Dune Adventure Game

Game Review

Reviewed by O.E. Dillon III


Parker Brothers 50 Dunham Rd., Beverly, MA 01915
Released: 1984
Catalog No. 0451
Price: $13.95
Complexity: Beginner
Solitaire Suitability: None
**

Dune, a Parker Brothers (PB) "Adventure Game," is not to be confused with The Avalon Hill Game Company's version of Frank Herbert's best selling novels. This is an attempt to bring the Dino De Laurendis movie production, into the family game room. And this it does in name only. There is the standard size PB play board, representing the castle of the rulers of Dune, with 12 spaces on the inside of the castle walls and 20 spaces on the outside depicting the castle environs and the desert surrounding it, respectively. Each space depicts one of 11 actions or events that takes place when a player's piece lands on it.

Components include 12 character cards, each with a movie still of one of the movie's 12 main characters. The cards are in groups of three, depicting the Houses of "Atreides and Harkonnen," the "Emperor," and the "Fremen". Also on the cards is a row for 11 strength," with values from one to six; each character is assigned an initial strength value of three to five, and a 11 guile" value of three to four, depending on the character. Strength is used to determine how many dice you can use in combat and it can be raised or lowered, depending on the outcome of combat. Guile can only be raised by one point by spending three of your spice pieces, and is used to determine the effectiveness of an ambush, sand storm, poison, or worm attacks.

Accompanying the 12 cards are 12 character discs and plastic movers to hold the discs. Each disc has the same picture as its corresponding card, and the discs are in three groups of four colors, (red, yellow, blue, and green), and the colors match one of the four "Sietch" (pronounced Seech) spaces that are a neutral area in which you cannot be attacked if your piece matches the color of the sietch. You also get 12 "Strength clips" to help keep track of your characters' strength. There are 52 "Kanly' (dirty deeds) and "Equipment" cards that can aid you in defeating your opponents. There are also 24 "Harvesters", shaped like five-pointed, grey stars, 70 "Spice" pieces, shaped like three-pointed stars and colored red, and six regular and six eightsided dice.

The object of Dune is to eliminate all of your enemy's characters and keep at least one of your characters alive. Rather obvious, eh? But herein lies the fun of the game. It contains some aspects of Monopoly, with a little King Maker or Diplomacy thrown in as well. You can ambush another player's piece if it lands within range of your piece. Or, you can battle another player, if he hasn't ambushed you first. Make a truce with another player and it can't be broken for one full turn.

Play a Kanly card during your turn, and depending on the card, you can take one six-sided die worth of spice from the bank, or a like number of harvesters from another player. You can buy up to three Kanly and equipment cards each on your turn's buy segment. Or you can invest any amount of spice you currently hold on any or all of your three investment spaces, with returns of two three, and four to one, respectively. However, if at the end of one full turn you still have spice invested, you then lose to the bank those spice pieces that failed to gain.

Turns have four segments, Move is the first. After rolling two six-sided dice and checking any investments, you may move one or two of your three pieces and then follow the instructions given on the space you land on. The instructions are detailed in the "Game Play Guide". Movement is the only thing that each player has to do. Next comes Fight/Ambush, which is the combat portion of the game. Fights are always to the death, while Ambushes are a one-shot deal. Buy is third in line, and here is where you get to spend all those red spice pieces that you've invested, earned, and stolen, on Kanly and equipment cards, on more harvesters, and in raising your guile. Fourth is Invest, where, if you have any spice left after the buy segment, you can try your hand at what I call "The Dune Brokerage and Stocks Block"--trying to regain any spice that you may have lost due to theft, purchase, or unwise investments.

All in all, I like the game for what it is: a parlor game for the family, or for kids from 9 to 14.

The packaging of Dune and all the components are up to par with PBs usual standards, and artwork is pleasing to the eye. I believe PB could have called the game something else and it wouldn't have hurt sales one bit. Be that as it may, I recommend the game to family oriented players and to the 10 to 14 year age group, or collectors of Dune memorabilia.

Mr. Dillon has been a board "war gamer' for 21 years, and a miniatures, computer game, and role player for eight years. He is listed as one of the playtesters for FGUs PSI World.

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© Copyright 1985 by Dana Lombardy.
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