Dune: Imperium – Uprising

Dune: Imperium – Uprising is standalone, but it does not pretend the original Imperium never happened: it can be combined with that game, its expansions, and its cards. We tried it on its own, which is the sensible way to see what it brings to the table. The central board is broadly familiar, minus the Mentat; new leaders make it feel like a close relative with its own temperament rather than a mere refresh of components.

At its core, it is still recognisably Dune: Imperium: you move through a familiar field of choices, build influence, and prepare your position for conflict. The material addition is the worms you can ride into battle. They do not change the system's identity, but they shift the weight of its military side in a way the table notices immediately.

Interaction comes chiefly through conflict and the new intrigue deck, which is plainly less vicious than Imperium's. The new cards have power too, but the large-cost effects lack the predecessor's more outrageous moments; influence generally feels more inflationary, so the spikes do not arrive with quite the same violence. The interesting decision is whether that smoothing removes tension, or merely removes noise.

For me, it mostly removes noise. Uprising does not mechanically replace Imperium; it restates it, with less randomness at least on first play and a more controlled feel to powerful cards. It is an excellent game and, quietly but unmistakably, a Dune with a sufficiently different character from its predecessor.