Dune, set on an arid desert world called Arrrakis which if it were not for the Spice would be ignored as the backwater it would otherwise be. A world that you have to fight hard to gain little and would happily take all you have for no gain at all. There resides the giant Sandworm, a creature that not only swallow you whole but also your team and the spaceship you flew in on. Why not destroy the worms I hear you ask, well there is the nub of the problem. The curse of the world is also the source of it’s pride as the worms produce the Spice. You may ask why the spice is so important, well if you wish to travel the depths of space, they would be unatainable without the Spice.
If that was not enough the desert world could easily dry you out like beef jerky if you don’t know how to travel around it and live there. You could say life is harsh there, the same way as you could say standing in the flow of a jet engine on full blast was a bit warm.
Then there is the politics, when you say watch out for your friends trying to stab you in the back, here it is literal as well as figurative. All in all it makes life here infinitely interesting.
As it says it is a game of (dangerous diplomacy) as well as conquest. You have to team up to fight for dominance of this dessicated world. there are few true friends and a lot of enemies. So work warily and trust sparingly.
“Isn’t this the game they brought back out last year, after 30 years?” I hear you ask. The answer is that it isn’t the same but it is similar. What this is is a faster more pared-down version with easier rules. Which makes it a good game to play with less experienced players or if you want a quicker lighter game.
It means you can have both in your library and play which ever suits your needs at the time. You know what it’s like, sometimes you fancy a full roast and other times you only have time for a quick sandwich.
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