About Dune
This is Cryo Interactive’s Dune from 1992, an adventure strategy game, and not Westwood’s Dune II, the real-time strategy game released the same year. Both are based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 science-fiction novel Dune, but they play in very different ways.
Cryo developed the game and Virgin Games published it for MS-DOS and the Amiga in 1992, and a Sega CD version followed in 1993. Rémi Herbulot directed it. Stephen Clarke-Willson, David A. Luehmann and David Bishop produced it, and Stéphane Picq and Philippe Ulrich composed the music. It is a single-player game.
Wikipedia files it under both adventure and strategy, and DOS.Zone’s listing describes how those halves meet on Arrakis: you harvest spice, forge alliances and command Fremen armies in a struggle for control of the planet. The site tags it as strategy, RPG, quest and adventure, which gives a fair idea of the mix.
How it runs in your browser
Pressing Play takes you to Dune’s page on dos.zone, which opens in a new tab. There, js-dos, the open-source build of DOSBox that DOS.Zone made for browsers, emulates an old PC and starts the original MS-DOS program on it. The game files come from the site itself, so you won’t install anything, hunt for an old disk or make an account. DOS.Zone doesn’t show ads.
The listing is titled simply Dune and carries a rating of 5 from 9 player reviews. How saved games are kept isn’t covered here, so check DOS.Zone’s page before you settle in for a long campaign.
Controls and devices
Dune was built for a keyboard and mouse, and that’s what the emulated PC expects. After the game loads, click inside its window so js-dos receives your input. The key layout isn’t listed here, so look through the game’s own menus and options as you start.
On phones, DOS.Zone adds virtual on-screen controls. Even so, a game made for a mouse and keyboard sits far better on a desktop or laptop. We haven’t tested it on a phone, and Chromebooks haven’t been confirmed.
Who it’s for
It suits readers of Herbert’s novel who want a game set in its world where you forge alliances as well as command armies, and strategy players who know Dune II and want to see the other Dune game Virgin Games published in 1992. It also suits anyone who wants to try the original without setting up DOSBox on their own computer. For the real-time side of the series, Dune II runs in a browser through an open-source port, and Dune 2000, the 1998 partial remake of Dune II, runs on DOS.Zone as well.
Is Dune Free, Safe and Official?
Is this Dune the same game as Dune II?
No. This is Cryo Interactive’s 1992 Dune, an adventure strategy game. Dune II is Westwood Studios’ real-time strategy game from the same year, a different game with its own page.
Can I play the 1992 Dune online for free?
Yes. DOS.Zone runs the original MS-DOS version free in a browser tab, with no account and nothing to download. It isn’t made or endorsed by the game’s rights holders.
Does Dune work on a phone?
DOS.Zone offers virtual on-screen controls for phones, but Dune was built for a keyboard and mouse, and we haven’t tested it on a touchscreen. A computer is the better fit.
