Dune: Imperium draws inspiration from elements and characters of the Dune legacy, including the film from Legendary Pictures and the book series by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. As the leader of one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad, you marshal your forces and spies while war comes to Arrakis, the desert planet.

The game uses deck-building to add a hidden-information angle to traditional worker placement. You start with a unique leader card and a deck identical to your opponents', and the cards you acquire decide which spaces your Agents can reach and where your strengths lie: military power, or influence with the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit and the Fremen.

Unlike many deck-building games, you do not play your whole hand in one turn. Each round you alternate taking one Agent turn at a time, playing a card to send an Agent to the board. When you have no Agents left to place, you take a Reveal turn, revealing your remaining cards for Persuasion, which buys more cards, and Swords, which help your troops fight for the rewards on the current Conflict card.