Dune: Imperium

Dune: Imperium

In all the Known Universe, there is no more precious resource than the spice melange. Found only on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis (also known as Dune), control of the spice is a focal point of conflict among the Great Houses of the Imperium. In its pursuit, those vying for power seek alliances and support to secure their position. The governing councilors of the Landsraad. The CHOAM Company and its insatiable hunger for profit. The far-sighted Bene Gesserit. The Spacing Guild with its monopoly on foldspace travel. The Fremen, resilient warriors of the desert. Even the Emperor himself is not above the struggle for dominance. Conflict is inevitable, and its outcome is uncertain. One thing is certain, however:

Whoever controls the spice controls the universe…

Across the Imperium

DUNE: IMPERIUM is a deck-building worker placement game that finds inspiration in elements and characters from the Dune legacy, both the film from Legendary Pictures and the seminal literary series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.

Note: The game comes with two leaders each from four Great Houses. For the most authentic story experience, two leaders from the same House shouldn’t be used in the same game. But the game is also designed to allow nonstandard leader combinations and “What If?” scenarios.

This page contains no game rules; you can skip ahead if you’d like. But if you don’t know much about the world of Dune, or want to learn how the game board connects to the story, see below.

• Mentats: In the world of Dune, computers (or thinking machines) have been banned for many millennia, since a great war in which Artificial Intelligence almost destroyed humanity. In that war’s aftermath, some humans devoted themselves to rigorous training to become “human calculators” — these are called Mentats.
• The Emperor: Shaddam IV of House Corrino is the ruthless Emperor of the Known Universe. Making inroads with him will fill your coffers with Solari, the main currency of the Imperium.
• The Spacing Guild: The Spacing Guild has a monopoly on foldspace travel. Their massive heighliners can transport large amounts of troops to Dune for you, if you can afford to pay the high price they ask in spice.
• Bene Gesserit: The intrigues and machinations of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and their generations-long planning are everywhere in the Imperium, seen and unseen.
• The Fremen: The Fremen are fierce warriors, and their water discipline gives them a unique advantage in the struggle for control of Dune. Their assistance is essential to harvesting the valuable spice.
• The Landsraad: The Emperor presides over the Landsraad, the governing body that represents the Great Houses of the Imperium. It’s no coincidence that Solari go a long way here at making connections, earning favors, or gaining a permanent strategic advantage.
• CHOAM: The Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles (or simply CHOAM) is a massive commercial organization that spans the Imperium. If you need to make some quick Solari, they’re always willing to cut a deal.
• Populated Areas: The populated areas of Dune are important sites from which to stage any military campaigns, as you can muster troops at most of these locations.
• Sandworms: The colossal sandworms of Dune rule its deserts, a constant threat to those who seek the planet’s spice. But you must brave the desert to earn its rewards. One good harvest can open many doors…

Main Components

• 1 Game board
• 1 Board Space Guide sheet
• 15 Water tokens
• Solari tokens: 4 large (worth 5), 20 small (worth 1)
• Spice tokens: 3 large (worth 5), 20 small (worth 1)
• 18 Conflict cards (4 Conflict I, 10 Conflict II, 4 Conflict III)
• 40 Intrigue cards
• 1 Mentat
• 4 Alliance tokens
• 24 Reserve cards:
  • 8 Arrakis Liaison
  • 10 The Spice Must Flow
  • 6 Foldspace
• 67 Imperium Deck cards
• 8 Leaders (with Turn Sequence guide on their backs)
• 1 First Player marker
• 4 Baron Harkonnen tokens (used with the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen Leader)

Player Components (in 4 player colors)

• 10-card starting deck containing:
  • 2 Convincing Argument
  • 2 Dagger
  • 1 Diplomacy
  • 2 Dune, the Desert Planet
  • 1 Reconnaissance
  • 1 Seek Allies
  • 1 Signet Ring

  (Starting deck cards can be identified by the card back symbol.)

