The Uprising Will Be Televised – App Expansion Review – Dune Imperium: Uprising

Back in the early 2020s, Dire Wolf Digital had a huge hit with Paul Dennen’s Dune Imperium, a classic blending of deckbuilding mechanics and worker placement that quickly rose into the Boardgame Geek Top 100 and currently sits in the Top 10.

They came out with two excellent expansions, Rise of Ix, and Immortality that just seemed to make the game better.

For whatever reason, Dennen and Dire Wolf decided that this wasn’t enough.

Why not get two games into the Top 10?

Why not keep the same basic mechanics, even (mostly) the same starting cards, and just remake the board and add a bunch of fun stuff, like sandworms?

Thus was Dune Imperium: Uprising born in 2023, with wonderful artwork by a number of great artists.

Dire Wolf has also become kings of the digital boardgame world, so it was a no-brainer that they would bring all of this to Steam and mobile platforms.

Immortality came out last June and in June 2026, Uprising was released as an expansion to the Dune: Imperium app, rather than as its own app as happened with the actual boardgame.

I’ve played it once on the table, but now that I’ve put the app through its paces a bit, let’s talk about it.

It’s good!

(Note: you can click on the pictures to blow them up)

I think Dire Wolf has balanced pretty well with how they’ve handled the release of this, both in physical and digital form.

There are way too many changes, way too many cards, for this to be just an “expansion” as a board game.

The entire board has changed, for one thing. Very few of the spaces are the same as the original, the addition of spies (and spy networks connecting spaces) would just make it too difficult to actually say “expansion” on the table.

But in app form?

It’s really easy to just update the app and, if you choose to play “Uprising,” then the digital board morphs to what the Uprising map is.

As an app user, I’m thankful they didn’t just put this out there as a new app that costs $25-30.

Instead it’s a $15 expansion to the app.

How does the game play and are the changes worth it?

Yes (to the second question, keep reading for the first)

First, it’s noteworthy that the two Dune Imperium expansions are actually compatible with Uprising, though I’m not sure how well they play together.

I haven’t tried that yet.

(speaking of expansions, I guess maybe June 2027 for Bloodlines, the one that works with the base game as well but is mostly for Uprising?)

All of the mechanics are the same as the base game: you play a card for its symbols to allow you to send an agent to a certain space on the board to take that action.

The action can be to gain resources of some kind, add to your influence in one of the four factions (which are the same as the base game), maybe get troops into your garrison to deploy to that round’s conflict.

If you use the card to send an agent, then you get the effects in the top box. In Chani’s case, if you have three or more units already deployed, you get to draw an Intrigue card.

Once you have no more agents, you do a Reveal turn (or you can do one earlier if you want to, before you are out of agents, but you don’t then get to place an agent this round).

On the Reveal turn, you get the bottom benefit from every card still in your hand, and this is where you will purchase further cards.

Also the same is that each round has a conflict that will get winners and second place (third if you’re playing with 4 players) various benefits.

But what cards are used, what conflict cards there are, all of those are different.

Along with a few new mechanisms as well!

The addition of Sandworms to the game adds some much-needed book realism, considering every round has a conflict to resolve.

They were notably absent from the original game and its expansions.

There is a space that requires two Fremen influence to go to (of course, since they are the faction most associated with them) where you can gain Maker Hooks, which will then let you recruit sandworms to your battle (from different spaces), which will add 3 to your combat strength (like Dreadnaughts in Rise of Ix).

Sandworms do have some limitations, in that they can’t be involved in any combats behind the Shield Wall until somebody uses the original Maker Hooks space to destroy it.

In addition to being powerful additions to your combat forces, if you use a Sandworm in battle, you double your rewards!

Another new addition to the game are spies, which have some interesting benefits.

Bene Gesserit Operative’s agent action is to place a spy.

Many of the locations, as you can see from the screenshots, are connected with a circle in between them.

This is where you can place spies.

Spies have two benefits.

Most importantly, if you have a spy in a location, you can send an agent there even if somebody has already sent their agent.

You’re not blocked!

Secondly (and this is only if the space was already free when you placed the agent), you can withdraw the spy back to your supply in order to draw a card.

