Last week Dire Wolf Digital released on Steam/iOS/Android the digital version of Dune Imperium.

I’ve been a fan of this worker placement and deck building hybrid ever since it came out in 2020. For me Dune Imperium was a better game than its “rival” with similar mechanics Lost Ruins of Arnak.

When the expansions came out they were instant buys for me. And like all good expansions they added new elements to the game with little overhead, and made the game more enjoyable.

Eventually once finances allowed I even splashed out for the deluxe upgrade that upgraded the components and a larger storage box for the core game and expansions.

Then once Dune Imperium Uprising aka Dune Imperium 2.0, was released it wasn’t if I would buy it but when.

So it’s pretty safe to say that I was pretty excited to be finally able to buy and download the digital version of the game.

At a penny short of a tenner it’s priced at what is standard pricing for a digital version of a boardgame these days.

Dune Imperium (the app) does allow cross platform gaming. So when you play an online game your opponents could be playing on any of the platforms the game is released on. It’s the way it should be. There is no excuse for not doing this.

However I do wish more developers with a game on multiple platforms followed Wise Wizard Games and Star Realms. Buy once and play on any platform.

Sadly Dire Wolf Digital prefer to make you pay for each copy on the various platforms, and games I assume don’t follow you. I say assume because I’m not going to buy the game a second time to find out. But I love that I can start a Star Realms game on my iPad, then later when out and about take a turn on my iPhone, then if at a computer take a turn there.

This is very much a digital version of a board game. I can see new players who have never played Dune Imperium before being a bit overwhelmed by the screen. But it is a fairly accurate representation of the physical board.

Obviously there are quality of life things playing a digital boardgame brings such as highlighting the spaces on the board you can go to. Or playing a solo game against AI opponents.

I’ve not played online yet. I don’t like playing against random opponents, and currently none of my friends have the game.

My solo plays against the AI opponents were fun, and challenging. It was kind of refreshing because I’ve not played the core game for a long time. I usually play with the expansions. Talking of which the first one Rise of Ix comes to the app in the Summer.

I do think Dire Wolf have done a pretty good job bringing Dune Imperium to the digital space. Definitely a must buy for fans of the game.