• 16 Cubes
• 2 Discs (1 Score marker, 1 Councilor token)
• 3 Control markers
• 3 Agents
• 1 Combat marker

Solo and Two-Player Game Components

• 31 House Hagal cards
• House Hagal rules sheet

Game Setup Steps

1. Place the game board in your play area, and then place the following components on it:
   • A1: Place the Mentat on its side in the Mentat space.
   • A2: Place the four Alliance tokens on the marked areas of the Faction’s Influence tracks (Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit, and Fremen).
2. Create a Conflict Deck:
   • Separate the Conflict cards by their backs: Conflict I, Conflict II, and Conflict III.
   • Shuffle the four Conflict III cards and place all of them face down in the marked area of the game board.
   • Shuffle the 10 Conflict II cards, then deal five face down on top of the Conflict III cards.
   • Shuffle the four Conflict I cards, then deal one face down on top of the Conflict II cards.
   • You should now have a 10-card Conflict Deck on the game board, with one Conflict I card on top, five Conflict II cards below it, then the four Conflict III cards on the bottom. Return the unused Conflict cards to the game box without looking at them.
3. Prepare cards along the edge of the game board:
   • C1: Shuffle the Intrigue Deck and place it face down.
   • C2: Shuffle the Imperium Deck and place it face down. From it, deal five cards face up to form an Imperium Row.
   • C3: Next to the Imperium Row, place the Reserve cards in three stacks: one for Arrakis Liaison, one for The Spice Must Flow, and one for Foldspace.
4. Choose Leaders: Each player takes a Leader and places it in front of them. (You may choose or select at random.)
   Leaders have from one to three icons after their names. Leaders with more icons are more strategically complex. For your first game, it is recommended that each player chooses a Leader with just one icon: Paul Atreides, Glossu “The Beast” Rabban, Earl Memnon Thorvald, or Count Ilban Richese.
5. Starting Deck: Each player takes a 10-card starting deck, shuffles it, and places it face down in their supply to the left of their Leader.
6. Resources and Bank:
   • F1: Each player takes 1 water and places it in their supply.
   • F2: Create a bank next to the game board containing the Solari, spice, and remaining water tokens. These are not meant to be limited; if you run out and need more, make any convenient substitution.
7. Player Components: Each player chooses a color and takes all of its components:
   • G1: Place two of your Agents on your Leader. Place your third Agent (your Swordmaster) next to the game board.
   • G2: Place one of your two discs on the Score track. In a 4-player game, place it on the 1 space. Otherwise, place it on the 0 space.
   • G3: Place your Combat marker (with the swords side face up) on the 0 space of the Combat track.
   • G4: Place four cubes, one each, on the bottom spaces of the Influence tracks of the four Factions.
   • G5: The other 12 cubes represent your troops. Place three in one of the four circular garrisons on the game board (each player taking the one closest to them).
   • G6: Place your remaining components in your supply, in clear view of all players.
8. First Player: Determine a first player randomly. They take the First Player marker.

Solo and Two-Player games require additional setup. For details, see the separate rules sheet: House Hagal Cards.

Objective & Victory Points

You are a Leader of one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad. Defeat your rivals in Combat, wield political Influence, and form alliances with the four major Factions. Your successes will be measured in Victory Points.

Whenever you gain or lose a Victory Point, move your Score marker up or down one space on the Score track. At the end of a round, if any player has reached 10 or more Victory Points (or if the Conflict Deck is empty), the game ends, and whoever has the most Victory Points wins.

Leaders

Each Leader has two different unique abilities:

• The first, on the left, is used during play as described on the Leader.
• The second, on the right and marked by the Signet Ring icon , is activated when you play your Signet Ring card on one of your Agent turns.

Deck Building

You start the game with a 10-card deck containing the same cards as the other players. Adding to and changing that deck is the key element of play in a deck-building game. During each round, you may acquire new cards to add to your deck. Because cards do many different things, each player’s deck and strategy will diverge as the game unfolds.

• Whenever you acquire a new Imperium or Reserve card, it is first placed in your discard pile.
• Any time you’re unable to draw a card because your deck is empty, you reshuffle your discard pile to form a new deck, then continue to draw as needed.
• There are also ways to “trash” cards, removing them from your deck altogether for the rest of the game. By strategically removing weaker cards from your deck, you increase the chances of drawing your stronger cards more often.

Cards of any type can override the usual rules of the game!

Card Anatomy

The effects of each card in your deck are divided into two parts: an Agent box and a Reveal box. On any given turn, you may use the effects contained in only one of those boxes: the Agent box during an Agent turn, or the Reveal box during a Reveal turn.

• A: Name
• B: Faction (Not all cards are part of a Faction)
• C: Agent icons
• D: Agent box
• E: Reveal box
• F: Persuasion Cost
• G: Acquire effect (Not all cards have an Acquire effect)

Agents & The Mentat

You start the game with two Agents (and can gain a third during play). You send Agents to spaces on the game board, sometimes gathering resources, sometimes paying resources to advance your strategy. (This is explained fully in Phase 2: Player Turns, while board spaces are described in detail in the separate Board Space Guide sheet.)

In DUNE: IMPERIUM, Agents and cards are tightly linked; you can’t send an Agent to a board space without first playing a card that allows it.

