I already loved the original Dune Imperium, the worker placement and deck building combination is close to a genre-best fit, and Uprising’s first instinct, tighten the difficult decisions and add more interaction between the cards you’re drafting, is a real improvement. Only two or three new rules to actually learn if you already know the base game, which matters a lot when you’re teaching a table that’s mostly there for the first game and doesn’t want a second rulebook to sit through.
The spy mechanic is the part I’m still torn on. It adds tactical texture, you’re watching what other players are quietly setting up, but it also adds real downtime, watching someone plan out a careful multi-step sequence while you wait your turn is not always thrilling even when I understand why they’re doing it. My actual complaint, and I’ve heard the same one from more than one person at my table, is the sandworms. They sound like flavor and turn out to be the whole game, if you draw a worm your combat score doubles, and second and third place still get doubled versions of whatever they earned, which pushes every session toward being purely about who wins the fight for worm control and not much else. The first game had a tightness to its many paths to victory that this sequel’s worm rule quietly narrows.
Still four stars, because everything else here is a genuine step forward and the core loop is still some of the best worker placement on my shelf. I’d play this over the original most nights. I just wish the worms hadn’t eaten quite so much of the design’s original variety.