Dune: Imperium House Rules | Dune: Imperium Board Game Review | Dune: Imperium Variant

During this Dune: Imperium Board Game Review–a Modern Board Game Review–we present our Dune: Imperium House Rules as a Dune: Imperium Variant and compare Dune: Imperium vs Gaia Project. Dune: Imperium stands in the Board Game Geek–BGG Top 100. Initially, this video explains how to win Dune: Imperium with the basics of Dune: Imperium strategy. Then, using Dune: Imperium statistics, we present our own Dune: Imperium House Rules. Including our house rules, I would consider Dune: Imperium possibly the best advanced board game, the best strategy board game, the best board game for game groups, and the best board game for game nights. Fixed Dune: Imperium also competes for the best engine deck builder board game, the best engine building board game, and the best worker placement board game. And, I believe that Dune: Imperium stands as the best deck building board game of all time.

Dune: Imperium Fixed
00:00 Intro to Dune: Imperium Review
00:51 Feel of Dune: Imperium=Behind Dune
01:46 Main Mechanic of Dune: Imperium=Engine Deck Building
02:58 Dune: Imperium Problems
04:26 Intrigue Problem
07:35 Leader Problem
10:09 Intrigue of Dune: Imperium House Rules
11:47 Leaders of Dune: Imperium House Rules
13:23 Two House Rules
13:35 House Goals Variant
14:30 Secret Goals Variant
15:59 Market Board Recommendation
16:19 Smugglers Market Module
16:46 Imperium Cycling Module
17:58 Reserve Diversity Module
18:39 Imperium Balancing Module
19:58 Triple Conflicts Recommendation
21:50 Dune: Imperium Giveaway Winner Announced
22:50 Original Score of Dune: Imperium
23:09 House Rules Score of Dune: Imperium
24:19 Question
24:35 Subscribe
24:55 Outro to Dune: Imperium Board Game Review

Dune: Imperium House Rules: Here are My House Rules to Dune: Imperium

Where to Purchase Mentioned Games Online:
Dune: Imperium:

Other Fantastic Dune: Imperium Reviews:
For a Fun and Exciting Game Overview: Shut Up & Sit Down
For a More in Depth Game Overview: The Dice Tower

[healthygamingnetwork]

I would caution anyone considering these changes to spend a lot of time with the game before implementing them. While very creative most are bad for the game and a couple ruin it completely. If you want more turnover in your Imperium Row I would recommend the Sand Worm eats cards variant in BGG. We might only play this because I 3D printed a big Sand Worm as it really isn’t necessary…the game is very good as designed.

[jonathanfranklin]

Now that we have Ix and Immortality, Family Atomics + Ix change all sorts of balance issues raised here. Great job thinking on these issues, regardless of whether everyone agrees or disagrees with them.

[Stumptonian]

Interesting suggestions. I had seen this on BGG - your explanations in this video made things much clearer. One thing I noticed - maybe it's just my connection? - the audio is out of sync like an old sci-fi movie.

[christophe]

I think the Endgame Intrigue cards are vastly overrated. I think people FEEL bad because they thought they would win and then someone played them, but both of them not only need the card, but a massive commitment that will shut you out of other ways to gain vp. They are also both very visible, for Plans within Plans you need 12 actions in total and it's also a bit weird to go for the third spot everywhere and not for alliances in one or two spots. I think if you really want alliance markers AND fulfill the 2 vp of that card you need to seriously disregard other sources of VP in the game. Corner the Market needs a massive commitment, you need to build your entire deck around it. Allied Armada and the Private Armies both need you to not only visit the space to get the intrigue card in the first place, but also 2 spice. I think there are ways to get 6 combat power with two actions, and a lot of reliable ways to get 4 combat power with two actions and some nice stuff on top of it. In general, to offset the randomness the Intrigue cards need to be just a bit better than a comparable action where you are sure you know what you get, I think that is done nicely.

About the leaders, I think probably some of them are more useful in more situations (that beeing said, Helenas Power get worse in games with less players), but the differences are very, very minor. It's part of the fun to abuse them and most can.

Imperium Cycling I think is a group think issue. People who played Dominion too often and fear of dilluting their deck playing together, so nobody buys cheap cards. I think it's strategically a wrong decission in the first place, almost all cards are better than your starting cards, and you benefit from them very soon. T

The house goals shoehorn you into a strategy. It's a cool thematic thing, but currently I like that most leaders allow for multiple strategies.

Bene Gesserit and Fremen need more cards, as they both have mechanics that give them bonuses if you have more of the same faction in your hand. If you go for a deckbuilding strategy, yes, those two factions are the way to go. But if you want just powerful cards in their own right, I'd say Foldspace and Emperor have some really good cards. They just don't have that much of a tag mechanic.

