Dune: Spice Wars is a strategy game based on Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, where you use military might and political machinations to survive and expand your fiefdom on the hostile planet of Arrakis. You decide whether to dominate or partner with the local tribes and settlers, harvest the invaluable resource known as spice, develop your civilisation, evade the deadly sandworms, and participate in highly tactical real-time fights.

You play one of the great houses of the Imperium, newly arrived on the planet Arrakis, the sole place in the universe where spice, the most valuable and useful mineral, is found. To harvest it, however, you need to face off against the deadly sandworms that make it deep in the desert. You expand your civilisation and must choose whether to use the art of war or politics to safeguard your base from settlers, native Fremen tribes and more.

When you start out you have minimal resources and must develop your main base and harvest basic elements before you can begin your expansion in earnest. By partnering with tribes and villages, you can use them as outposts to expand your territory, and reach the deep desert, where you can use spice harvesters to collect your prize. You need to maintain a constant watch for the deadly sandworms, which can annihilate your tools, vehicles, and more, setting you back and costing you precious time.

You fight against the other factions vying for control, similarly to Stellaris, and these fights happen in real-time, with the focus on the bigger picture rather than individual troops. Coming up with winning strategies and tactics, both in the realm of combat and in diplomacy, will be essential for your success.

The original Dune game (1992) was one of the first real-time-strategy video games. This modern version returns to the genre as the story is in the public eye again via the movies. It offers a unique balance of fights and political intrigue against the setting of one of the most popular and definitive science-fiction stories ever told.