The Mentat Agent

The Mentat is a special freelance Agent that you can temporarily add to your roster of Agents for one round. See the Mentat board space in the separate Board Space Guide sheet for more details.

Factions & Alliances

In DUNE: IMPERIUM, the four Factions represent powerful forces on Dune and elsewhere in the Imperium. Increasing your Influence and earning an Alliance with one or more of them is one of the key routes to victory in the game.

• Your Faction cubes begin at the bottom of each Faction’s Influence track. Throughout the game, your Influence with a Faction will increase or decrease, depending on the cards you play and the actions you take.
• When you send an Agent to a Faction’s board space, gain one Influence with that Faction by advancing your cube one space on its Influence track. Other game effects can also move your cube up (and occasionally down) the track.
• Reaching 2 Influence: When you reach 2 Influence with a Faction, you gain a Victory Point. If you drop back below 2 Influence, you lose that Victory Point.
• Reaching 4 Influence: When you reach 4 Influence, you earn the bonus shown on that space of the track. If you drop back below 4 Influence, you do not give back the bonus. (It’s possible—though unusual—to earn the same bonus more than once, if you move back then advance again.)
• Alliances: The first player to reach 4 Influence with a Faction also earns an Alliance with that Faction. They take the Alliance token from the track, put it in their supply and gain the Victory Point shown on the Alliance token. If they are ever passed by an opponent rising to a higher space on the track, they must give the Alliance token to that opponent; they lose that Victory Point and the opponent gains it.

Intrigue Cards

Intrigue cards represent subterfuge, backroom dealings, and surprise twists—they can provide resources like water or spice, increase your Influence with a Faction, or even score Victory Points. Each Intrigue card indicates when it can be played, what effect it has, and whether there are costs or conditions to playing it.

You receive Intrigue cards primarily from three board spaces: Carthag, Conspire, and Secrets. (But look for other opportunities on cards, wherever you see the Intrigue card icon.) They are kept face down, separate from your deck. You may look at them at any time. Reveal them to your opponents only when you play them. Once an Intrigue card is played and resolved, place it face up in a discard pile next to the Intrigue Deck.

There are three types of Intrigue cards:

• Plot: You may play a Plot Intrigue card any time during one of your Agent or Reveal turns.
• Combat: You may play a Combat Intrigue card only during Combat.
• Endgame: You may play an Endgame Intrigue card only at the end of the game.

Round Structure Overview

DUNE: IMPERIUM is played in a series of rounds. Each round consists of five phases, in this order:

1. Round Start
2. Player Turns (Agent Turn or Reveal Turn)
3. Combat
4. Makers
5. Recall

Phase 1: Round Start

1. Each round begins by revealing a new Conflict card from the top of the Conflict Deck. Place it face up in the space next to the Conflict Deck (on top of any Conflict cards from previous rounds).
2. Next, each player draws five cards from their own deck, forming their hand for the round.

Phase 2: Player Turns

Starting with the player who has the First Player marker and continuing clockwise, players take one turn at a time. On your turn, you will take either an Agent turn or a Reveal turn.

• Generally, you will take Agent turns until you run out of Agents to place, then you will take a Reveal turn.
• Agent turns are optional: if you choose to, you can take a Reveal turn while you still have Agents instead of taking an Agent turn.
• Once you’ve taken a Reveal turn, your turns are skipped for the rest of the phase, while other players finish taking their turns. Once all players have taken a Reveal turn, this phase ends.
• You may play any Plot Intrigue cards you have during this phase, at any point during one of your own Agent or Reveal turns.

Agent Turn

In an Agent turn, you play one card from your hand face up in front of you, using it to send an Agent from your Leader to an unoccupied space on the game board.

• This board space must have an icon in its upper left corner matching one of the Agent icons on the card.
• You must choose only one Agent icon on your card; one card can’t send multiple Agents.
• You can’t send an Agent to a board space that already has one.
• You must pay any costs or meet any requirements of the board space you choose.
• In addition, the Agent box of the card you played may provide an effect when you play it on an Agent turn. (You ignore the Reveal box of the card during Agent turns.)
• If a card does not have any Agent icons on it, you may not play it during an Agent turn. It may only be revealed during a Reveal turn.

The Seven Different Agent Icons

• Emperor
• Spacing Guild
• Bene Gesserit
• Fremen
• Landsraad
• City
• Spice Trade

Board Space Costs and Requirements

To send an Agent to some board spaces, you must pay a cost. If you can’t pay the cost immediately (before resolving any effects of the space or the card you played), you can’t send your Agent there.

