Game Objective

In DUNE: IMPERIUM — UPRISING, you take on the role of a Leader representing one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad or another powerful figure. Your goal is to defeat rivals in Combat, wield political Influence, and form alliances with the four major Factions. Success is measured in Victory Points. The game ends at the end of a round if any player reaches 10 or more Victory Points or if the Conflict Deck is empty. The player with the most Victory Points wins.

Setup

1. Board and Tokens: Place the game board face up. Place the Shield Wall token below the Spice Refinery space and the four Alliance tokens on the Factions' Influence tracks (Emperor, Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit, and Fremen).
2. Conflict Deck: Create a 10-card deck by stacking cards in this order (bottom to top): four Conflict III cards, five Conflict II cards, and one Conflict I card on top.
3. Card Preparation:
   • Shuffle the Intrigue Deck and place it face down.
   • Shuffle the Imperium Deck and deal five cards face up to form the Imperium Row.
   • Place Reserve cards in two stacks: Prepare the Way and The Spice Must Flow.
4. Player Setup: Each player chooses a color and takes:
   • A Leader (placed in front of them).
   • A 10-card starting deck (shuffled and placed in their supply).
   • 3 Agents (two on the Leader, one Swordmaster next to the board).
   • 1 Combat marker (set to 0 on the Combat track).
   • 1 Score marker (set to 0, or 1 in a 4-player game).
   • 1 Councilor token and 3 Spies.
   • 16 cubes (4 placed on the bottom of the Influence tracks, 12 as troops—3 of which start in their closest circular garrison).
   • 1 water.
5. Bank and Objectives: Create a bank with Solari, spice, remaining water, sandworms, and 4 Maker Hooks. Shuffle Objective cards (filtering by player count); each player draws one. The player whose Objective shows the First Player marker takes that marker.

Game Flow

The game is played in a series of rounds. Each round consists of five phases in this specific order:

1. Round Start: Reveal a new Conflict card from the Conflict Deck. Each player draws five cards from their deck.
2. Player Turns: Starting with the First Player, players take turns clockwise. On your turn, you take either an Agent turn or a Reveal turn. Once you take a Reveal turn, your turns are skipped for the rest of the phase.
3. Combat: Players may play Combat Intrigue cards, then Combat is resolved based on strength to distribute rewards from the Conflict card.
4. Makers: 1 spice is added to Maker board spaces (Deep Desert, Hagga Basin, and Imperial Basin) if no Agent is present there.
5. Recall: Check for the endgame trigger. If the game continues, players return Agents to their Leaders and the First Player marker passes clockwise.

Actions and How to Play

Agent Turns

To take an Agent turn, you play a card from your hand face up and send an Agent from your Leader to an unoccupied board space. The space must have an icon matching one of the Agent icons on the card. You must pay any costs and meet Influence Requirements (e.g., 2+ Influence for Imperial Privilege, Shipping, or Sietch Tabr). You gain the effects of the board space and the card's Agent box. If the space belongs to a Faction, you advance your cube on its Influence track.

Reveal Turns

When you have no Agents left (or choose to stop), you take a Reveal turn:

• Reveal Cards: Reveal all remaining cards in your hand.
• Resolve Reveal Effects: Gain the effects in the Reveal boxes of the revealed cards. You may use Persuasion to Acquire new cards from the Imperium Row or Reserve.
• Setting Your Strength: Total your strength for Combat (Troops = 2 strength, Sandworms = 3 strength, Swords = 1 strength). You must have at least one unit in the Conflict to have any strength.
• Clean Up: Move all played cards to your discard pile.

Special Mechanics

• Intrigue Cards: Kept separate from the deck. Plot cards are played during Agent or Reveal turns; Combat cards only during Combat; Endgame cards only at the end of the game.
• Spies: Placed on observation posts. They can be recalled to Infiltrate (send an Agent to an occupied space) or Gather Intelligence (draw a card). The Spy icon allows sending an Agent to a space connected to a post where you have a Spy.
• Units: Troops are recruited to the garrison. If sent to a Combat space, they can be deployed to the Conflict. Sandworms are summoned and deployed immediately to the Conflict, provided you have a Maker Hooks token and the Shield Wall is not protecting the location.
• Shield Wall: Protects Arrakeen, Spice Refinery, and Imperial Basin from sandworms. It can be removed via a Shield Wall detonation icon.

End of Game and Scoring

Endgame Trigger: The game ends at the end of a round if a player reaches 10 or more Victory Points or the Conflict Deck is empty.

Final Scoring:

• Players may play and resolve any Endgame Intrigue cards.
• The player with the most Victory Points wins.
• Tiebreakers: In order: amount of spice, Solari, water, and garrisoned troops.

Victory Point Criteria:

• Reaching 2 Influence with a Faction grants 1 Victory Point (lost if Influence drops below 2).
• The first player to reach 4 Influence with a Faction earns an Alliance token and its associated Victory Point (lost if passed by another player).
• Matching two Battle Icons (Crysknife, Desert Mouse, or Ornithopter) in your supply grants 1 Victory Point.

Tips for Winning

• Unlock Faction Abilities: Gaining 2 Influence with a Faction not only provides a Victory Point but unlocks unique abilities, such as new board spaces for the Emperor, Spacing Guild, and Fremen, or stronger cards for the Bene Gesserit.
• Combat Timing: Position is everything in Combat. Waiting longer to commit units provides more information and gives opponents less opportunity to react.
• Sandworm Investment: Becoming a sandrider requires time and may put you behind in the mid-game, but sandworms allow you to double rewards in Combat, which is critical for securing victory.