{"id":903,"date":"2021-09-27T15:11:55","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T02:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gf9games.com\/dune\/?p=903"},"modified":"2022-09-08T13:31:47","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T01:31:47","slug":"tabletop-games-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gf9games.com\/dune\/903\/tabletop-games-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Tabletop Games Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dune (Saturday Review)<\/h1>\n
Posted On 8 February 2020 https:\/\/tabletopgamesblog.com\/2020\/02\/08\/dune-saturday-review\/<\/a><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a02019<\/td>\nPlayers:<\/strong>\u00a02-6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Designer:<\/strong>\u00a0Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge, Peter Olotka<\/td>\nLength:<\/strong>\u00a0 60-120 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Artist:<\/strong>\u00a0Ilya Baranovsky<\/td>\nAge:<\/strong>\u00a014+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Gale Force Nine<\/td>\nComplexity:<\/strong>\u00a04.0 \/ 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Our highliner was positioned safely in Arrakis<\/em>\u2018 orbit. With a steady stream of\u00a0Spice<\/em>\u00a0filling our coffers gradually, we had to be patient and observe from afar the goings-on down on the planet itself. It was clear that\u00a0House Atreides<\/em>\u00a0was pivotal in the unfolding events and our scheme had to remain hidden until the right moment was reached. The cogs were set in motion and doubts had been planted in the\u00a0Emperor<\/em>\u2018s mind that would lead to their unavoidable conclusion. The\u00a0Spice<\/em>\u00a0needs to flow on\u00a0Dune<\/a><\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0Gale Force Nine<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Yes, this is the re-implementation of the original\u00a0Dune<\/a><\/em>\u00a0from 1979, which in turn is based on the books by\u00a0Frank Herbert<\/em>. I don\u2019t know how much the new release has inherited from its forty-year-old parent, but even though it feels like an older game in some areas, it still works really well and has captured my imagination.<\/p>\n

I have been looking for a game like this for a while.\u00a0Dune<\/em>\u00a0ticks a lot of boxes for me: it has a well-known and immersive theme, it features hidden information which leads to bluffing and plenty of table talk, there is constant player interaction as the different factions fight for area control and the all-important\u00a0Spice<\/em>, which is tempered by the ability to form alliances, while everyone tries to reach their own, asymmetric goals. It feels so amazing to talk other players into taking certain actions or even forcing their hand by not blocking other players from winning, but leaving it up to them to occupy the relevant regions.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of\u00a0Dune<\/em>, and even if you\u2019re not, you will find all the factions faithfully represented in the game. You will also recognize the names of a number of important places on the planet of\u00a0Arrakis<\/em>, or\u00a0Dune<\/em>, as it is more commonly known, all of which allows you to re-enact the story told by the books, if you\u2019re familiar with them, or the film, which most people are likely to know. In fact, during the game you rewrite the story as you try to lead your faction to victory.<\/p>\n

The scheming that is a strong part of the story of\u00a0Dune<\/em>\u00a0is wonderfully represented by the ability to form alliances at certain times during gameplay, as well as the continuous table talk where you try and direct other players\u2019 focus away from your plans and towards interfering with your opponents. The asymmetric abilities are closely based on the factions from the fictitious world of\u00a0Dune<\/em>, with the\u00a0Spacing Guild<\/em>\u00a0benefiting from other players deploying their troops on the planet, the\u00a0Fremen<\/em>\u00a0having better insights into the workings of the weather and the Worms on\u00a0Dune<\/em>, and so on.<\/p>\n

In fact, everything you do in the game immerses you deeper and deeper into the world that\u00a0Frank Herbert<\/em>\u00a0created. You will feel a strong urge to get out your smartphone and play the film music in the background and want to hunker down under the table when the storm circles the planet and threatens to wipe out everything in its path.<\/p>\n

However, there are areas that show the game\u2019s age. I can understand that the rulebook is long and that it takes a while to learn how to play. It\u2019s a necessary evil for a complex game like\u00a0Dune<\/em>. It helps if someone else has already played it and you learn only the basics and just start playing, learning new rules as you go. So that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n

I also quite like that the art style feels old, just like the world of\u00a0Dune<\/em>\u00a0itself feels very Victorian. It is in keeping with what you would expect, even though it is very brown and monochrome. So that\u2019s fine too.<\/p>\n

A big problem are the troop tokens that you place on the world map. They are simply too small and fiddly, which is especially problematic because you may end up having three or four factions vie for the same region. You end up with tall towers of cardboard tokens, some of which may even include advanced troops, forcing you to have two stacks of tokens per faction. I appreciate that making the tokens bigger would have required the map to be bigger as well, which would require a larger table to play the game on. Yet, if the tokens were small wooden discs and the map only a little bit bigger, it would have really lifted the game\u2019s playing experience for me.<\/p>\n

Another problem is the need for an FAQ. It\u2019s great that there is one, but it also shows that the rules aren\u2019t fully streamlined. There are quite a few situations where it is not clear from the rules alone how some actions work in a specific context or whose ability takes precedence over another. However, the re-implementation does clear up a lot of things in its FAQ that the original game left unclear, so it\u2019s definitely a step forward.<\/p>\n

Despite all of this though, I absolutely love\u00a0Dune<\/em>\u00a0and can\u2019t wait to play it again. I happily overlook the problems with the game, because the enjoyment I get out of it is huge. It\u2019s clearly a game that you have to play many times before you start to understand it, and then many more times to begin to master it. It is very fitting for a game that is based on a saga that tells a detailed account of different families\u2019 struggles through life over several generations. The game itself is only a small part of this story which by itself provides many hours of enjoyment and replayability.<\/p>\n

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Transparency Facts<\/h2>\n

I feel that this review reflects my own, independent and honest opinion, but the facts below allow you to decide whether you think that I was influenced in any way.<\/p>\n

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  • The game belongs to a friend of mine.<\/li>\n
  • At the time of writing, neither the designers, nor the publisher, nor anyone linked to the game supported me financially or by payment in kind.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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