• Example: The Emperor space “Conspire” requires that you pay 4 spice to send an Agent there, while “Wealth” has no additional cost.
• Sietch Tabr Influence: The Sietch Tabr board space has a unique requirement. To send an Agent there, you must have 2 or more Influence with the Fremen.

When you play a card and send an Agent to a board space, you gain the effects of the board space as well as the effects contained in the Agent box of the card. If the board space belongs to one of the Factions, you also move your cube one space up on its Influence track. You may carry out all these effects in any order.

Arrows on cards and on the board () indicate that there is a cost (left of the arrow, or above it) you must pay to get the effect (right of the arrow, or below it). You are never forced to pay such a cost. However, if you don’t, you won’t gain the effect.

• Example: When you play Fremen Camp, you may decide not to pay 2 spice to recruit 3 troops.

Deploying Troops to the Conflict

At the start of each round, the current Conflict card is revealed, offering rewards for which the players will compete in Combat.

• Whenever the cube icon appears on a card or board space, you recruit one troop. Take a troop from your supply and place it in your garrison on the game board. (If you run out of troops in your supply, you can’t recruit more until some return there.)
• You can’t earn rewards with troops sitting in your garrison, however. You may deploy them to a Conflict when you send an Agent to a Combat space. Combat spaces are board spaces that feature a desert illustration and crossed swords. While most of these appear on the planet Dune itself, three appear with the Factions: one with the Spacing Guild (Heighliner) and two with the Fremen (Hardy Warriors and Stillsuits).
• When you send an Agent to a Combat space, you may deploy troops to the Conflict area—the area of the game board in the center of the garrisons. You may deploy:
  • Any or all troops recruited during your current turn (from both the board space and the card you played),
  • Plus up to two more troops from your garrison.

  (Any troops you recruit but choose not to deploy to the Conflict are placed in your garrison as usual.)

Control Bonuses

Some Conflict cards reward a player with control over one of three spaces on Dune: Arrakeen, Carthag, or Imperial Basin (based on the card’s title). If you win such a Conflict, take a Control marker from your supply and place it on the flag below the appropriate board space.

• While your Control marker is on one of these spaces, you receive the bonus shown whenever any player (yourself included) sends an Agent there: 1 Solari for Arrakeen or Carthag, and 1 spice for Imperial Basin.
• When a Conflict card is revealed for a space that you already control, you receive a defensive bonus: you may deploy one troop from your supply to the Conflict.

Harvesting Spice

There are three board spaces on Arrakis with a Maker icon, where you may harvest spice: The Great Flat, Hagga Basin, and Imperial Basin. When you send an Agent to one of them, you gain the base value of spice shown on the space, plus any bonus spice that has accumulated there. (See Phase 4: Makers for details.)

Agent Turn Examples

• John: Plays Dune, the Desert Planet to send an Agent to Imperial Basin. He collects spice from the space. Imperial Basin is a Combat space. John didn’t recruit troops this turn, but deploys two troops from his garrison to the Conflict (the maximum allowed).
• Abby: Plays Duncan Idaho to send an Agent to Carthag. John’s Control marker is there, so John takes 1 Solari from the bank. From the board space, Abby recruits a troop and draws an Intrigue card. With Duncan Idaho, she pays 1 water to recruit another troop and draw a card. Carthag is a Combat space, so she deploys those two newly recruited troops plus one troop from her garrison.
• Ned: Plays Bene Gesserit Initiate to send an Agent to Rally Troops, paying 4 Solari. He draws a card from his deck, and recruits four troops from the board space. Rally Troops is not a Combat space, so he places all four troops into his garrison.

Reveal Turn

When a player has no more Agents for Agent turns (or chooses not to use any Agents they have remaining), that player takes a Reveal turn. This consists of the following steps in order:

1. Reveal Cards: Reveal all cards remaining in your hand, placing them face up in play in front of you. Keep them separate from other cards you played previously on Agent turns.
2. Resolve Reveal Effects: Gain the effects in the Reveal boxes of all the cards you just revealed (not those played during Agent turns). You may resolve Reveal effects in any order you like. In addition, you may use Persuasion that you’ve gained to acquire new cards for your deck before, between, or after your Reveal effects.
3. Set Strength: Total your strength for the Combat this round:
   • Each troop you have in the Conflict is worth 2 strength. (Troops in your garrison or supply contribute nothing.)
   • Each sword you revealed during your Reveal turn is worth 1 strength.
   • Important: You must have at least one troop in the Conflict to have any strength. If your last troop is ever removed, your strength becomes 0, and can’t be increased by any means, including swords on cards you revealed.
   • Move your Combat marker to the corresponding space on the Combat track. If your strength is over 20, flip the Combat marker to the +20 side and start again from the beginning of the track.
4. Clean Up: Remove all the cards from in front of you (from your Agent and Reveal turns) and put them in your discard pile.

