Dune: Imperium Review - A SU&SD Dust-Up 

AVA AND QUINNS: "I dislike how slow and long this game is!" MATT: "I like to intentionally make my turns take longer to mess with people!" Ah, I think I see what's happened here,

The Matt in a Sleeping Bag "worm" is my favorite SU&SD running joke and might be my favorite Crawling Joke of all time.

I do hope that panda situation gets resolved, but it's rare there's a black and white solution.

Mighty big of you to include the rest of the team’s thoughts despite them being Wrong About Games, Matt. Downright upright of you, I’d say.

played this at the weekend with 3 others. was fun, brisk and tatical. I lost but I understand why I lost and want to play again

Need an episode of The Opener showing me how to make G̸̟͍̜̖̦͓͚̰̖͚̥̳̗͕̏̆̍̋͊̋͆̍̂̀̉̄̿ͅh̴̨̲͕̘̘͕̟̖̾ḁ̵̛͙͈̤̳̙̻̩̇̔͝u̷̧̘̟͈̪̦̘͖͛̽̒͂a̵̦̱̼̗͙̍̊ģ̷͚͍͚̖͖̟̗͍͖͎̝̆̏̈́͂͘h̴̡͍̙̺̙͍͎̜̺̩̙̮͜͝ͅǎ̵̫̮̗͈̓̌̉̐̾̓̌́͋̚͝͝͠͝g̶̪̥͈̞̭̖͈̳̝̝͊͆̌͑͑̃̊̑̅̀̅̈́͂̅͘u̷̼͑͛̾̊̃̎̃̚͘ȃ̶̢̠͓̲̦̙̥̰͓̹͔͘g̸̟̫̮̹̬͚̍̿́̒̉̋͌͘h̷̳̖̜̔̇̾̋ and custard.

My girlfriend and I had a blast with this game. Our games were very tight and on more than one occasion, came down to an intrigue card played during the final combat. There was also one time where I stole an intrigue card that gave me a one point victory during the endgame. I have also enjoyed it solo.

When you mention the Bene Gesserit "Bond" not been displayed like the other one, it is because there is a difference. Bond mean they get activated even if a card is played after. Normally this keyword is used for the Reveal phase. Here, you need to have played another Bene Gesserit card during your Agent phase in a previous turn. This is harder to achieve since you only get 2-3 agents per turn.

I think the sword bluffing reveals and the intrigue cards are what helps save the game as a Dune game instead of just another euro. It could be exactly Lords of Waterdeep + Dominion without it, but isn't some of the Dune theme about outthinking and surprising your enemy? My group all really liked Dune: Imperium. No mechanics are new, but the designer did a great job taking bits from other games and mixing them into something that just works really well. Live it really isn't that long either, our 4p games are maybe 75-90 min.

Best space desserts from a dessert planet I've ever seen!

The long awaited return of the worm costume!

Believe it was a panda mech. Roving about crushing the elderly. Much safer to stay indoors.

Now I'm wondering what comprises those desserts, with equal parts amazement and alarm.

The alien desserts segment is exactly the kind of irreverent nonsense that makes SUSD the best channel on RU-vid. I'm not even that interested in the game (though I do find the colorful wooden bits strangely alluring) but I knew whatever you had cooked up would be worth the watch anyway and I was not disappointed!

I've played Dune 3 times now and have enjoyed it more every time. It really does a great job of simulating the feel of the story with politics, intrigue, and combat woven into almost every decision. I was also impressed at the synergy available in the cards once you understand what it is they're capable of. About the only thing I really don't like is that some of the character powers flat out stink.

I've enjoyed this game immensely each time I've played it.

As a big deck builder fan, I'd say this is more of a worker placement game with deck building elements. You can't really play it like a deck builder, as cards only get you so far. It's a lot more driven by worker placement. I'd say it's more fair to compare it to Lords of Waterdeep than Dominion.

