Dune: Imperium

Some of the best board games out there aren't about collecting cute animals or building tiny wooden villages – they're about ruthless political scheming and calculated betrayal. Dune: Imperium gets this perfectly. It's a masterclass in turning Frank Herbert's sprawling sci-fi epic into a tight, tense strategy game that'll have you plotting like a Harkonnen and scheming like a Bene Gesserit. (Extra points if you got that reference, by the way!)

I've spent countless hours trying to dominate Arrakis, and let me tell you – this game is something special. It does look rather "minimal" compared to something like Dune: Spice Wars, but don't let that deceive you – Imperium is just as engaging as any other card battler. As long as you have the patience to deal with the game's cryptic mechanics.

Spice and Strategy

Remember that feeling in FTL when you had to choose between repairing your shields or powering up your weapons? That's what every turn feels like here. Except instead of space pirates, you're dealing with giant sandworms and political intrigue.

Some people say that after you've played a deck-builder, you've played them all. Well, those people are… partially right. Dune: Imperium doesn't reinvent the wheel – and thank God it doesn't because it would be even more difficult for newcomers to understand if it did.

Here, you'll need to get used to something called the dual-use card system. Each card is basically two choices staring you in the face, and sometimes both options are exactly what you need. It's all a matter of calculated losses at that point.

Political Patronage

Let's talk about the political game because this game truly nails it. Managing your influence with the four factions feels less like checking boxes and more like playing a game of 4D chess. You're not just collecting victory points – you're building alliances, breaking them when convenient, and trying to read your opponents like a Mentat reads battle plans.

At times, it felt more like I was playing a game of Crusader Kings rather than another deck-builder. For those of us who love this type of game, but just can't seem to find a deck-builder that's not as reliant on fantasy for its setting, Dune: Imperium is a godsend.

Unlike simpler games where alliances feel tacked on, here they're woven into every aspect of play. It's kind of like dating four people at once, except instead of romantic dinner dates, you're trading spice and military forces. And you should probably never do it.

Rule the Wastes

Combat in this game hits different. It's not about throwing down the biggest numbers or having the most units – it's about timing, resources, and knowing when to commit. Sometimes the smartest move is not fighting at all. The whole conflict system feels like a poker game where everyone's trying to read each other's tells.

What really gets me is how the fighting meshes with everything else. You can't just be the military player or the political player – you've got to dabble in everything. The game forces you to adapt to multiple roles on the fly. It's the card game antithesis to the jack-of-all-trades nature of Skyrim's stealth archer, and I'm all for it.

Pros

• Rewards careful planning and strategies
• Amazing for those who love political intrigue
• Perfectly captures the atmosphere of Dune

Cons

• Unfairly rough to newcomers
• The UI feels more like a medical diagram
• Can run long when players get too mischievous