Acquiring Cards

The Persuasion you gain during a round is used during your Reveal turn to acquire new cards for your deck:

• You may acquire any of the five cards in the Imperium Row, or Arrakis Liaison or The Spice Must Flow from the Reserve. (Foldspace is acquired at the board space of the same name).
• The cost to acquire a card is shown at the top right of that card. You may acquire as many cards as you like, as long as you have enough Persuasion to spend.
• You may pool Persuasion from multiple sources and split Persuasion to pay for different cards. Unused Persuasion cannot be saved; it is lost at the end of your Reveal turn.
• When you acquire a card, place it in your discard pile (face up to the right of your Leader).
• The Imperium Row must always have five cards; whenever it does not, replace missing cards immediately from the top of the Imperium Deck. You may acquire a card that was just revealed to replace a purchased card if you have enough Persuasion.

Reveal Turn Example

John reveals his three remaining hand cards: Imperial Spy, Smuggler’s Thopter, and Stilgar.

• He resolves Smuggler’s Thopter to gain 1 spice from the bank.
• His cards provide a total of 4 Persuasion. He spends 3 to acquire Space Travel from the Imperium Row (placing it in his discard pile), and refills the row. The remaining 1 Persuasion is unspent.
• Combat strength: He has 2 troops in the Conflict (4 strength) plus 4 swords from revealed cards (1 from Imperial Spy, 3 from Stilgar), giving a total of 8 strength. He sets his marker to 8.
• He places all his cards into his discard pile and is finished until Combat.

Phase 3: Combat

Combat is resolved during this phase, but first, players have the chance to play Combat Intrigue cards.

Combat Intrigue Cards

Starting with the player who has the First Player marker and continuing clockwise, each player with at least one troop in the Conflict may play any number of Combat Intrigue cards, or may pass.

• You are not required to pass just because you passed earlier in the Combat phase.
• Once all players involved in Combat pass consecutively, you then resolve the Combat.
• If a card changes the number of troops a player has in the Conflict (or otherwise alters their strength), adjust the Combat marker on the track. (If you have no troops in the Conflict, your strength is 0.)
• A few Combat Intrigue cards do something “when you win a Conflict.” You do not play these before resolving Combat; wait until you have won, then play them before moving to the next phase.

Resolve Combat

Rewards from the Conflict card are given to players based on their strength, as shown on the Combat track:

• The player with the highest strength wins the Conflict and gains the top reward on the Conflict card.
• The player with the second highest strength gains the second reward.
• In a 4-player game only, the player with the third highest strength receives the third reward.
• A player with 0 strength does not receive any reward.

Ties:

• When players tie for first place, no one wins the Conflict. The tied players each receive the second reward. (In a 4-player game, if two players tie for first place, the other two players still compete for the third reward.)
• When players tie for second place, they each receive the third reward.
• Players tying for third place receive nothing.

Cleanup: Once all rewards have been given, each player takes their troops from the Conflict and puts them in their supply (not their garrison). Reset all Combat markers to 0 on the Combat track.

Combat Example

John has 8 strength, Abby has 6 strength, and Ned has 0 strength (no troops in conflict). John holds the First Player marker and passes. Abby plays the Intrigue card Ambush, giving her +4 strength to reach 10 strength. Ned cannot participate. Back to John, who has no Combat Intrigue cards and passes. Abby passes. Abby wins the Conflict with 10 strength, earning 1 Victory Point and control of Arrakeen. John receives the second-place reward of 4 Solari. Ned receives nothing.

Phase 4: Makers

In this phase, spice can accumulate on certain board spaces. Check each of the three board spaces with a Maker icon: The Great Flat, Hagga Basin, and Imperial Basin.

• If the space does not have an Agent, place 1 spice from the bank on that space (in the spot designated for bonus spice).
• This spice is added to any bonus spice that may already be there from previous rounds.

Phase 5: Recall

If any player is at 10 or more Victory Points on the Score track, or if the Conflict Deck is empty, the Endgame is triggered.

If no one has won, prepare the next round:

1. Return the Mentat to its designated space in the Landsraad (if it’s not already there).
2. Players recall their Agents, returning them to their Leaders.
3. Pass the First Player marker clockwise to the next player, then begin a new round with Phase 1.

Endgame & Tiebreakers

First, players may play and resolve any Endgame Intrigue cards they have. Then, whoever has the most Victory Points is declared the winner.

