The essential Dune games

polygon.com:

With all of its warring houses, assassinations, spycraft, and sandworms, the world of Dune contains no fewer than three of the key ingredients needed for an awesome game. Plenty of developers have drawn inspiration from Frank Herbert’s universe to create some interesting, and occasionally legendary games.

While our list isn’t entirely comprehensive (apologies to Dune Monopoly) and doesn’t include any canceled titles from the Dune franchise, our harvesters have managed to unearth a thorough list of essentials that deserve your attention, along with a few oddities. Below, you’ll find each adaptation listed in chronological order, divided into board games, and video games.

The Dune board game produced by Parker Bros. feels like something of a misunderstood relic, kind of like David Lynch’s 1984 film adaptation. The game is full of obtuse, poorly explained rules, however, a deeper examination of the rules manages to reveal some interesting, RPG-lite mechanics as players collect equipment and move around a board in an attempt to outwit and eliminate their opponents. While few would consider this discontinued game a classic, it definitely stands as a great example of the weird licensed Dune merchandise, even featuring photos of the cast from the movie on its cards and tokens. —Alice Jovanée

Originally released in 1997 in the wake of the success of Magic: The Gathering, the original collectible card game, Dune is an out-of-print CCG that you can still find here and there on eBay. It’s a relic of a bygone era in tabletop game development where raw complexity was king. Players took on the role of rival houses vying for control of the Landsraad, and even the game’s preconstructed decks featured variations inside each box. The art, inspired by the Lynch film, is striking. –Charlie Hall

The original Dune: Imperium is apparently MrBeast’s favorite game. If true, he has really good taste in strategy board games. This one’s a slow burn, a spicy melange of deeply interconnected