Play Dune Online

Game Overview

Dune on MS-DOS is this weird, cool mix of strategy and adventure that somehow works. You play as Paul Atreides, stuck between your family’s feud with the Harkonnens and the Emperor’s impossible spice demands. At first, it feels like a standard RTS—build harvesters, train troops—but then you’re suddenly talking to Fremen in sietches or chasing down rumors in the desert. The dialogue bits are clunky by today’s standards, but back then, it gave the whole thing this weirdly immersive vibe.

What really gets you is the balancing act. Go all-in on spice mining, and the Harkonnens raid your bases. Focus too much on military, and the Emperor gets pissed. I lost my first playthrough because I didn’t realize how fast those spice quotas pile up. And rescuing troops from a captured sietch? Absolute nightmare if you’re not prepared. The game’s janky, sure, but there’s nothing else quite like it—especially if you’re into the books.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".