Don't mind the big red thumb of doom - it's one of those cases where, once again, I long for a neutral option.
Being a fan of both the novels and the games, when I saw a simili 4X based on the Dune universe, I jumped in the 'thopter as soon as early access began.

The game is a decent mix of real-time with pause and 4X elements, where you must dominate Arrakis in several modes (up to 4 factions, which seemed a bit too few for long-time 4X player like me) and with several win conditions (economy, conquest, diplomacy, the usual).
You can expand by conquering villages or assimlating them peacefully, each faction has its own perks and specific abilities (Harkonnen, to no one's surprise, like to oppress civilians) and each new region you control allow the construction of buildings, to raise your water, manpower, solari, energy cell output etc- you can also erect scientific and military buildings.
Some regions will have special ressources and, obviously, you'll be looking for areas with Spice : it's a major source of income and if you fail to deliver enough spice to the Emperor, you'll have to suffer the consequences.

Exploration with 'thopters is crucial to discover oddities to investigate and reap some rewards, while the game is ponctuated by Landsraad meetings where you can vote for resolutions, like decreasing your unit's upkeep.
All in all, Spice Wars offers all the necessary ingredients for a game of the genre, but the end result might seem as dry as Arrakis' endless deserts. For a game based on one of most famous SF IP, there is a distinct lack of personnality.
The game begs for faction quests you can find in other titles like Endless Space 2 or Endless Legends, which could provide opportunities to make the lore shine and create events with noteworthy characters, and drive the campaigns forward.

While the game is quite accessible and rather simple, even in its combat system, there's also nothing too deep about any of its features, diplomacy, for instance, is quite soulless and not stimulating. In the end, the most vexing point for me was that I didn't feel I was on Dune that much.
Clearly there is potential, but as far as I am concerned, the devs must provide much more content (bigger map, more oddities, competitive challenges between factions to obtain a reward, expanded tech tree, super projects akin to Civ's wonders, quests, narrative events where you must choose an outcome- take your pick) and really bring Dune's universe to life before it gets sufficiently interesting.
Also, I know it's a growing trend with DLCs, but paying a third of the game's price for one new faction still feels a bit too much...
As it stands, I prefer to launch a game of Civ IV with the Dune total conversion mod.

Don't mind the big red thumb of doom - it's one of those cases where, once again, I long for a neutral option. Being a fan of both the novels and the games, when I saw a simili 4X based on the Dune universe, I jumped in the 'thopter as soon as early access began. The game is a decent mix of real-time with pause and 4X elements, where you must dominate Arrakis in several modes (up to 4 factions, which seemed a bit too few for long-time 4X player like me) and with several win conditions (economy, conquest, diplomacy, the usual). You can expand by conquering villages or assimlating them peacefully, each faction has its own perks and specific abilities (Harkonnen, to no one's surprise, like to oppress civilians) and each new region you control allow the construction of buildings, to raise your water, manpower, solari, energy cell output etc- you can also erect scientific and military buildings. Some regions will have special ressources and, obviously, you'll be looking for areas with Spice : it's a major source of income and if you fail to deliver enough spice to the Emperor, you'll have to suffer the consequences. Exploration with 'thopters is crucial to discover oddities to investigate and reap some rewards, while the game is ponctuated by Landsraad meetings where you can vote for resolutions, like decreasing your unit's upkeep. All in all, Spice Wars offers all the necessary ingredients for a game of the genre, but the end result might seem as dry as Arrakis' endless deserts. For a game based on one of most famous SF IP, there is a distinct lack of personnality. The game begs for faction quests you can find in other titles like Endless Space 2 or Endless Legends, which could provide opportunities to make the lore shine and create events with noteworthy characters, and drive the campaigns forward. While the game is quite accessible and rather simple, even in its combat system, there's also nothing too deep about any of its features, diplomacy, for instance, is quite soulless and not stimulating. In the end, the most vexing point for me was that I didn't feel I was on Dune that much. Clearly there is potential, but as far as I am concerned, the devs must provide much more content (bigger map, more oddities, competitive challenges between factions to obtain a reward, expanded tech tree, super projects akin to Civ's wonders, quests, narrative events where you must choose an outcome- take your pick) and really bring Dune's universe to life before it gets sufficiently interesting. Also, I know it's a growing trend with DLCs, but paying a third of the game's price for one new faction still feels a bit too much... As it stands, I prefer to launch a game of Civ IV with the Dune total conversion mod.