Tiebreakers: In the case of a tie, tiebreakers are, in order:

1. Amount of spice
2. Solari
3. Water
4. Garrisoned troops

Overview

Combat spaces are spaces featuring desert illustrations and crossed swords. Sending an Agent there allows deploying recruited troops plus up to two garrison troops into the Conflict.

Board Spaces

• Arrakeen (City | Combat space): Recruit a troop and draw a card. Arrakeen’s controller gains 1 Solari.
• Carthag (City | Combat space): Recruit a troop and draw an Intrigue card. Carthag’s controller gains 1 Solari.
• Conspire (Emperor | Cost: 4 spice): Gain one Influence with the Emperor. Gain 5 Solari, recruit two troops, and draw an Intrigue card.
• Foldspace (Spacing Guild): Gain one Influence with the Spacing Guild. Acquire a Foldspace card from the Reserve.
• The Great Flat (Spice Trade | Combat space | Cost: 2 water): Gain 3 spice, plus any bonus spice accumulated here on the Maker icon.
• Hagga Basin (Spice Trade | Combat space | Cost: 1 water): Gain 2 spice, plus any bonus spice accumulated here on the Maker icon.
• Hall of Oratory (Landsraad): Recruit a troop. During your Reveal turn, gain 1 Persuasion if you have an Agent here.
• Hardy Warriors (Fremen | Combat space | Cost: 1 water): Gain one Influence with the Fremen. Recruit two troops.
• Heighliner (Spacing Guild | Combat space | Cost: 6 spice): Gain one Influence with the Spacing Guild. Recruit five troops and gain 2 water.
• High Council (Landsraad | Cost: 5 Solari): Once per game. Place your Councilor token on an unoccupied Council seat. Gain 2 Persuasion during each of your Reveal turns for the rest of the game.
• Imperial Basin (Spice Trade | Combat space): Gain 1 spice, plus bonus spice on the Maker icon. Imperial Basin’s controller gains 1 spice.
• Mentat (Landsraad | Cost: 2 Solari): Draw a card. Take the Mentat to use as an additional Agent this round. Return during Phase 5: Recall.
• Rally Troops (Landsraad | Cost: 4 Solari): Recruit four troops.
• Research Station (City | Combat space | Cost: 2 water): Draw three cards.
• Secrets (Bene Gesserit): Gain one Influence with the Bene Gesserit. Draw an Intrigue card. Each opponent with 4 or more Intrigue cards gives you one at random.
• Secure Contract (Spice Trade): Gain 3 Solari.
• Selective Breeding (Bene Gesserit | Cost: 2 spice): Gain one Influence with the Bene Gesserit. Trash one card to draw two cards.
• Sell Melange (Spice Trade | Cost: 2 to 5 spice): Convert spice to Solari (2 spice for 6 Solari, 3 for 8, 4 for 10, 5 for 12). Only one exchange per turn.
• Sietch Tabr (City | Combat space | Requirement: 2+ Fremen Influence): Recruit a troop and gain 1 water.
• Stillsuits (Fremen | Combat space): Gain one Influence with the Fremen. Gain 1 water.
• Swordmaster (Landsraad | Cost: 8 Solari): Once per game. Gain your third Agent permanently.
• Wealth (Emperor): Gain one Influence with the Emperor. Gain 2 Solari.

Clarifications

• Baron Vladimir Harkonnen: To use the Masterstroke ability, choose two of the four Baron Harkonnen tokens and place them on your Leader with the Faction side face down. (Return the other two to the box without letting any opponents see them.) Later, reveal your choices as described to gain your reward.
• Bindu Suspension: You must play this Intrigue card at the start of your Agent turn, before doing anything else. When you do, draw a card, then immediately end your turn.
• Calculated Hire: This Intrigue card can only take the Mentat from its starting position in the Landsraad.
• Demand Respect: If you win a Conflict that rewards you with spice, you may take that spice first, then use it to play this Intrigue card. (You may also play To the Victor… to gain the spice to then play Demand Respect.)
• Kwisatz Haderach: You may play this card to take an Agent turn even if you have no Agents left in your supply, as it lets you send an Agent that is already on a board space. You may send an Agent back to the space that it was just on. If a board space can be used only once per game (High Council, Swordmaster), you can’t use Kwisatz Haderach to send an Agent there more than once. You can’t overcome The Voice and send an Agent to a board space where you can’t send an Agent. If you move an agent away from a space with a Maker icon, and that space remains empty until Phase 4, bonus spice does accumulate there.
• Paul Atreides / Poison Snooper: You can’t look at the top card of your deck if it is empty. (You can’t reshuffle your discard pile and form a new deck until you need to draw a card.)
• Test of Humanity: Opponents make their choices starting from your left and proceeding clockwise. Each opponent must choose something they can do; they can’t discard if their hand is empty, or lose a deployed troop if they have none. An opponent who decides to discard chooses which card; it is not random.
• The Voice: Use one of your available Control markers to mark the board space you choose, then remove it on your next turn. (The Voice only stops opponents from sending Agents to that board space for one turn.) This does prevent Kwisatz Haderach from sending an Agent to the board space you chose.

