Preview the New Dune Board Game!

Award-winning game publisher Gale Force Nine, in association with the Museum of Science Fiction, is proud to announce the return of the classic 1979 strategy board game, Dune. Original designers Peter Olotka, Bill Eberle and Jack Kittredge are working on the new edition which will feature completely new graphics, components, and updated rules.

“We wanted to do something classic and have the original game from Peter Olotka and the guys that wrote the original Dune game,” said John-Paul Brisigotti, CEO of Gale Force Nine. “The game is great. It was great in ’79 and it’s still great today. We’ve basically taken the Avalon Hill game, and then Peter and the guys updated the rules to modernize them a little. But fundamentally that classic game will be out this summer by August.”

The Dune board game is a strategy game designed for two to six players and is based on the iconic series of science fiction novels by Frank Herbert. Players select a unique faction at the start of each game and must engage in high stakes diplomacy in order to safely harvest valuable spice while avoiding giant sandworms and rival factions.

“Dune was the second game we designed after Cosmic Encounter,” said Peter Olotka, the game’s co-designer. “The secret to the Dune board game’s longevity is that it subtly envelops the players so that they ‘become’ the characters in Frank Herbert’s amazing novel. Dune players recount their games like spinoff chapters to the books. We are overjoyed to be able update Dune with Gale Force Nine and the Museum of Science Fiction as our stewards and our friends.”

The new edition will have a special preview at Escape Velocity 2019, the fourth annual convention presented by the Museum of Science Fiction, scheduled for May 24-26 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center at National Harbor, MD, right outside of Washington, DC.
“I have probably played the Dune game every year of my life since 1979, and I am so proud to be able to help bring it to a new generation,” said Charles Hildebrandt, Production Counsel for the Museum of Science Fiction. “The mission of the Museum of Science Fiction is to promote science and arts education through science fiction, and science fiction boardgames represent the perfect distillation of that mission.”

At Escape Velocity, players will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try to beat the Dune designers at their own game. On Sunday, May 26, Peter, Bill, and Jack will be ready to fight for control of Arrakis.

Escape Velocity features a variety of programming throughout the open hours of the show.  Friday sessions run from 10:00 a.m. until past Midnight; Saturday show hours start at 9:00 a.m. and conclude with a Midnight film showing of Plan Nine from Outer Space and Sunday runs from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.   Three-day weekend pass tickets, priced $30 for youths (aged 11-16), $50 for adults and $100 for the full VIP treatment, are available through the Escape Velocity website or onsite at the Gaylord Convention Center.  Ten-dollar PAY IT FORWARD tickets allow patrons to donate a single-day admission for an under-served youth in the Washington, DC metro area.