Game gets a definite recommendation from me, at least. Full of tough decisions about which cards to use for workers and which to reveal, which fights you should try to contest and which you should stay out of.

Nothing I love more than cozying up by the fire on a rainy day and reading gripping tales from Herbert Heberberpt

That desserts gag at the end may well have the highest effort:payoff ratio I've seen in a SUSD vid and it is well appreciated

After 5 months, I finally got the "Fremen with Bene Gesserits" joke. Bravo, well done.

This is one of the games where I am mesmerized that there are people that do not like it .... Such a great game. But hey, tastes.... Fair review Matt.

Good to see the colonel's moustache is still getting roles. Oscar-worthy performance as Dr. Google.

lol Herbert Herberberpt what the hell haha I rewound that several times just to hear that! nice one

11:31 Interestingly my 4-player board game group much prefers playing Imperium with all of us rather than just 2 or 3 of us. Perhaps that's just because we like having the whole group, but personally at least, I found having more spots on the board being taken up, more cards being bought and more people fighting over alliances made the game so much more dynamic. There's so much more that can go wrong with your plans that it really keeps you on your toes. 2 player games on the other hand, always felt a little too independent - there wasn't enough interference and overlap between what the players were planning, meaning often the only change you'd have to make to your plans was how aggressively you wanted to go into a conflict. There's nothing inherently wrong with that of course and 2 & 3 player were still great, it's just that we love 4 player even more.

This pleasantly reminded me of the review on Taverns of Tiefenthal. Another nourishing video of Matt teaching us that games don't have to be perfect. I really appreciate those honest nuances. And those desserts looked so much better than anything the replicators in Star Trek TNG ever created!

You didn't even mention one of the spiciest parts of the game with the Intrigue cards.

I played this with 4, and had a blast. The other 3 players also enjoyed it, and I am definitely down to play it many more times especially with the expansion coming out later this year.

When we want more casual deck-building + worker placement, we play Lost Ruins of Arnak. When we want a more tense strategy tussle, we play Dune: Imperium. Lots of fun had by all either way.

This has become a favorite of our group in no time! We’re also frequent players of TI4 and this came across as a shorter, Euro version of it. I think it is a bit of a missed opportunity that the review didn’t mention all the intrigue cards, how combat works, different opportunity cost decisions you have to make etc.

How is it not called a "Bene Gesserit scheme" when you play two cards. I demand a reprint!

"Fremen with Bene Gesserits." Oh. My. God. You earned that thumbs up.

Damn, that printer has some excellent comedic timing.

7:07 "I frankly resent giving the screentime to people who are wrong about board games..." ZING! 😂

„I‘m teleporting through Time and Space, mother..!“

This video looks great! The lighting, colors, framing, etc. are all excellent!

Oh boy and it's not even worm month!!

Came for the Desert. Stayed for the Dessert.

is that... an aubergine stuck onto a celeriac dyed green? Impressive

It feels really bad when you absolutely love a game and you're the only person in the playgroup that does so. It's the main reason I won't touch anything without a solo mode.

Just popping in to say, this is an excellent game and I absolutely love it in 1, 2, 3 or 4 player configurations. To everybody that is commenting about how this is an "okay worker placement game" I say unto you: the deckbuilding part is where the magic is happening. You're certainly missing out if you view this within the category of worker placement. I would describe that part as the segment of the rocket that falls away once it has left the atmosphere, leaving you with a sleek deckbuilding spaceship.

We played a 3-player game of this recently and we all really enjoyed it! Tense, exciting, and satisfying. The theme is worn a little too loosely, but that was the only downside for us.

Dune Imperium reminded me of 2 other games : - Underwater Cities for the 'Worker Placement + play a card with a bonus' part - Arctic Scavengers for the "fight for victory points and other ressources at the end of the round with cards you didn't use during your turn" Great mix ! :) My only complaint is the difficulty to trash cards from your deck...

