Original ‘Dune’ Board Game is a Masterclass of Game Design
Unique player abilities are often strong sometimes but with very specific conditions. But that’s not how the Dune board game does things.
If you search Dune board games now, you’re likely to find the Gale Force 9 version simply called Dune. They also released a separate version that modernizes a lot of the rules called Dune: A Game of Conquest & Diplomacy. But today, we are taking a look at the game that gave root to both of those titles. Avalon Hill’s 1979 Dune board game.
Dune Board Game Overview
The Dune board game has a lot of moving parts. It’s got area control, negotiation, resource management, combat mechanics and nice bit of treachery thrown in as well. Dune plays on a circular board showing Arrakis, split into a number of wedges and then into smaller territories, five of which are Strongholds.
A sandstorm moves around the board as well, using the wedges to indicate which regions will be affected. And, the Spice deck indicates where the spice will appear on that turn, ready to be collected. Spice is used as currency for a variety of things.
For example, during the bidding round, players can buy Treachery cards which can have a variety of uses such as weapons or defenses. The rest of the game is fairly routine area-control wargame stuff. Players move units around the board, engaging in battles and collecting Spice. The first player to control the requisite number of strongholds wins the game!
Sounds Fine, So What?
Overall, a pretty simple game. Nothing outstanding, right?
Normally, I’d say yes. However, it’s the player abilities in Dune. ALL of their powers are insanely strong. Rather than keeping player powers as a minor bonus, the Dune board game cranks it up to 11 and makes everyone overpowered.
There are way too many player abilities to cover all of them here, so let’s hit just a few notable standouts. Some of these are optional player abilities, but why would you not?
House Harkonnen
The Harkonnen start with a bonus Treachery card, 2 instead of 1. On top of that, every time they buy one, they gain an additional card as well. On top of THAT, they can hold twice as many Treachery cards as everyone else. This is where most games would stop. Dune is not most games.
The game features a traitor mechanic where, at the start of the game, each player chooses 1 of their opponent’s generals to be on their payroll. If you enter into combat with an enemy general that is on your payroll, you can automatically win the battle. House Harkonnen gets FOUR enemy leaders on their payroll!
The Guild
During set up, most units will start off the board. To gain them, players have to ship them to the board, which costs money. These costs are not sent to the bank or returned to the box. No, players have to pay The Guild to ship their troops. So, anytime a player wants more troops, they pay The Guild!
Keep in mind, most units start off the board and if a player wants any chance at victory, they are going to need to ship troops to do it.
Then, as an extra bonus, The Guild can interrupt the turn sequence at any time to take their turn immediately. Plus, if the game runs to its full length of 15 turns and no player has yet claimed victory, the Guild wins by default!
The Emperor
Treachery cards are vital to any player’s victory in the Dune board game. If you want any chance of winning each battle, you need Treachery Cards. These cards are expensive and highly sought after. When a player buys a Treachery card, they pay the Emperor. These cards are expensive enough that the Emperor has nearly an unlimited supply of spice throughout the whole game.
If having unlimited supplies wasn’t enough, the Emperor also has 5 elite units that are twice as strong. Just in case he needed a little more muscle to get that spice.
Bene Gesserit
Anytime two units from opposing factions are in the same area, they must fight. The Bene Gesserit can ignore this rule. Sure, makes sense for them.
However, when they fight, they can ‘voice’ their opponent to do as they wish. They can force their opponent to play a defense instead of a weapon, or ban any projectile, or force them to play some other worthless card. If the opponent can comply, they must. This gives the Bene Gesserit huge control over how each battle plays out. But that’s not all they can do.
At the start of the game, the Bene Gesserit make a prediction and write down who they think will win on which turn. If that prediction comes true, that player doesn’t win and the Bene Gesserit win instead! With a game like the Dune board game, which overflows with alliances and treachery, pushing another player toward victory at just the right time is not that difficult.
Final Thoughts
We skipped a lot of what the Dune board game offers. If you do want a full breakdown, check out our How To Play video on the Gale Force 9 version.
Obviously there are more factions within the Dune game than I mentioned here. Atreides and Fremen, and the optional Bene Tleilaxu and Ixians, are equally powerful but can’t cover everything here. On top of that, each of these factions I did cover also have other powers I didn’t even mention.
Dune makes sure that each player is really playing the game very differently. That’s why I love games like Root and Fury of Dracula. Something about heavy asymmetry does it for me. So it’s no surprise I love the Dune board game as well.
Thanks for reading and remember – The Spice Must Flow.
