You Got Your Cubes in My Gene Pool! – App Expansion Review – Dune Imperium: Immortality

(This is a review of both the expansion and the app version of it)

The Dune Imperium games are very highly regarded, with the base game sitting at number 6 on Boardgame Geek and Dune Imperium: Uprising currently at number 11.

That’s some positive response!

The app version by Dire Wolf Digital (who also did the boardgame, so yay, I don’t have to mention two publishers!) has also been brilliant as well.

Even better, Dire Wolf has been putting out the expansions at a great clip too.

The Rise of Ix expansion added some really cool stuff and was implemented in the app fairly quickly after the base game came out of Early Access on Steam.

Dire Wolf is still moving quickly, just 8 months later bringing the second expansion to the app.

Immortality brings the Bene Tleilax genetic manipulators into the game, adding some unique card mechanics, additional types of cards, and most importantly for some, the Family Atomics action which, once per game, you can flush the market row of cards if they all suck.

Some people really feel that addition.

Immortality was designed by Paul Dennen with artwork by Clay Brooks and Nate Storm. It was published by Dire Wolf Digital and Legendary Games in 2022.

The app version came out in June 2025 (for those of you reading this in the far future)

What Immortality really brings to the game, though, is the kind of gross aspects of the whole series if you really think about it.

The Bene Tleilax are creators of some really icky abominations through their genetic manipulations.

And some are even on the new cards.

What the expansion really adds, though, is the new genetic research track that you can move along, getting bonuses on the way, and perhaps enabling you to do other things depending on how far you get.

Whenever you play a card with, or trigger in other ways, the microscope symbol, you get to move along that track.

Every move will get you something, meaning you shouldn’t really ignore it.

You even get a new starting card (replacing an old one) just for that purpose (and it lets you go to a yellow triangle space too)

The scarab icon is you making a deal with the Bene Tleilax, furthering both of your ends. Doing so a lot can get you up to two points and other bonuses as well.

But you’re a sick bastard if you do. Just keep that in mind.

(Not really, I do it all the time)

While Immortality also adds 30 new Imperium cards, it adds 18 Bene Tleilax cards that you don’t purchase the normal way.

If you ever earn a green cube, those are genetic specimens. Sometimes you can earn them from your fallen soldiers, which is really gross!

Anyway, the green cube specimens can be used to purchase Tleilax cards, some of which are just like any other card.

But some have the new Graft ability.

Grafting cards must be played with another card, but it gives you the Agent icons for both cards, allowing you to maybe go to a place with the card that you normally couldn’t.

You also get the benefits of both cards.

Whatever you graft Unnatural Reflexes to will not only get that card’s effect, but also this one.

In this case, if you’ve reached a certain point on the Research Track, you can draw two cards as well.

The grafting mechanic is very cool, giving you lots of options.

If you have no other card in your hand that will let you go to any of the faction spaces, then graft the Face Dancer Initiate to that card.

You’re in!

Because your initiate can appear as anybody (though I guess the Bene Gesserit could see through them, which is why that’s the only faction icon it doesn’t have, which I admit is great thematically).

The expansion, in addition to replacing one of your starting cards, does actually replace one of the spaces on the board too, giving you a research icon to trigger, along with drawing two cards.

I really enjoy what Immortality adds to the game. The research track isn’t just a side distraction, but actually is integral to doing well (we’ll see what Tartan thinks, he who usually ignores all expansion content when playing with expansions).

It will also help you move along other things.

I am also really impressed how designer Paul Dennen avoided card bloat and not having the new cards show up that often because there are so many other cards in the deck.

Yes, 30 new cards are added to the Imperium deck, and maybe you might not see those all the time?

But the ability to buy separate Tleilax cards is genius.

Some of the new Intrigue cards take advantage of doing some of this cool stuff too.

Vicious Talents rewards you for advancing far on the Research Track by giving you even more swords if you have done so.

As much as I like the Rise of Ix expansion, I would have to say that Immortality is even more satisfying, and I really liked that one.

If you have to choose, definitely take this one.

How does the app do with this expansion?

First, let me note one change to the online asynchronous play that happened before Immortality came out, but it is a godsend and I wasn’t able to mention it there.

You can now skip replays!

In my Rise of Ix review, I mentioned how tedious the replays could be, especially when some of the replay was a replay of what you had already seen in an earlier replay.

Now you can skip it!

Just like in Clank, which really helps both games.

Anyway, Immortality adding the new Research Track means that there is a lot of space taken up on the table, and potentially in the app itself, especially if you’re playing with Rise of Ix too.

However, Dire Wolf implemented everything well to lessen that overload.

All of the tracks are clearly labelled and you can just tap/click on it to open it up.

You can see both card rows and what the cards in them cost, and just tapping on the row will actually bring up the cards so you can see them (unless you’re so experienced with the game that you just need the picture!).

There’s even a space below the Research Track that shows you how many specimens you have and how much Persuasion you would have if you revealed right now.

Even better!

The tutorial for the new Immortality concepts is great as well, walking you through everything in an easygoing manner but still covering everything you need.

One thing I haven’t noted in previous reviews, but I have noticed and will mention here, is that often even during a real game (against the AI or even asynchronous online, I think), if you come across a new concept, the tutorial figure (I think that’s Hawat?) will pop up and actually let you know what that thing is too.

That’s really cool.

From a UI perspective, I do like how the grafting cards work. If you have a Graft card in your hand, you can drag any card up to an agent space that you could potentially go to if you do graft the card, in addition to a space where the card would normally let you go.

If you do go to a space from the grafted card, you will then have to actually play the Graft card.

However, if you don’t need it, the game will still stop you and ask you if you want to graft, because maybe you want the Agent effect on the graft card even though you don’t need it to go to the space?

It does beat having to make sure you play the graft card first and if you don’t, you lose the opportunity to graft.

It’s always good to make sure the user is getting every option available to them.

I really enjoy the Immortality expansion, both as an expansion and as part of the app.

The app version is extremely well-implemented, and the expansion itself adds some amazing things to the game, which is typical of Dire Wolf recently.

Here’s hoping that Uprising gets implemented soon, and as an “expansion” to the app version and not a whole new game.

For now, if you enjoy Dune Imperium, you should definitely check this out.

Immortality is available on iOS, Android, Steam