Dune: War for Arrakis review: One of 2024’s best board games

As if predestined by the Bene Gesserit, Dune: Warfare for Arrakis arrived on the good second. This big-box technique recreation emerged within the wake of Dune: Half Two, Dennis Villeneuve’s follow-up movie that portrays the second half of Frank Herbert’s seminal novel. Similar to the movement image, this board recreation depicts the escalating desert warfare between the deposed Home Atreides and usurping Home Harkonnen. Each movie and recreation share a second high quality in widespread — they’re spectacular items of media that might aptly be described as artworks.

The duo liable for Dune: Warfare for Arrakis are Marco Magi and Francesco Nepitello. The bones of the sport bear the form of this workforce’s earlier launch, a board recreation titled Warfare of the Ring, depicting the storied wrestle on the coronary heart of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It’s an epic expertise that options clashing armies and the march to Mt. Doom and the entire most necessary characters in Tolkien’s novels. Warfare of the Ring’s finest side is the tactical cube system that controls the stream of play and composes the sport loop. That is the principle factor carried ported over into Dune: Warfare for Arrakis.

Every flip each gamers roll a pool of cube. These customized six-siders have varied motion icons and the outcomes decide what it is possible for you to to do through the spherical. Play then consists of going backwards and forwards from Atreides to Harkonnen, every participant assigning a die and executing an motion.

It is a easy system. You spend a die to recruit troops or transfer them. You may as well play particular playing cards out of your hand to spring nasty surprises or launch huge assaults. The cube pool acts as a restriction, forcing gamers into powerful spots the place you’ll be able to’t completely execute a plan. The tactical problem is in the way you make the most of your choices to warp the board to your will.

Picture: CMON

Victory, likewise, is nuanced. The Atreides have the harder task as they should deal with a small assortment of objectives dealt out from the Prescience deck every flip. These encourage varied maneuvers constructed broadly on the novel’s narrative, reminiscent of Paul consuming the Water of Life or Atreides utilizing their Fremen warriors to assault weak harvesters. They focus play on momentary issues, forcing adaptation and bending to the atmosphere — two central themes operating all through Herbert’s novel.

There may be additionally incentive to manage the ecological stations scattered concerning the map. These kind hotspots because the Harkonnen participant will usually attempt to defend them. Lastly, Atreides will edge nearer to success by taking the Harkonnen strongholds, such because the North Pole and Arrakeen. These are all the time effectively defended and a major problem, however with instruments such because the fierce sandworms and the elite Fedaykin troops, such an offensive is feasible.

The Harkonnen participant has it a bit simpler. As a substitute of pursuing dynamic goals that change every spherical, they merely must destroy 10 factors of Fremen bases. The worth of every sietch is hidden, however this quantity may be scouted with ornithopters in addition to some intelligent card play. That is the extra blunt faction, counting on marshaling legions of troops to root out the indigenous Fremen and annihilate them. It highlights the choice philosophies of every home and incorporates one of many novel’s many motifs.

Picture: Charlie Theel/Polygon

Each fight and the incorporation of named leaders on the battlefield are harking back to Warfare of the Ring. Violence is easy: Every unit provides a die that yields both a success, defend, or particular chief buffs. Shields cancel out hits with the rest utilized as casualties to the military. The particular chief buffs are probably the most intriguing side. Baron Harkonnen, for example, will supply protection whereas The Beast Rabban provides further blows. The particular troops — Fedaykin and Sardaukar — add additional texture by soaking a number of hits and negating the opponent’s protection outcomes. This, whereas easy and straightforward to internalize, proves a surprisingly sturdy offensive toolset that ends in the potential for devastating outcomes. Fights resolve rapidly and logically, framing dramatic moments that punctuate play and assist the bigger narrative arc of the sport.

Apart from battle, the leaders are a major side as a consequence of how they improve participant actions. Paul lets you carry out a particular motion that rallies a number of legions to him. Rabban can execute a potent double transfer which lets you strike behind enemy traces and acquire separation. Nonetheless different leaders affect card acquisition or deploy particular items to the board. Because the narrative evolves, new leaders come into play. The result’s an distinctive story path every playthrough, with some classes by no means even witnessing the Reverend Mom or the nice Wild Maker.

Picture: Charlie Theel/Polygon

There may be plenty of element right here. The asymmetry of the 2 forces is a big a part of the enchantment. The Atreides/Fremen forces can trip worms throughout the desert with impunity, whereas Harkonnen legions left within the open desert are worn down by storms every spherical. Gathering spice is integral to the Harkonnen preserving the remainder of the empire content material and sustaining their financial benefit. There may be bluffing and secrecy by hidden items and harsh card play. Regardless of all of this element and the big quantity of content material, the sport wraps up in a shocking two hours. It’s surprising how this framework is exceedingly able to furnishing a full story arc with depth and precision within the alloted time.

Lots of its accomplishments are a results of the design workforce iterating on Warfare of the Ring, now in its second version. Tweaks to leaders signify a major enchancment over that recreation, as they’re now decoupled from the bonus cube they grant in Center-earth. Right here on Arrakis, the motion system is extra satisfying, as Atreides possess much less cube however are in a position to carry out the intelligent wormsign motion on their flip — successfully manipulating the atmosphere — as an alternative of merely passing and ready for his or her opponent to spend their further cube. The time dedication is far shorter, as Warfare of the Ring requires an enormous chunk of the day to setup and play. There are different small enhancements present in battle, the cardboard system, and common recreation stream. The end result is an expertise that sits at this splendid intersection of grand technique wargame with a extra private and intimate composition.

Regardless of these plaudits, it’s necessary to grasp that is primarily a two-player recreation. It may operate as a four-player endeavor with every faction cut up in half between a pair of gamers, however that is far much less satisfying in follow and undercuts a number of the design’s strengths. If a bunch of 4 gamers is seeking one thing to play, they’d be significantly better off trying elsewhere.

Of extra significance is a matter of faction stability. Michele Garbuggio, a developer that labored in assist of the design workforce on this recreation, has said that “by exact design intent, [Dune: War for Arrakis] isn’t balanced on a 50/50 win ratio…it’s extra like a 60/40…in favor of the Harkonnen.” The intentionality behind this displays the ability disparity between the forces and the miraculous rise of the Kwisatz Haderach to guide the scattered Fremen. This doesn’t detract from the general energy of the design. The overwhelming majority of individuals will have interaction this recreation casually and never in a event format, and on this extra relaxed atmosphere it’s of little consequence.

No matter these minor issues, Dune: Warfare for Arrakis has burst from the sand with ferocity. This recreation presents an epic expertise flush with drama and moments of grandeur. It efficiently condenses and refines lots of the ideas of its designer’s earlier work, and it produces a particular recreation that stands with its personal id. 2024 is simply midway full, however it might have already obtained its finest title.

Dune: Warfare for Arrakis is at present out there at retail for $123. It’s also out there as a particular Gamefound pre-order marketing campaign the place further content material from the unique Kickstarter marketing campaign is as soon as once more out there, alongside a brand new enlargement.