Dune video games (and where you can play them right now)
Take your pick: amazing action-adventure, genre-defining RTS, or survival MMO.
To set expectations: I won’t be covering any lore this week.
But with Dune: Awakening coming out next month, I figured it’d be great to have a comprehensive guide of all the Dune video games ever made - and more importantly, where you can play them right now.
So whether you're looking for alternatives to Awakening - I haven’t played an MMO in my life - or just want to pass the time until its release, I got you covered.
Do you know anyone who likes to nerd out about Dune?
Dune (1992)
I know a good few people who got to know Arrakis first not through the books, but through Cryo Interactive’s game - it fit on a 3 floppy disks, a whopping 4.5 megabytes.
This beautiful, RPG-like hybrid of adventure and strategy put you in the shoes of Paul Atreides himself to unite the Fremen, mine that precious Spice, and plant some bulbs (so many bulbs) with the dream of transforming the planet into a green paradise and overthrowing the Harkonnens.
I fell in love with this game as a kid, and it remains a nostalgic favorite. It’s one of the few games with limited replay value that I went back to again and again.
For 1992 (and only three floppy disks), the visuals were stunning, with that gorgeous painted art style that still holds up today. The music? Absolutely transcendent. (Remember when computers had dedicated sound cards?)
Stéphane Picq and Philippe Ulrich's soundtrack (released separately as Dune: Spice Opera) created an atmosphere that felt as perfect as Toto was for Lynch’s Dune in 1984. It really helped with game immersion.
What made this game special was how it blended genres. One minute you're having RPG-like conversations with characters from the book, the next you're dispatching Fremen troops to mine spice or battle the Harkonnens. Or plant bulbs. Lots and lots of bulbs.
While it couldn’t adapt the book’s story for obvious reasons, it captured its essence in a way that felt organic. You actually felt like Paul, gradually learning to navigate this new world, discovering both allies and your own emerging powers.
Where to play it now: If you don’t want to rebuild your DOS setup from three decades ago (or even bother with a DOS emulator), you can play on playclassic.games or myabandonware.com. Both are direct links to Dune but - as the names imply - there are plenty of classic games you can play here.
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (1992)
Even if you’re not a fan of Dune, if you play Real-Time Strategy games (RTSs for short), you have to know about Westwood Studio’s Dune II as it’s the founder of the genre.
It’s the granddaddy of games like Command & Conquer, Warcraft and StarCraft.
While it has “2” in its title, it has (quite confusingly) nothing to do with the original Dune game - that’s only there to differentiate it. Especially, since it was released the same year as Cryo’s game.
I play StarCraft 2 to this day - and Dune 2 was my gateway drug.
Building up an impenetrable base, harvesting spice and then sending over your troops to crush your enemies… intoxicating.
According to the animated cutscenes, in this timeline the Emperor set a challenge: whoever can harvest the most spice will get Arrakis. So the Atreides, Harkonnen and the canonically non-existent Ordos battled it out.
Yes, it's lacking some functionality by today's standards - selecting multiple units? it was the first RTS to allow you to select units with your mouse at all - but the gameplay was addictive as Spice itself.
Where to play it now: Same as the other Dune that cam out in 1992, the easiest would be to hop on to myabandonware.com or playclassic.games. If you look around on the page, you’ll can also find extended editions of Dune 2 with new factions.
Dune 2000 (1998)
The late 90’s, where everything with 2000 in its title sounded modern and futuristic.
That’s when Westwood studios decided to upgrade Dune 2 with both visual and functional updates, as well as adding live action cutscenes featuring actors like John Rhys-Davies of Sliders and Lord of the Rings fame.
The gameplay improvements were substantial - you could finally select multiple units, the interface was cleaner, and base building was more intuitive.
But what really elevated this game was the atmosphere and story telling in between the missions. Each House felt truly different in philosophy and approach and you could really get into the vibe of being right there in the middle of the action.
I spent more hours than I’d care to admit click around my chosen House's forces (usually Atreides, because I'm basic like that), and that sense of being THE commander, the military mastermind behind your faction's rise to power, was amazing.
