Captain Sonar

Captain Sonar is a real time team strategy board game about submarine warfare, designed by Roberto Fraga and Yohan Lemonnier and published by Matagot and Asmodee, first shown at Gen Con in 2016. Two to eight players split into two teams, seated on opposite sides of a physical divider, with every team member taking one of four roles aboard their own submarine: Captain, First Mate, Radio Operator, or Engineer. Each team tries to track its opponent's submarine across a shared sea map and destroy it with torpedoes or mines before its own vessel is found and sunk. The Captain calls out a direction to move every turn, and the crew's other roles work in parallel to manage engine systems, charge weapons, and use the called out moves to triangulate the enemy's likely position. A submarine can move only into an adjacent empty sea space, cannot cross islands or its own mines, and cannot retrace its own path without first surfacing, which resets its trail but forces the team to announce its general sector and skip several turns. The game can be played turn by turn, with teams alternating, or in real time, with both submarines moving simultaneously under time pressure, presented as its signature mode.