Dune adventure board game trilogy on the way, starting with this year’s House Secrets
Intergalactic investigation.
Infiltrate the ruling powers on the planet Arrakis as rebels in Dune: House Secrets, an upcoming board game that uses the same co-op system as the Detective series.
Revealed during publisher Portal Games’ convention PortalCon Online, Dune: House Secrets sees players becoming a group of rebels based on the planet Arrakis - otherwise known as Dune - who must carry out a series of dangerous missions. A “story-driven” adventure board game, House Secrets will push players into an ongoing conflict between the warring factions on the desert planet, with House Secrets the first in a planned trilogy of titles.
House Secrets will have players working together to explore the various regions of Arrakis, find clues, gather allies and make narrative decisions that can change the course of the story. As players uncover more mysteries, they will use the various physical components of the co-op game - such as a deck of cards containing various clues and story information - and its digital aspects, including a dedicated website.
With every adventure that the players complete - each of which will take around two to three hours to finish - they’ll gain experience points that they can use to upgrade their characters, opening up new options in future episodes. Players can approach each of the three adventures, and prologue, as either a standalone experience or part of an overarching campaign, the conclusion of which has the potential to shape the nature of the next two entries in the series.
Dune: House Secrets was designed by Jakub Poczęty, Przemysław Rymer, Ignacy Trzewiczek - the co-designers of Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game and this year’s Cold War spin-off title Vienna Connection - and Weronika Spyra, who worked with Ignacy and Merry Trzewiczek on last year’s beginner-friendly entry in the series, Detective: Season One.
Aside from releasing the Detective series and upcoming Dune: House Secrets, Portal Games is known for publishing strategy series Neuroshima Hex!, historical civilisation game Imperial Settlers and co-op survival board game Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, as well as its spin-off First Martians.
Dune: House Secrets is based on the upcoming film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi book series. Helmed by Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve and starring Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac and Zendaya, the 2021 film will focus on the first half of the first book, telling the story of the scion of House Atreides and the continuing conflict over control of Spice - a powerful and rare resource - on the planet Arrakis.
Last year saw the release of Dune: Imperium, a deckbuilding game based on the upcoming film from Clank! studio Dire Wolf, with a roleplaying game called Dune: Adventures in the Imperium set to be released on April 30th by Modiphius, the publisher behind licensed RPGs such as Dishonored: The Roleplaying Game and Star Trek Adventures.
The release date for Dune: House Secrets is sometime in Q4 2021, with a retail price yet to be announced. Release dates or details for the later entries in the upcoming trilogy are yet to be revealed.