Remove your hand from the box, and you die.
Conquer the desert planet with your Dune: War For Arrakis rules & reference!
Frank Herbert’s classic scifi story Dune – the first of my many readings was in about 1980 – is so familiar to me now it feels like a mythological story on the same level as Theseus and the Minotaur. But for a long time we only had the one boardgame adaptation, and because it needs lots of time and lots of players, it was a difficult one to get to the table. But with the new Villeneuve films, the licensing has opened up and we’ve seen a flood of boardgames that bring this distinctive universe to the tabletop. And this one is one of the best.
It doesn’t hurt that it’s designed by two of the three designers of my favourite game of all time, War of the Ring, and borrows heavily from that game’s mechanics. But thankfully Dune: War For Arrakis feels like its own game. Yes, there are still action dice that dictate your options each turn, but there’s a lot more flexibility in their implementation here. There are characters that can enter the game at various points, but their special powers are much more manageable. And instead of specific combat card abilities, you simply discard a card to add a dice to your attack or defence. The game captures the atmosphere of the book, but doesn’t seem as trapped by the dictates of the story as War of the Ring can sometimes feel. In fact everything feels refined, streamlined, and fresh in comparison to its venerable cousin.
The production is gorgeous, there are some great miniatures, and I especially love the beautiful deluxe plastic counters if you can get hold of them. It wouldn’t be great for the environment of course, but I wish all my counters looked and felt like these!
I’m still enjoying and exploring the possibilities of the core game, but there are three expansions: The Spacing Guild, Smugglers, and Desert War (I’ve got the first and I’ve signed up for the other two). It’s all cost a frightening amount of money of course, even when I got my core set secondhand. But I think I’ll be playing this game for a long time to come.
Here’s my rules summary & reference, which includes all the expansions and the 3-4 player and solo modes.