Dune is a strategy-adventure hybrid based on the legendary novel by Frank Herbert and visually inspired by the 1984 David Lynch movie. The player takes the role of young Paul Atreides, the son of Duke Leto, in a quest to manage the extraction of the most precious substance in the universe - the Melange, commonly known as Spice, on the desert planet Arrakis (Dune). The Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV has given the Atreides House the rights to extract the spice, but everything indicates this is a trap orchestrated by their enemies, the Harkonnen. The gameplay involves contacting and convincing the Fremen tribes residing in sietches near the Atreides palace to harvest the spice. Harvesting is crucial for purchasing equipment from smugglers and appeasing the emperor. To speed up production, the player can equip the tribes with harvesters or ornis to protect them from the gigantic sandworms, Shai-Hulud.
However, the spice doesn't last forever, and new sietches must be prospected before having a mining crew assigned. The Harkonnen enemy controls the North of the Planet, dangerously close to the Atreides Palace. As the player progresses, they will have to actively deal with the Harkonnen, who will try to take control of their sietches. Fremen tribes can be assigned to military training with Gurney Halleck, but Paul must first gain a reputation by controlling Arrakis.
As the game advances, the player will untap Paul's latent powers and meet other characters from the Dune universe, such as Duke Leto, Jessica, Thufir Hawat, Duncan Idaho, Harah, Chani, Stilgar, and Liet Kynes, the mastermind behind the ecological plans on Dune. The ultimate goal is within reach.
Dune was released in 1993 for the Sega CD platform.