David E. Whitcher's Depth Charge is a finalist in the 2005 About.com Deduction Game Design Competition. In the game, players conduct naval exercises on Lake Ashtapada to test what the new crewmen have learned about using sonar. Each player sets three mines for the other to find.

What's your favorite recently played (for the first time) game?

That’s a hard call; I have played quite a few good ones in the past few months. I did truly enjoy my first play of Mexica. The rules were easy to learn, which I feel is essential to making a good game. The gameplay had a unique feel because of the movement mechanics even though the game was an amalgam of familiar elements including building and area control by majority. Often it is the subtle differences that draw me back to a game, there are many other games in this genre that I could play, but this one I would like to try again.

What game do you want to play most that you haven't played yet?

For me it's Kings & Things. This fairly well-thought-of game does not make it to most people's "must play in their life" list. I bought a copy back in the mid '80s for a cousin's birthday not knowing anything about it; I never did get to play. This is my missed opportunity game, which makes me want to play it even more.

Please tell us about the process of designing Depth Charge.

I found making a deduction game with standard pieces daunting and went through a long dry period were every idea I had was uninspired. So I started looking at other types of deduction games listed at BoardGameGeek to see what had been done -- or more importantly what had not been done -- and found Battleship listed as a deduction game.

My fist thought was that Battleship is a poor deduction game, which is more guessing than anything. There must be a better way to make a naval-themed search and destroy game. Before I even realized it, the idea of PT Boats searching out mines using primitive sonar had formed. After determining that the basic idea was sound (pun intended) my friends playtested it for me in time to complete the submission.

What do you like about your entry, and do you think there's anything that could be improved?

What I like is that there is the possibility of misinterpretation of the clues. The sonar information from any given point may be misleading requiring several readings to confirm your findings. This coupled with the danger of being destroyed if you are not careful and the pressure of beating you opponent to the punch gives the game a little sense of tension.

Most notably, Depth Charge could be improved by using a non-standard board that is much more lake shaped and having a larger play area. This would allow for more involved games requiring players to find more mines. The larger board would open the possibility of introducing some natural obstructions like islands or just a large rock that may be placed by players giving the game wider variety of strategies.