Many people think Dune: Imperium is a German-style worker placement or deck-building game. But as long as you have sat at the table and played the final decisive round, you will understand: this is fundamentally a "Zha Jin Hua psychological battle" wrapped in a sci-fi skin.
In other worker-placement board games, you put your worker down, take the benefit you get, and wait for the next round with peace of mind. But in Dune, the real torment is all in the "Desert Conflict phase" at the end of each round.
The most mind-gaming scene is often like this: The conflict reward this round is extremely tempting, directly giving two victory points! All four players at the table go crazy stuffing troops onto the battlefield. You calculate for a long time, spend three life-saving water, sell all the spice on you, and barely pull out a full 12 combat strength. You look at the next player, who has only a pitiful 4 combat strength, and think smugly: this 2 points is as steady as an old dog, the game is set.
But when it comes to the combat resolution phase, that guy who had originally given up resistance slowly draws a black-backed "Intrigue card" from his hand. The noisy private room instantly falls silent. The corner of his mouth curls up slightly, and with a smack he throws the card on the table: "Before combat resolution, I play Ambush, +4 combat strength; and by the way, discard one card for an additional +5 combat strength." You watch helplessly as his combat strength bar shoots up like a rocket straight to 13, just that insignificant 1 point more than yours. In that instant, not only do the two points fly away, but all 6 innocent soldiers you desperately stuffed in are killed, and you lose everything.
This is where the game is most vicious: those Intrigue cards held in the dark make any open mathematical calculation on the table a joke. Until the last second when the cards are revealed, no one dares to boast that they can walk out of Arrakis alive.
And pulling back and forth on the four houses on the reputation track (Fremen, Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, Emperor) is also superb. You painstakingly climb to the top and grab the alliance points, and the next round someone quietly sneaks up one step and directly snatches your alliance pact away, and your points are immediately deducted.
In your Dune games, what is the most painful Intrigue card backstab you have suffered? Was it having your home stolen in one wave and first place taken, or being assassinated by poison needle and having your mindset explode directly?
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