That beeing said, you do you :) I don't like house rules in general because I love to discuss strategies for games like Dune Imperium, and that doesn't make sense if someone else plays a different game. I also think people underestimate the 1.) mathematical framework and 2.) the playtesting that goes into a game like this. It's very likely your issues with the game came up in playtesting, as they are obvious things.

[LuukSwinkels]

would it be cool to trade resourses among players instead of this market? This would simulate an economy where, based on the state of the game, the relative value of resourses fluctuate.

I feel like this can be a thematic thing though never tried before

[cometrulz]

The only challenge I found with this game (and I recently posted on BGG a solution I suggest to it) is the imperium row stagnation challenge. I think the rest of the game is perfect.

[gillcaz]

Your distinction between tactical and adaptive intrigues me. I've always compared tactics to strategy, the difference being that tactics achieve momentary success, while strategy is about the entire campaign, or project. But i guess adaptive is perhaps even further down the spectrum from strategy, past tactics?

[amchasteenable]

Do all these work and are necessary with the expansion?

[jacobjslee]

I'm all for houseruling games if you want one to play a certain way. I don't think most suggested houserules out there have been properly tested, but that's sort of the point of getting it out there, hearing people's feedback, etc. I get the sense from you that you have considered your ideas carefully. I like a lot about D:I, but I have some nitpicks, too, and the intrigue deck is one of them. The biggest one for me is combat. I would say the same thing about Scythe - love the game, but dislike the combat. What I do for both now is use a cube tower (from Wallenstein). Gives the game some drama and not so deterministic.

[andrethannhauser]

in order to balance the market decks, you could sort out all cards with costs 1 or 2.
those cards in most cases are crap and just make your deck bigger.

I'm not sure if I would buy them even for -1 = your solution before they get cycled out.

otherwise, imagine you start the game with only cards with costs 5+ which nobody can afford.
so you play a frustrating game with nobody being able to buy any card in turn 1 and maybe even turn 2

[andrethannhauser]

in Detail, one or the other character might have a too strong ongoing or ring effect. in tendency I think that the weaker the ongoing effect the stronger the ring effect.

but I definetely disagree with your statement that drawing a card is a bad ring effect.
in fact, I find it to be one of the strongest....not even considering that with Paul Atreides you know exactly what you are gonna draw...so you might still consider not using the ring card for the agent placement.

having 6 instead of 5 cards every two rounds (slightly less depending on how many cards you buy and destroy) is huge....e.g. it exponentially increases the odds of having a combo it's worth concentrating especially on Freemen but also on Bene Geserit.

Furthermore, you are faster in cycling through you deck.

checking my saved plays I see Paul having the highest win rate.

[annastroven]

Interesting mods. My gamer group definitely notices a disparity between the leaders, so we probably will try that part of your mod for sure.

[breadsboardsandbooks]

I cannot wait to try these changes!!! I love Dune: Imperium!!!

[revimfadli]

Really nice fix for the usual Ascension-style market clogging. Reminds me of St. Petersburg.

[rebekahallen]

I enjoy this game. I have played Helena’s character a couple times. I definitely think the modifications to her character are justified. I have won a couple times with her, and I am not a great strategy player by any means. I am also not big on conflict lover but I really like the adjustment to having the three different conflicts.

[DuGStp]

I don’t think this game has any real problems. Only features. As the great Andrew Garfield allegedly said, “balance is for whimps”

[andrethannhauser]

the way you change the market is genius.
honestly, I dont understand why/how a designer can create a quite long and heavy strategy game AND then use such an ancient deck building market system (totally random order of cards and no automatic cycling at all).
the biggest disappointment is that even in the expansion there is no fix at all.

with how the current market works, to me the game is overhyped (even though it's in my top 30 of all time).
they could have created a masterpiece, but with all those little imbalances, randomness and ancient mechanisms (=card market in Dune), they just missed it.
it's mainly that successful because of the theme, the mechanism hybrid and the high concerning the raw mechanisms in detail, the game is full of weaknesses.
a lot of players seem to be that high on the hype-wave and so thrilled by the movie+game combo that they dont seem to care that this game as it is, is NOT about the best player (probably) winning.

as comparison:
I have won EVERY single Arnak match against players who played it for the first time.
with Dune Imperium that is NOT the case.
to me, for every mid to heavy game it is a sign of quality when the much more experienced player is probably or maybe even definetely gonna win.

so Dune is more about feeling the high tension all the time but less about an even and balanced challenge that heavy eurogamers are searching for.

[tylerblanchard]

So close gg goes out to mr.coach for winning maybe we can get it next time

[ronpossibletherealperson]

The market board looks great, but I don’t think it will play great.

[dustbule]

Absolutely right, the deck build is totally a disaster .4 player snatch the only chance of delete your card in one round. Before your get the card that optimize your deck, you already have bought 3 to 4 piece of shit (or you cheat other players to buy the shit). Plus the origin ten card, the combo of Freman or beni Jesserit only apper in your dream.
Image an insane handicapped leads a dukedom, that exactly how I feel in this game.