At this year’s Game Manufacturers Association trade show in Reno, Gale Force Nine Games confirmed the update and re-release later this year of a rare, classic board game: Frank Herbert’s Dune. Fans of the franchise will be thrilled to hear that the original three game designers are back on board (no pun intended).
Originally published in 1979 and based on the Dune novel, the “space civilization power struggle game” pitted players against each other as they took on the roles of warring factions fighting for control of the spice-producing planet. The game received a second edition with the release of the movie in 1984, but went out of print as interest declined. Since then it has become increasingly rare and highly sought after for tabletop players and collectors alike.
At this year’s GAMA trade show, Gale Force Nine Games confirmed the return of the game with a brand new reprint. One lucky GAMA goer snapped a photo of the artwork.
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In an interview with Game Trade Media, Gale Force Nine’s John-Paul Brisigotti confirmed the news and shared a few more details. “We wanted to do something classic and have the original game [from] Peter Olotka and the guys that wrote the original Dune game,” he said. “The game is great, it was great in ’78 and still great today–it needs a graphic update… But we’ve basically taken the Avalon Hill game and Peter and the guys updated the rules to modernize them a little, but fundamentally that classic game will be out in the summer, probably in August.”
The re-release is expected to be just the first in a line of new Dune games from a variety of game companies, marking the first major licensed products from the franchise in almost three decades.
Did you play the original Dune board game? Tell us about it in the comments.
Featured Image: Avalon Hill