A hex-and-counter Pacific War wargame
Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal is a turn-based strategy game covering the naval-air battles of the Pacific War from 1942 to 1943, set in the South and Central Pacific. You work across hex maps scaled at 30 miles per hex, commanding historical ships and 80 types of warplanes. The core loop is finding the enemy fleet through naval-air search, radar, and progressive intelligence gathering, then launching air strikes against naval and land targets before your own aircraft carriers are sunk. Surface battles, invasion, and naval bombardment round out the operations, and an advanced damage system tracks what your ships take.
Playing together
Cross-platform multiplayer lets you face a friend directly, with asynchronous multiplayer available so turns do not need to line up in real time. Each side works to locate the other's forces and strike first, while also denying the opponent invasions of key points and support for their own amphibious operations. Solitaire play against a powerful US or Japanese AI is there for when no opponent is available, and no internet connection is required for those matches.
Before you start
There are 11 historical scenarios to pick from, including Coral Sea May 42, Midway June 42, Eastern Solomon Aug 42, Santa Cruz Oct 42, Guadalcanal Dec 42, Bismarck Sea March 43, Rabaul 1943, Guadalcanal Feb 1943, Watchtower Aug.42, US Raids Mar 42, and Wake Dec 41. An onboarding sequence guides you into the depth of the game, which helps given the search, intelligence, and strike systems at play. A session runs roughly 1h00 to 3h00. The game is available in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian.