Flash Review — Dune: Imperium

Players: 1-4
Works well with just 2: Yes!
Solo quality: acceptable
Age: 13+
Playtime: 60-120 min (barely 60 minutes with 2 players)
Complexity: medium

In the Dune universe, the Great Houses of Landsraad gather resources, forge alliances with powerful factions, and face off in explosive battles for control of the Imperium.
Build the perfect deck to unlock some of the Bene Gesserit’s secrets, learn new tricks from the Spacing Guild, gain much-needed water by making friends with the Fremen, and stay on the Emperor’s good side. But above all, make sure you never run out of spice. (‘Cause it must flow.)

Yes, Dune: Imperium is a deckbuilder, but it’s also a worker-placement game. You’ll find yourself playing cards to gain access to specific spots on the board, usually to generate resources or ready troops for war. You’ll also want to keep some cards for your last turn of the round, when you reveal what’s left of your hand and use the currency found there to buy new cards to add to your discard pile—in addition to triggering the occasional special ability. At the end of every round, combat takes place between those with troops on the battlefield, with a variety of spoils awarded to the top contenders. The game ends after 10 rounds or when someone reaches 10 points.

For a system that simple, it’s surprising how much the theme shines through. Fighting is an ever-present reality that needs to be dealt with, but intrigue and manipulation (of your card deck, for one thing) are also a big part of the game. Experience plays a major role as well: newcomers won’t know how to navigate the intricacies of the system, but will learn after a beating a game or two.

In solo mode, the lone player uses a special card deck (or else a free companion app) to generate worker placements for two virtual rivals. But since the whole thing is random, it feels more like a learning tool than a true “competing against AI” experience. By contrast, the two-player version—which uses the same deck to drive a single virtual opponent—works really well. In this version, the AI is not collecting any resources nor scoring any points: it’s just there to gum up the works, blocking spaces on the board and putting up a surprisingly stiff competition in combat when you might have wished for an easier confrontation.

Overall, Dune: Imperium is a winner. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s a solid, exciting design with plenty of depth to explore. Now if we were to talk expansions...

Most easily forgotten rule: At the end of a round, put a spice token on each of the spice-generating spaces that were not visited during the round.

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Flash Review — Watergate

Players: 2
Age: 12+
Playtime: 30-60 min
Complexity: low-med

It’s the Nixon administration against the staff of the Washington Post, and while the latter works to establish a link between the President and the Watergate break-in, the former does its best to conceal evidence and bury the lead.
Play cards to recruit informants, take the initiative, gain momentum, move pieces of evidence within your grasp, and bring your opponent to their knees.

Each turn, you play a card out of your hand and trigger one of its many potential effects. You could try to bring a piece of evidence a few steps towards your side on a tug-of-war track; you could move the momentum token closer to you (to set off special abilities) or do the same with the initiative token (go first next turn!); or else you could execute the card’s powerful event, to recruit an informant, neutralize evidence acquired by your opponent, silence a potential threat forever...

Recruited informants go on the board’s periphery, while acquired pieces of evidence are placed in a chain that the Washington Post hopes will eventually connect the President (in the center) to one of the informants. Unless the Nixon administration manages to take that information out of play, of course. The Washington Post will juggle multiple chains of evidence at once, waiting for one of them to pay off, while the Nixon administration does its damndest to kill the story.

By and large, it’s amazing this game even exists. Many casual gamers will be put off by the theme, whereas hardcore gamers might dismiss the short rulebook as “too simple.” The truth falls somewhere in between, in a situation where the end result is bigger and better than the sum of its parts. The history-dripping theme combined with the accessible ruleset make Watergate an engrossing experience, which is a surprise coming out of such a small package. (In a way, it’s reminiscent of 13 Days, for those familiar with that compact game about the Cuban missile crisis.)

Most easily forgotten rule: Whenever a token (of any type) reaches space no. 5 at either end of the tug-of-war track, the player sitting on that side acquires the token immediately.

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