Dune: War for Arrakis board game coming from War of the Ring co-creators
Don’t Harkonnen about it.
A new board game based on the recent film adaptation of Dune is coming from the co-creators of War of the Ring, Francesco Nepitello and Marco Maggi.
Called Dune: War for Arrakis, the upcoming board game has players taking control over the powerful houses that occupy the universe of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi book series. Set on the desert-planet Arrakis, which has recently been occupied by the forces of House Harkonnen after a surprise attack on their rival House Atreides – who were gifted the planet by the Emperor in a scheme to have them destroyed – War for Arrakis has players fighting against one another for control of Dune.
As the source of Spice, a valuable substance that enables pilots to travel long distances in a short amount of time, Arrakis is desirable territory for an ambitious House to acquire. As one of these Houses, players will be commanding troops such as the Fremen – who call Arrakis their home – Fedaykin or Sardaukar in battles across the sand dunes. The movie board game is asymmetric, meaning that players will have different gameplay elements and/or goals depending on which House they choose to control.
Besides battle, players will also be vying for the deposits of Spice found in the desert, using their Spice Harvesters to gather up the valuable substance and avoiding - or potentially even challenging – the enormous Sandworms that roam the planet. Throughout the game, players will also encounter various events based on the Dune franchise, giving players story segments and opportunities to turn the tide if they’re able to take them. Alongside the cards, players will also be rolling ‘action dice’ to determine the outcome of the events they experience.
Apart from Dune: War for Arrakis and War of the Ring – a two-player board game adapted from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series - Nepitello and Maggi have also co-designed War of the Ring: Second Edition – which was released in 2011 – as well as The Hobbit board game, The Battle of the Five Armies, which has players taking control of the various warring factions featured in the book’s climactic fight.
CMON is the studio responsible for releasing Dune: War for Arrakis, with the company gaining a sub-licence agreement via Genuine Entertainment, Legendary Entertainment, Herbert Properties LLC and Gale Force Nine, the studio behind several Dune board games such as Dune: A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy. Apart from the upcoming War for Arrakis, CMON is best known for publishing the co-op game series Zombicide.
A Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for Dune: War for Arrakis is set to be launched sometime later this year.