After over a hundred hours in Dune: Imperium, I’m ready to call it one of my favourite games. And that’s without including the hours spent playing the tabletop game with my friends and family.

Dune: Imperium has received a great deal of love as a modern board game. The game’s known for combining two beloved tabletop game mechanics: deck-building and worker placement.

These two mechanics can provide players with some tough decision-making. And yet, Dune: Imperium remains accessible while maintaining its depth and complexity.

This is down, primarily, to two factors.

Players are only ever given two decisions to make on every turn. That’s where you’re going to place your worker, and which card you’re going to use to place it. It’s a game that manages the perfect blend of open and hidden information. Best of all, it’s packed with thematic nods to the source material.

However, while Dune: Imperium doesn’t ask players to make many decisions on their turn, the process of making that decision can be tremendously difficult. At least, difficult to do right.

This is thanks to one incredible twist in the game’s design.

You see, each card in Dune: Imperium is split into two halves. Play a card, and its top half activates; you’ll get any benefit on the card. This is usually some resources, sometimes nothing at all. You’ll also use the symbols on its side to activate a specific space on the board.

But if you don’t play that card, if you leave that card in your hand until the very end of the round, it activates the bottom half. This typically provides currency to be spent in the shop. Other times, it can provide ways to score points or gain more resources.

Essentially, almost every time players make a decision in Dune: Imperium, they are missing out on something. And it makes the game excruciating at times, but in the absolute best of ways.

Looking to buy a juicy card in the shop, but also really need to nab that board space that’s key to your strategy? In some cases, you’ll have to pick between the two; playing the card might mean less cash in the shop phase, which means you don’t get that juicy card.

While we’re on the topic of the game’s shop, we should really talk about that, too. Dune: Imperium’s shop is public, and players can all see what’s available throughout the whole round. This lets everyone make incredibly informed decisions based on the cards that are currently showing and the board spaces available.

Deck-building is also more rewarding thanks to the dual-purpose design of the cards; most cards have multiple use-cases, are therefore more likely to be useful, and therefore more likely to give the player a sense of satisfaction.

Last I checked, you can still find an online game of Dune: Imperium if you’re patient. But the AI opponents provide a satisfying ladder of challenges through the various difficulty settings, allowing players to essentially play Dune: Imperium like any deck-building roguelike.

For a different but equally glowing opinion on Dune: Imperium, check out Tom Francis (developer of Tactical Breach Wizards) and his ramblings on the game here.