In the dark depths of the ocean, two submarine crews are fighting a silent

war. Long-time enemies, the two teams admire and respect each other,
but only one can be victorious!

COMPONENTS
2 to 4 players • Ages 8 and up • 30 minutes
A game by Roberto Fraga and Yohan Lemonnier
Artwork by Erwin and Sabrina Tobal

OVERVIEW AND GOAL OF THE GAME 4 Double-sided Captain Sheets  4 Double-sided Radio Operator Sheets

SONAR is an exciting submarine battle game in which two teams

operate a different submarine. Each player plays a crew member: 1 Rulebook
the Captain or the Radio Operator. 4 Erasable Markers

THE CAPTAIN : his role is to move the submarine and activate its
2 Transparent Sheets for the Radio
systems. Operators
1 Screen
THE RADIO OPERATOR : his role is to find the enemy submarine
to destroy it.

The first team whose submarine suffers 2 damages loses the ΠCaptain
game. The surviving team wins!
 Radio Operator

GAME SETUP
Ž Œ Captain

1. Form teams, each with a Captain Œ and a Radio Operator  ,

who sit next to each other.  Ž
2. Each Captain takes the map chosen by the players and an
erasable marker Ž .
3. Each Radio Operator takes the map chosen by the players, an
erasable marker and a transparent sheet (remove the protection
film on each side of the sheet before your first game)  
4. Place the screen in the center of the table  . Each team sits
on a different side of the screen. 
5. When playing with fewer than 4 players, one player plays both
the Captain and the Radio Operator.
6. Each Captain chooses his starting position (except when using

© 2016 Matagot
Map 1: Archipelago).
7. Each Radio Operator draws a starting location in the middle of
his transparent sheet, and places the sheet over his map.
 Radio Operator

8. Randomly pick a team to start the game.

1
 THE MAPS
Each map represents a game area. Before each game, make sure that all players move from one area to another (see “Missiles”).
on both teams are using the same map. The maps are filled with impassable
islands and are divided into four navigation sectors, with more or less straight For your first game, we recommend you use the map Archipelago.
borders. The density of the water is different there, which is why missiles can’t

MAP 1 : ARCHIPELAGO MAP 2 : NORTH POLE

Welcome to the Naval Academy. This map will give you the opportunity
to train in real combat conditions. Good luck!
Special Rule: Each Captain MUST start the game in one of the corners of In the icy waters of the Arctic, plot your course carefully among
the map.The blue submarine starts on space A1 and the green submarine the icebergs and use the silence system to lure your enemy.
starts on J10. Good hunting! Special Rule : Surfacing elsewhere than in D3, E8 or i5 causes 1 damage.

MAP 3 : JULES VERNE CARTE 4 : UMBRIA

Dive at the heart of the famous writer’s universe.

Carefully navigate these tropical waters to locate and sink your opponent! Night navigation. Play in a quiet atmosphere, perfect for stealthy and
dazzling attacks!

NOTE: Each sheet has a space for the player’s name and the name of the submarine (team name).
2
 PAYING THE GAME
On his turn, the Captain MUST do one of five actions: Each time the Captain navigates, he MUST cross out an
empty space of his energy gauge.
NAVIGATE to move the submarine, which allows him to accumulate Note : If all four spaces of the energy gauge are crossed
energy. out, the energy gauge is full: you can still move the
submarine but simply cannot cross out a space until you
activate your Sonar, Missile or Silence.
Activate the SONAR, by spending 2 energies.
You have now crossed out 3 spaces of your energy gauge. On your next
Activate the SILENCE, by spending 3 energies. turn, you can activate the sonar or silence.

Each time a captain announces a direction, the opposing Radio Operator MUST draw
Launch a MISSILE, by spending 4 energies.. it on his transparent sheet, so he can track his moves. By sliding his transparent
sheet around his map, the Radio Operator tries to find the enemy’s position, keeping
SURFACE, allowing him to reset his path by erasing the line on his map. in mind that the enemy submarine cannot move across islands or its own path.

Then the other Captain plays his turn, until a team manages to hit the opponent
team twice and wins the game.

NAVIGATE The Radio Operator knows that the path he has drawn is not possible because it crosses an
island. He must slide his transparent sheet until he finds a possible position for the enemy’s
submarine.
To move the submarine one space, the Captain announces one of the four directions
out loud. The four directions are UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT.

Then he draws a line on his map that connects his previous position to his new ACTIVATE THE SONAR
position, following the direction that he just announced.

He can NEVER move into a space where a line is already drawn, nor through an island.
The Captain can spend 2 energies from his gauge (and erase them) to activate
the SONAR. Then the enemy Captain MUST give him information about his current
position: EITHER the line OR the column the submarine is on. This information
allows the Radio Operator to immediately set his layer on the map.

In this example, the Captain gave the following

x
successive orders: “Up, Left, Left”. He could not have said
“Up” on his last move because of the island. Example : The Captain activates the sonar. He announces “Activating sonar!” The enemy
Captain, located in F2, answers “We are on Line 2.”

3
 ACTIVATE THE SILENCE SURFACE

The Captain can spend 3 energies from his gauge (and erase them) to activate During his turn, the Captain can decide to surface without spending any energy.
a silent move. He then draws a line from his current position to one of the 3 He then announces his EXACT position. Then the Captain resets his path by
possible dots around (since he can’t move back to his previous position), WITHOUT erasing the drawn line on his map, except for the submarine’s current position.
announcing his direction out loud. He can now move freely.
IMPORTANT : Movement restriction rules still apply.

Example : The Captain activates silence. He announces “Activating silence!” and draws the
path on his sheet without announcing the direction.

Example :The Captain announces his coordinates “Surfacing—H3!” and erases his path (in
red), keeping his current position on the map.
LAUNCH A MISSILE

The Captain can spend 4 energies from his gauge (and erase them) to launch END OF THE GAME
a missile.
Each map is divided into 4 navigation sectors, each having a different water
density. A missile can reach any point in the navigation sector in which the If one of the two submarines loses its second structure point, its team loses
submarine is currently in. The Captain must announce the impact point of the immediately. The team who sunk the submarine wins the game!
missile he launched inside his current zone, giving the exact coordinates. If the
enemy submarine is on that space, it loses 1 of its structure points.
IMPORTANT : If you choose your own position, you will also suffer 1 damage! REAL TIME VARIANT

For even more immersive gaming experiences, we recommend playing real time
Example : The submarine is
(4 players only).
currently in the upper left
sector. The Captain launches The game plays the same way, except you don’t have to wait for your opponent
a missile and can choose any to be done with his order to give yours. This mode requires the teams to be more
coordinates in his sector. He
chooses D3 and announces :
focused, especially the Radio Operator.
“MISSILE ON D3!”
Welll done! The enemy IMPORTANT : For orders other than Navigate (Sonar, Silence, Missile or Surface),
submarine was there, it
suffers 1 damage.
x the Captain MUST yell “STOP!” to pause the game, so he can resolve the action.
Then, on his signal, the game starts again in real time.

Thank you to the tireless playtesters from Grimoires, to Delphine, captain of the Beagle and to “friends first”: Gilles, Karine, Aurélie, Renan, Pierre, Damien. Without forgetting Delphine & Thymon, the best team in the world.