S.O.N.A.R.: a submarine for six, and the hope that your neighbour is not pressing buttons at random

The game's full title is Submarine Operators Not Actually Ready, and it takes a certain confidence to write that on your own box.

The description drives it home: coordinate with your crew, use sonar to detect threats, repair catastrophic malfunctions, recalibrate complex systems, and desperately hope that the person sitting next to you isn't just randomly pressing buttons.

What it is

A one to six player online co-op submarine simulator where teamwork is essential, panic is inevitable, and sinking is always one wrong button away.

The announced missions are varied and they have the right tone.

Locate hostile vessels with sonar and send them to the bottom, preferably before they do the same to you. Protect cargo ships, because apparently the military could not find anyone else to babysit them. Hunt for treasure on the ocean floor, lost riches, forgotten artifacts and evidence of previous crews' poor decisions. And slip past enemy destroyers undetected: stay quiet, stay hidden, and whatever you do, do not sneeze.

Why 97 per cent

Because the game occupies a slot players were asking for and not finding.

The comparison everybody makes is the right one, and one player sums it up in four words: Barotrauma, but in 3D. He adds, with some relief, "minus the deep-sea horrors, of course".

Barotrauma is the benchmark for co-op submarines, and it is also a two-dimensional game with a formidable interface that takes hours before it becomes playable. Taking that formula and placing it in a three-dimensional space you physically walk through makes it legible without simplifying it.

One player adds a detail that counts: the characters are really nicely designed and wonderfully animated, no asset store jank here, which is welcome.

In a genre where half the releases look like a prototype, visual care shows.

The difficulty, and the real debate

This is where the reviews become nuanced.

One player writes that the game is amazing but difficulty holds it back: everything is going wrong around you constantly, and the game punishes you constantly and sometimes randomly. He notes that it makes frustrating what could be a very fun experience, while acknowledging it drives you to want to master better ways to fix everything, which is very satisfying.

That is a classic tension in this genre, and it is an honest one. Another player confirms it in practice: with just two of them it was already hectic, and he genuinely does not see how a solo player could survive.

The store page says one to six players. Take the one with a pinch of salt.

The concrete complaint

One player declines to recommend the game for a specific reason, and it is serious in a title built on communication.

The mic filter is bad. It cuts the start and end of sentences, to the point of making communication impossible. He notes he will give the game a chance if it is fixed, and otherwise finds it difficult but fun.

In a game whose premise is six people shouting information at each other while a system catches fire, a voice filter that swallows words is not an ergonomic detail, it is an attack on the main mechanic. Priority fix.

Who should buy it

85 reviews, 97 per cent positive, at 7.98 euros, by Abylight Barcelona.

One player gives the best criterion: if you enjoy co-op games like Void Crew or Sea of Thieves, go for it. It is fun, well immersed, and the mechanics hold.

Another stresses the value for money and a very present development team.

My advice fits in one line: take it if you have three or four friends and patience for the first two missions. Do not take it to play alone, the game tells you so in its own title.

Sunk a submarine because somebody pressed something at random? That is precisely the advertised experience, tell us on the InsertCoins Discord.