Dune: Imperium Review

How to make Friends and Influence Sandstorms.

Peanut Butter and Jelly. Macaroni and Cheese. Peter Gabriel and Genesis. These are all hybrids that work and work well. When I heard about Dune: Imperium being a hybrid of Deckbuilding and Worker Placements, I was cautiously intrigued and had to learn more.

Dune: Imperium is a 1 to 4 player game based on the big-budget reimagining of the classic Frank Herbert novel Dune. As a budding boardgame enthusiast it’s interesting to see all the board game adaptations of movies and video games coming out of the woodwork now that there seems to be a tabletop renaissance. In this game players will be building a deck of cards that are used to send their agents to various locations across “Dune, the Desert Planet '' making deals, forging alliances, harvesting the priceless “spice,” and conquering their opponents. The game seems to naturally bend toward being a native 3 player experience as playing with either one or two players requires an AI element.

I played the game with two players and ended up utilizing a companion app to help me manage “House Hagal” - the spoiler AI that can’t earn anything but tries to complicate life for the players. I highly recommend this, it makes AI management (which is already quite intuitive) a breeze. Players will choose a faction leader that comes with both a passive and an active bonus, which is triggered when players play a “Signet ring” card during a worker placement-style turn.

As pretty as a game about sand can be, really.

To be clear, this game is a deckbuilder first, worker placement second, and tension simulator/strength contest third. The first phase of the game finds players playing cards from their hands to place as many workers as they desire. These are called “Agent” turns. Agent turns are generally spent either forging alliances with the 4 factions vying for control, participating in government/economic endeavors that could unlock permanent player benefits, harvesting spice, or planning for conflict. Each of the four faction tracks can feel like a tug of war in which players are trying desperately to prove their worth and earn rewards and victory points. This is further complicated in that you can have up to four Agent turns, depending on your progress.

Once workers have been placed to gain faction influence, the players reveal the remainder of their cards to gain resources to buy more cards, strengthen forces in combat, etc. Players go around until everyone has had a “Reveal” turn. It’s worth noting that one player can choose one agent turn and then hold the rest of their cards until their reveal turn which effectively ends their turn. If the other player has one of those mythical 4 agent turn rounds, the player who revealed might be waiting a good long time before playing again. The asymmetry here can be very interesting.

To be clear, this game is a deckbuilder first, worker placement second, and tension simulator/strength contest third.

Once all the logistics are settled, the camera pans to the conflict - the eternal military battle where just participating could net players some exciting spoils. The rewards are built from their own deck and are designed to continue getting better and better over time. At the beginning these could be a single victory point or a couple Solari (currency) at the end they might be several victory points AND “control” of spaces on the board that will give that player extra income when anyone lands on it. Players don’t have to participate in combat, but they won’t often skip it. Sometimes I would throw a lonely troop or two at the conflict just to secure some of the participation rewards while other times I would be deploying dozens of platoons from my garrison to meet my opponents in epic clashes. Once the dust settles on the battlefield, there’s some housekeeping that happens and players start from the top once more.

So many components, so little time. Don't worry, it doesn't include sand in the box.

One area where Dune: Imperium excels is the production value of its components.. The board uses a beautiful and commanding font and clean imagery. Illustrations on the cards are well done and do resemble the actors and actresses that are starring in the Dune reboot film. The worker meeples, various player indicators, and spice/solari tokens are all wood.

Ultimately, Dune is a great game with great components that’s going to live or die based on how your game group plays.

Unlike some games that are known for throwing buckets of victory points at you with players ending games with scores in the fifties or even hundreds (I’m looking at you Tapestry), Dune has taken a different approach. Much like the barren wastes of Dune, victory points are rare. Hell, one of the game end conditions is if a player ends their turn with 10 victory points. This further amps the tension. Our first game ended with a score of 11 to 7. That felt… weird. In retrospect though, it’s because every single part of the game is a mad scramble for everything. Dune somehow manages to accomplish this without negative player interaction or “take that” cards, which is kind of incredible - just straight up scarcity.

The final thing to talk about is the solo mode, which uses the same “House Hagal” deck as 2 player mode but gives the automas two signet ring abilities and ways to earn victory points. I can confidently say it’s outstanding. I found myself feeling the same tension as if I was actually playing with two other players.

Ultimately, Dune is a great game with great components that’s going to live or die based on how your game group plays. Is your group ok with games that feel like 3 or 4 people all trying pointing guns at each other trying to make as much progress as possible before the end? Then you’ll love this game. If your group is more the “we prefer low player interaction games where we compare scores at the end” group, this might not be the game for your group.

First Impression Based on: 5 plays with 2 players and House Hagal automata, 1 solo play with two House Hagal automata.