Gale Force Nine has announced a new social deduction game themed around the popular science-fantasy franchise Dune. Dune: Betrayal is a new game by Don Eskridge, the maker of the popular social deduction game The Resistance. In the game, players take on the role of members of either House Atreides and House Harkonnen. The House Atreides members attempt to weed out the Harkonnen agents, while the Harkonnen players attempt to assassinate members of House Atreides and destabilize their rival house. The game uses imagery from Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Dune movie, so you can stare wistfully at Oscar Isaac’s Duke Leto as your so-called friends cut you down either out of misguided suspicion or out of Harkonnen-driven spite.
Dune: Betrayal is just one of several either recently released or upcoming tabletop games released under the Dune banner. Gale Force Nine previously published a Dune tabletop game back in 2019 (with different factions vying for control of Arrakis) and then released a streamlined version titled Dune, A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy that used imagery from the new movie along with a new two-player rules system. Modiphius Entertainment is also set to release a new tabletop roleplaying game titled Dune – Adventures in the Imperium later this year.
The Dune franchise was launched by Frank Herbert in 1965 with a series of popular science fiction novels. Herbert wrote a total of six Dune novels, and his son Brian has continued to expand the series with his own set of prequels and sequel books based on his father’s notes. Several notable directors have attempted to develop Dune into a movie. Famed director Alejandro Jodorowsky attempted to adapt the movie in the 1970s with surrealist artist Salvador Dali playing the Emperor, but the movie eventually was shelved when funding dried up. Ridley Scott also attempted a Dune adaptation before moving on to The Blade Runner. David Lynch was the first to successfully adapt Dune into a movie back in 1985 with Kyle MacLachlan as the lead Paul Atreides. John Harrison later developed Dune into a television miniseries in 2000, with Villenevue’s take planned for release in October.
Dune: Betrayal will be released in October and will have a retail price of $25.
