disabling a system the first mate was hoping to use? No worries. It’s fixable in a couple more moves or by surfacing. But if the radio operator marks “east” when the opposing captain actually goes “west” (as happened in one of my games)? Or misses a move altogether? The mistake might not be clear until after your boat sinks, and there’s not much team members can do to mitigate the problem.A kapitány előtt egy térkép hever. Amikor megadja az irányt, ezen a térképen jelöli a tengeralattjáró útját, egy egységet az adott irányba. A lokátoros előtt ugyancsak ott a térkép, rajta egy átlátszó plexilap. Ő ezen jelöli, hogy az ellenfél épp melyik irányba haladt. Mivel a pálya sosem teljesen üres - néhány sziget itt-ott akadályozza a tengeralattjárók szabad kóválygását -, manőverezni kell, így a tengeralattjáró által leírt minta előbb-utóbb láttatni fogja, merre is vannak éppen. Ha a lokátoros ügyes, akkor inkább előbb, mint utóbb. When we first got the prototype a few months ago, I got together seven other guys in our lunch area and set up the first game," Asmodee’s Charlie Bates told Polygon. "We had never seen it before, and we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We started playing it and — just like here at the convention — a crowd of our co-workers showed up wondering what all the yelling was about. The captain is responsible for activating all the systems. However, the First Mate can also activate the Sonar and drone systems if he wants to. That went on for a couple of weeks. Somebody was always playing, and there was always a crowd around them." The Captain can launch a torpedo at a space one to four spaces away from his submarine (not diagonally).

But despite taking on water and losing all hands, I had so much fun that I couldn’t wait to take our little submarine out for another ride. Captain Sonar is one of the best example of how great games don’t need always tons of components. In fact, in the box you will just find two foldable heavy cardboard boards, a good amount of small boards, a few re-wri At the beginning of the game, the Captain draws an "X" on the sea space of his choice to determine the starting position of his submarine. This is not shown to the enemy team. I hope to see expansions for this game that add new maps and new challenges. Maybe a few extra tasks for each role for experienced players. The base game includes 5 maps. 3 of those maps simply decrease the number of islands (Adding to the difficulty of narrowing down a sub location). Two of them add special features – ice, which limits where you can surface, and Remote Mines which uses the 6 th“Scenario” system to detonate pre-placed mines. These are a start, but they’re not enough to truly mix up the game. The Engineer takes the sheet and shows it to the enemy Engineer to confirm that no lines were drawn outside the white outline. If this is not the case, the team must start over.But there’s a deeper sign here; the world needs more team-based games. Captain Sonar is a good start. It’s not the only team-based game like this (see Space Cadets: Dice Duels for a similar, but more chaotic and more difficult to teach game) but it should be one of many. In Captain Sonar I love working with my team to overcome the enemy that is another team. I’d love to do it in a myriad of ways – real time, economic, militaristic, seriously, goofily, and whatever other category you might come up with. Team games don’t have to be deception-based, and they don’t have to be trivia or word-guessing party games. When all spaces on a gauge are full, the system must be activated before the spaces can be marked again. Asmodee Captain Sonar is designed for two teams of four, sitting directly across from each other and separated by the game’s most significant components: two humongous cardboard screens. The screens are just long enough to accommodate four adults on each side but short enough that you’ll have to squeeze together—the tight quarters were perhaps designed to contribute to the submarine theme.

Just like the First Mate, the engineer also marks out symbols on his sheet, each showing the damage caused. The damages can either be in the reactor or the general circuits. Private companies are arming the latest prototype submarines to dive into the world's depths in search of rare earth. Under the peaceful surface of the sea, a silent war is being fought with new and unstable technology. The Engineer keeps the sub running and all systems active, if possible. Each time the sub moves, the engineer has to mark off an icon – if any icon corresponding to a particular system is marked, that system can’t be used. Certain combinations of marks will automatically repair, but if the sub has taken too much system damage it might take a hit directly. Fortunately, the sub can surface for repairs.Campaign mode, different classes and hulls of submarines, one-use abilities, and a lot of quirkiness. We’re really happy about the success of the game," Bates said. "It’s great to see the excitement we felt when we first played it is shared by everybody else." It’s a crucible for friendships. It’s a drunk gamer’s worst nightmare. It’s ridiculously simple while also being insanely complex. It’s Battleship with theatre. Each time the Captain announces a course, the First mate marks an empty space on the gauge of his choice. Join Operation Dragon, a campaign that will take your team to unexplored seas! Gain experience and hire Experts to help you during the game!