No mention of the intrigue cards? Oh well, it is an amazing game... I've never read the books, but I get the theme (it's there, not strong), but the mechanics fit together so very well. What a fun game. SU&SD's opinion on the game was predictable, but being predictable isn't always bad. Keep up the good work, even if this game is much better than you think. ;)

I NEED the return of the Matt board-game/meal episodes after this amazing ‘dessert’ highlight :)

Herbert Herberberpt is a really underrated SUSD joke

The space desserts part was just 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

What about intrigue cards? those are the best part about the game

The Angel Delight must flow!

I don't see the Ameritrash comparisons at all, frankly. Like many others, a bit shocked that neither intrigue cards nor the blandness of the cubes and central dune board were mentioned. This felt like a significantly lower effort review than the SUSD standard (though it's still a strong review, their standards are quite unfair). Overall, I have enjoyed the game a lot. I think I haven't played it with quite the right group yet, but it's still been good fun every time. Messy honestly feels like the worst word for it though, my take was that it's tight and crisp while trying to tie together some impressively disparate mechanics.

I disagree with 2 points here: 1) it is _very_ similar to Lost Ruins of Arnak 2) unlike LRA, it plays _extremely_ well at 4 players. Do be prepared for a 3-hour game but for those 3 hours to feel like 40 minutes (as long as you're all in the room, which team SU&SD unfortunately weren't)

I've only ever played it with four, and everyone has enjoyed it a great deal.

This was a 10/10 for me. I was gushing at how much I loved this while I was playing that I literally went home and bought my own copy.

Literally no one: "SUSD doesn't like euros" SUDU: "But what we do hate is Ameritrash"

Wait i just looked up ameritrash and it includes Twilight imperium, war of the rings AMD the original Dune and you reccomded all of them. Whats your definition of ameritrash then? This doesnt seem that thematic pvpey.

I’ve played Dune: Imperium twice in Solo Mode. The choices I faced as a player were delicious, but I definitely felt like it was a little too RNG for my taste. When the plan you’ve been setting up all turn can be ruined by a random flip of a card, that’s a little feel-bad. Still, fun game and I’ll definitely hold onto it for a while.

If you want another excellent deck building and worker placement game, try Lost Ruins of Arnak. Also, please have Matt get back in his sleeping bag, and crawl around, or just poke his head up from the table as a worm. I need more WorMatt in SU&SD videos. Please and thank you.

As it's now #13 all time on BGG, I guess he can say he was right.

Best Matt review, the quirk is in overdrive.

Who's June?

Doon … Arruckus … Dessert Planet …. Covered in sugar and roamed by dangerous giant pretzels, it is the source of the most valuable and addicting substance in the universe, beer. NONE of that sentence can I take credit or blame for - it is from a 40 year old National Lampoon parody.

I had just finish listening to your dune: imperium pod cast when this showed up in my recommended feed, lol

Played this recently with 3 other people. All 4 of us now own this game...

This looks more like a Dune flavoured game than a Dune game.

The custard bit got me real good, lol. Great review, man. Cheers.

The game I play the most from my 50 game collection. Simple, short, and fun. It’s a game to enjoy, to let go off your daily routine. Absolutely love it. And I have only played it with another player (2 players). Can’t imagine with three.

I have a lot of fun playing this game. My only complaint is that the game is so short/you cant acquire cards fast enough. Building card combos is almost impossible. Once you get the cards you need there's only a a round or two left at best.

Two magnificent jokes: "Fremen with Bene Gesserets" - Superb. "Global situation with pandas or something" - I thought we had run out of Covid jokes. This is beautiful

The jokes in this are phenomenal. I haven't laughed this hard at one of their videos in awhile.

The first 20 seconds especially of this video were hilarious

Upon perhaps my third watch since this video dropped, I think this is Matt's best solo video. I've never played this game, but the jokes and depth of this review is top notch for all SUSD content.