There are even some cards that will let you place an agent in a space where you have a spy, even without the icons, like Covert Operation above.

One addition to combat adds a bit of a set collection aspect to the conflicts.

Conflict cards have one of three symbols on them in the top right corner.

If you win the conflict, you keep the card.

Win another conflict with that symbol, you flip them face down and gain another point.

In other words, Uprising adds a bunch of different ways to get points, and some of the conflict cards have even more, giving you a point and then letting you buy another one (or sometimes two!).

This makes the decisions even more interesting, meaning you have to work on collecting the resources for those cards as well.

Or you could just bring sandworms in and double it anyway.

That works too.

In addition to all of that, there is an optional “CHOAM Module” which add a little something extra to the game.

These are contracts that you can fulfill, usually by just going to the space on the contract.

If you go to the space in question, then you get the benefit on the contract.

It’s just a little boost which is nice, and some cards will give you extra benefits if you’ve completed a certain number of contracts.

Finally, the new leaders are all really interesting, with new effects.

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen has a cool little track to move along when you play his Signet Ring.

You move along it, maybe paying money to banish cards (or banishing them without payment!) or maybe putting out spies and gaining spice.

Also, he has the special ability on the Reveal turn to remove a spy from the board to gain two Swords for the upcoming conflict.

Other leaders have their own thing, some more basic than others.

You’ll notice that the leader’s page (along with your personal stats area on the main board) will not only keep track of your cards, money, spice, etc (as per usual) but also will show your active conflict card symbols that you are trying to match, as well as how many contracts you have and how many you’ve fulfilled.

All of the different new cards have neat new effects that are just fun to play.

It’s funny how you wouldn’t think they could come up with so much new stuff, yet they manage to do it.

Even the Mentat space from the original board has been transformed into something interesting, while still essentially giving you another turn this round.

This one lets you return one of your other agents that you’ve played this round, but also lets you draw a card and trash an intrigue card in order to gain a new one.

This time, though, in addition to the money cost, you also have to have two influence with the Emperor to use that space.

So that’s new.

All in all, Dune Imperium: Uprising is amazing, adding a bunch of things that make the game even more relevant to the books (sandworms, ahoy!) while still keeping the same mechanics as the original.

However, they utilize those mechanics in new and different ways that just makes the game intriguing.

Is it better than the original?

The original is such a good game that it’s hard to say, especially with the expansions.

It’s just enough that we have both as an option, and the app makes it so we don’t have to spend buckets of money to get both.

Which brings me to a brief talk about the app and how it implements Uprising.

The UI is still wonderful, with everything easily findable with one touch, if you even need that.

The ability to call up the cards by clicking on them so you can see them is a godsend (especially for taking screenshots for reviews).

The contracts are easily visible at the top right if you are using that module, and you can hold (or right click on Steam) on the contract to call it up.

As I mentioned, the player sheet on the left easily incorporates the new things, showing you what you have (above I have two incomplete contracts and one complete, and I have two different conflict icons that I can try to match with).

The interface is just as good as it has been previously.

I love how it always gives you all of your choices right above your cards, in case you have a bunch to choose from.

You might be able to deploy troops to the conflict, or Feyd’s ability to move along the track after playing the Signet Ring might be useable.

On your Reveal turn, if you have any ability that you can use (like Feyd does above), that also shows below your card choices.

The one thing I wish they would change (or allow us to change) is for asynchronous multiplayer, and has been a thing in all Dire Wolf apps since the beginning: the 3-day time limit for taking your turns.

I understand it for general asynchronous online games with people you don’t know.

You don’t want somebody walking away from the game and you’re stuck in limbo.

But give us the option to remove it, or extend it, or something.

Too many times, in this or in Root or some other Dire Wolf game, a friend has timed out because they missed the notification that it’s their turn (or didn’t get it, as sometimes the notification doesn’t come) and then suddenly they’re out of the game and the AI has taken over their spot.

It would be nice to have the ability to set whether that will happen or not.

But anyway, that’s a small niggle in what is otherwise a brilliant expansion for a brilliant game, and a brilliant app.

If you’re a fan of this game at all and want to play it with your friends all across the world, definitely pick this one up.