Strategy Tips

• Water: Rare and precious on Dune, and vital to harvesting spice. Look to the Fremen if in need.
• Spice: Surplus spice can always be traded. CHOAM or the Emperor exchange spice for Solari. The Spacing Guild requires large spice quantities, but offers heighliners that transport massive amounts of troops.
• Solari: Currency of the Imperium and the Landsraad Council. Required for upgrades like a Swordmaster or High Council seat, recruiting troops, or hiring the Mentat.
• Card Acquisition: Cards grant access to Faction spaces. Be careful not to leave yourself without the symbols needed to visit key board spaces.
• Faction Spaces: Each Faction has one space with a cost and one without. Spaces without costs allow you to gain Influence while gathering resources for larger actions.
• Timing in Conflict: Waiting to commit troops provides more information and gives opponents less opportunity to react. A lesser victory at lower cost is often better than an expensive first place.
• Intrigue Cards: Create uncertainty in Conflicts and can swing battles unexpectedly.
• Alliances: High priority for Victory Points. Monitor opponents’ Influence progress closely.
• Bene Gesserit: Great source of Intrigue cards and deck thinning (trashing weaker cards).

House Hagal Cards — Solo & Two-Player Games

House Hagal cards control automated opponents (“Rivals”). Rivals occupy spaces and contest Conflicts by recruiting and deploying troops. They are affected by cards/spaces targeting opponents if they have the required resources.

Rival Agent Rules

• Rivals take Agent turns during Phase 2, but do not take Reveal turns.
• Reveal the top card of the House Hagal deck. The Rival sends an Agent to the indicated space if unoccupied; if occupied, discard and reveal cards until an unoccupied space appears.
• When empty (or the Reshuffle card appears), immediately reshuffle the deck.
• Ignore space costs and benefits. Instead, apply the symbols on the House Hagal card:
  • Advance on the indicated Influence track (no space bonuses, but takes Alliances).
  • Use the Signet Ring ability on its Leader (Solo Play only).
  • Recruit 1 troop per cube icon. Deploy to Conflict if the card is a Combat space; otherwise place in garrison.
  • When visiting a Combat space, always deploy recruited troops plus up to two garrison troops.

Harvest Spice Cards

Remove bonus spice from harvested spaces (returned to bank in 2-player; kept by Rival in solo).

Rival Combat Rules

At the start of Phase 3, each Rival with troops in the Conflict reveals the top House Hagal card and gains bonus strength equal to the sword icons shown at the bottom.

Two-Player Game Rules

• House Hagal serves as a neutral spoiler player: does not collect resources, score VPs, or build a deck.
• House Hagal acts after each of the First Player’s Agent turns as long as it has Agents available.
• Cannot claim board space control; however, if House Hagal wins a Conflict over a controlled space, the current controller’s marker is removed.

Solo Play Rules

Face off against two automated Rivals competing to reach 10 Victory Points. Rivals do not build decks, but have unique benefits.

Solo Setup & Difficulty

1. Select difficulty level: Mercenary (Novice), Sardaukar (Veteran), or Mentat (Expert). (Expert+ / Kwisatz Haderach mode: you also cannot gain a Swordmaster).
2. Select two Rival Leaders (they use only Signet abilities; cannot use Paul Atreides or Helena Richese).
3. Place Rival cubes at 0 Influence, configure starting garrison troops, and seed Rival Swordmasters under the specified number of Conflict cards in the Conflict Deck.
4. Remove cards marked “2P” from the House Hagal deck.
5. If indicated by difficulty, place 5 Solari token on the Mentat space (making it cost 5 Solari instead of 2).
6. The Rival to your left takes the First Player marker.

Difficulty Table

• Mercenary (Novice): You start with +1 Solari, +1 Spice. Mentat space costs 2 Solari. 5 Conflict cards above Rival Swordmasters. Rivals have 0 extra starting garrison troops and 0 Intrigue cards.
• Sardaukar (Veteran): No player bonus. Mentat space costs 5 Solari. 4 Conflict cards above Rival Swordmasters. Rivals start with 3 garrison troops and 1 Intrigue card each.
• Mentat (Expert): No player bonus. Mentat space costs 5 Solari. 3 Conflict cards above Rival Swordmasters. Rivals start with 3 garrison troops and 1 Intrigue card each.