And have I mentioned the soundtrack? Sublime.
Where to play it now: No, playclassic.games doesn’t have this one. But you can check OpenRA and also the GruntMods Edition.
Emperor: Battle for Dune (2001)
Informally referred to as Dune III, it was Westwood’s final entry and took the RTS to full 3D - with mixed results.
I won’t deny playing with this one too - and quite extensively - but maybe more out of sheer brand loyalty. It simply didn’t feel as good as its predecessors.
The music is great, the cutscenes are excellent, and adding subfactions was a stroke of genius - still, when the comparison is to Dune II and Dune 2000, it just fell short of (my) expectations. And don’t even get me started on the Emperor Worm storyline.
Either way, if you have yet to try it, you can.
Where to play it now: Download available at myabandonware.com and here’s a complete installation guide for modern systems.
Frank Herbert's Dune (2001)
I'll be honest: I skipped this one entirely.
The early 2000s were littered with janky licensed games that tried to ride the coattails of popular franchises, and from what I saw (despite being created by the same studio that gave us the original), this game fell firmly into that category.
It looked like a mess of awkward controls and underwhelming visuals.
This was Cryo's last gasp before bankruptcy, and it shows. I've watched gameplay footage since, and I don't regret my decision to pass on this one. Sometimes, you can judge a book by its cover - or a game by its screenshots.
Where to play it now: If you can’t stop yourself, check myabandonware.com.
Dune: Spice Wars (2022)
After a 20-year drought (desert pun intended), we finally got a new Dune game!
Shiro Games’ Spice Wars blends real-time strategy with 4X elements, creating something that feels fresh while very much honoring the franchise's gaming legacy.
I've got this installed on my PC, and while the pacing can be a bit too glacial at times, there's a lot to love here. Each faction has its own distinct path to victory, whether through military domination, political maneuvering, or economic supremacy.
The ability to adjust the game speed is a godsend (although I’d love to have 4x and 8x speeds too) - slow it down when you need to micromanage battles or economic decisions, then crank it up when you're just waiting for your plans within plans to unfold.
What I particularly appreciate is how they've drawn from the books rather than inventing new factions (looking at you, House Ordos). The addition of Houses like Ecaz shows a respect for the source material.
Where to play it now: Available on Steam.
Dune: Awakening (Coming June 10, 2025)
An open-world survival MMO set on Arrakis.
I'll be honest: I've never played an MMO in my life. Not World of Warcraft, not Star Wars: The Old Republic, and not even Fallout 76 despite my love for that universe. But for Dune? I'm willing to make an exception.
Funcom is setting this in an alternate timeline where Paul Atreides was never born, which gives them creative freedom while (hopefully) respecting the core elements that make Dune, well, Dune. The concept of building shelters against sandstorms, maintaining your stillsuit, and harvesting spice while avoiding sandworms sounds enticing.
I'll be approaching this with an open mind and an open copy of the books to check for lore consistency.
Obviously, it's a video game adaptation in an alternate timeline, so some allowances must be made, but I'm hopeful they'll capture the essence of Herbert's universe.
My biggest concern for now is whether my PC can actually handle the game well enough to enjoy it.
Where to play it when it launches: Steam
Notable mentions
I decided not to include it in the “official” list because it’s a board game, but since it has a digital version, I feel it would be remiss of me not to link to Dune: Imperium on Steam.
And beyond the official releases, Dune has inspired fan-created games too.
First and foremost, a big shoutout to @Bar, who’s been developing Sands with the community input on the lore. It’s a true roguelike where you play as a Fremen and echoes Villeneuve’s movies as you can choose to become either a skeptic or a Lisan al-Gaib fanatic. Check it out now!
Dune MUD (multi-user dungeon) has been running since 1992, making it one of the longest-lived text-based multiplayer Dune experiences out there. The early 1990s also saw DuneMUSH and Dune II MUSH (multi-user shared hallucination) games where players could role-play in the Dune universe through text commands.
While these lack the visual flair of official releases, they've provided dedicated communities with ways to inhabit the Dune universe for decades.