I don't fully understand why but 'Herbert Herberberpt' made me laugh very loudly.

I totally loved this game. One of the things that I really liked was the thematic feel of the game, the importance of spice. And the immense difficulty of getting 💧. I absolutely recommend it.

This is a great game. It can run a bit long though. If you’re not into the sci-fi theme, try Viticulture. I think they feel surprisingly similar.

Maybe you could've linked this one to Quinn's review of Arctic Scavengers, which is a deckbuilder with conflict. And I know you guys didn't love Lost Ruins of Arnak... Still, good on you Matt for standing up for what you believe.

Wow, that final bit was fantastic. 😂

I just picked up this game and look forward to playing it this weekend! I am a huge fan of Clank! Feed the Quinn paper to the worm shredder.

this show is just so fantasitic. I lost my shit at the bit with the disagr-o-meter XD

Perhaps the SUSD review with which I disagree the most. DI is a great game, my favorite from last year.

I was pretty "meh" about this game. It was OK, and I can appreciate what it was trying to do, but it felt like there weren't a lot of options in your turn and I don't think it has much staying power.

Lost it at "Herbert Herbertpert". Roffle, roffle, my good Sir.

Dune is one of those games that you can basically teach as you go. At first it seems so complex, but after we "try" a first turn everyone just agrees to keep playing since now they now the rules. And the game has got just standing ovations across every group i have introduced it to

The Space Dessert joke just killed me XD

They LITERALLY put a glass of water on the table when they clearly don't need to drink it ONLY to hurt me in my OCD (right next to another table that they DEFINITELY could put it on)

Honestly loving that water glass next to the box through the whole video, I just really like geometric glassware.

This is by far one of my favorite games. Ya'll are crazy.

I quite like it and it's in my collection though I only played it once so far due to Covid. It reminds me a good bit of Quinn's favorite Arctic Scavengers which is why I'm so surprised he bounced off it (though that seems to largely stem from the random card selection for him). As a DUNE fan I'm just over the moon to have another good, simpler, game in that setting to play.

Meanwhile, the original Dune board game is still a work of genius 40 years later.

Plaaaaarrrghhhhgk is a dessert best served cold.

Just played this with my friends and loved it. I’m the kind of gamer who wants a mental workout and thinking through all the systems and how they work together and this game really hit the spot. Loved the honesty in the review and was hilarious.

I agree with most things said here, even the criticisms, but what really makes me like this game is how it makes me feel like the head of a house in the Dune universe. There's no best decision and the varying shop can make your strategy fall apart, as if betrayed by someone. Your always not quite able to do what you want which forces you to adapt and change your plan based on what happens.

I agree with the two or three player recommendation. I'd also say burn the right most card from the deck pool at the end of every round. I like the game so much, I'd even consider doing a draft for a full refresh of the card pool in between each round to add some strategic meat. There's a feature in the app that also adds variability into the game which I'm playing with. It's a fun game and one of my favorite more recent titles. I'm hoping the new expansion takes it even higher.

Good job with the review! As a bonus, you are now the most correct member of SUSD. 🎉 ...but calling ameritrash a 'genre' is so wild that it's borderline incoherent. Even going by the old definition of the word this categorization (let alone criticism) falls on its face. You obviously don't dislike heavily thematic games, and so... a worker placement? Ameritrash? Is this an extended bit from that chess tutorial?

I love Dune Imperium and ( In person) find it quick, interesting & fun with 2-4 players (Haven't tried it solo yet.)

Tom at least is now on board (mentioned it on the podcast). Need an updated review / review of the expansions and/or Dune Uprising. I wasn't on board in my first game but it's quickly become my favourite game

I think at this point I'd quite happily watch several hours of Matt worming around

THE WORM!!! this is just the best

lol "Quintin Smoth"

For the people who read the books, are the sequels written by Herbert Herberberpt's son Sherbert Herberberpt equally good?

One of my favorite books