Solo Rival Combat & Spending Resources

• Rivals claim first- and second-place Conflict rewards (VPs, Influence, resources, Control markers, Mentat).
• Spending Resources: At any time, when a Rival collects 3 water, 7 Solari, or 7 spice, they immediately spend those resources to gain 1 Victory Point.
• Choices: Rivals always choose the Faction where they have the lowest Influence. In case of ties, the player decides.
• Corner the Market: Treat each Rival as having two The Spice Must Flow cards.
• Expert Troop Deployment: At Expert difficulty, during Conflict I or II, Rivals do not deploy troops if they already lead by 2 or more troops. In Conflict III, they deploy maximally.

Icon Guide and Glossary

• Acquire: Some cards have a special acquire box underneath their cost. You gain the effect here one time, at the moment you acquire the card (and not later when you play it from your hand).
• Acquire a Foldspace card: Take a Foldspace card from the Reserve.
• Agent: From the Swordmaster space, you can gain your third Agent (placed next to the board during setup), then use it for the rest of the game.
• Alliance: You may use this effect only if you have the Alliance token of the Faction shown.
• Control: If you win a Conflict with a Control reward (Arrakeen, Carthag, or Imperial Basin), place your Control marker on the flag below that space (replacing any opponent’s marker). When a Conflict card is revealed for a space you control, you may deploy one troop from your supply to the Conflict as a defensive bonus.
• Draw a card: Draw one card from your deck. Reshuffle discard pile if deck is empty.
• Draw an Intrigue card: Draw from the Intrigue Deck. Keep face down until played.
• Fremen Bond: You may use this effect if you have one or more other Fremen cards in play. Two cards with Fremen Bond activate each other regardless of order played.
• In Play: Cards played on Agent turns and revealed during your Reveal turn remain face up and “in play” until clean up at the end of your Reveal turn (unless trashed first).
• Influence Requirement: You may use this effect only if you have at least the amount of Influence indicated with the given Faction.
• Gain Influence: Gain Influence with the Faction shown (Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit, or Fremen).
• Influence Choice: Gain one, gain two, or lose one Influence with any one Faction. (When gaining two, you cannot split between two different Factions.)
• Lose a troop: Return the troop to your supply (not garrison).
• Maker: The three board spaces with the Maker icon gain 1 bonus spice during Phase 4: Makers if no Agent is present. Sending an Agent there collects the base spice plus all bonus spice.
• Mentat: Take the Mentat from its board space (if available). Place on your Leader to take an extra Agent turn this round. Return during Phase 5: Recall (unless won as a Conflict reward).
• Paying a cost: The arrow indicates a cost on the left/above, and an effect on the right/below. Costs on cards are optional.
• Persuasion: Gained mainly from Reveal boxes to acquire cards during your Reveal turn. Cannot be saved between turns.
• Recall: Return an Agent to your Leader to use again on another Agent turn in the same round.
• Resources: Solari, Spice, Water. Taken from or returned to the bank.
• Retreat: Move a troop from the Conflict back to your garrison.
• Signet Ring: Playing your Signet Ring card activates the Signet Ring ability on your Leader.
• Steal Intrigue: Each opponent with 4 or more Intrigue cards must give you one at random.
• Sword: Adds 1 strength in Conflict.
• Trash: Remove a card from hand, discard, or play to the game box permanently (Reserve cards return to their stacks).
• Troop: Recruit a troop from supply into your garrison (or directly to Conflict if played with a Combat board space).
• Victory Point: Move your score marker up or down on the Score track.

Credits

Dire Wolf Digital

• Game Design: Paul Dennen
• Executive Producer: Scott Martins
• Art and Graphic Design: Clay Brooks, Brett Nienburg, Nate Storm
• Card Illustration: Clay Brooks, Atilla Guzey, Derek Herring, Kenan Jackson, Brett Nienburg, Raul Ramos, Nate Storm
• Production: Evan Lorentz
• Game Development: Justin Cohen, Paul Dennen
• Additional Game Development: Corey Burkhart, Evan Lorentz, Sam Pardee, Luis Scott-Vargas, Kevin Spak, Yuri Tolpin

Gale Force Nine

• Producer & Brand Manager: Joe LeFavi (Genuine Entertainment)
• Co-Producer: John-Paul Brisigotti