Sandworm-riding isn’t part of Dune: Awakening, at launch, anyway. As creative director Joel Bylos told Eurogamer last year, Funcom looked into it but decided the technical cost was too steep and “it needs a purpose.” In the movies, sandworms are ridden through the otherwise impassable southern sandstorms and used to attack Arrakeen. You don’t do either of those things in Dune: Awakening, at least not yet.
So sandworm-riding isn’t an official feature—but some very brave Dune: Awakening players are doing it anyway. Just take a look at this amazing clip SgtDolphin posted to reddit:
Lisan al-Gaib! As written! SgtDolpin lures Shai-Hulud over to a dune and then leaps onto its back and takes a ride. This alt-history version of Dune may have no Paul Atreides, but who needs him? We’ve got SgtDolphin.
If you haven’t played Dune: Awakening, you might be wondering: what’s with the super-sprint and long jump? Well, SgtDolphin appears to be using a combination of skills and gear to leap safely over the sandworm’s gaping maw and onto its back.
There’s a Bene Gerrerit ability called Bindu Sprint that lets you go zipping around at high speeds like The Flash, great for crossing dangerous desert zones quickly and escaping from combat situations when they go wrong. Also good for quickly getting over to a stampeding sandworm.
The wormrider also has some suspensor gear equipped, which allows them to levitate: leap modules or a gadget called Emperor’s Wings will let you glide slowly through the air—or zoom around like a rocket if you’ve used a grappling hook or a Bindu Sprint first.
Here’s another wormriding video by the same brave player:
Obviously you can’t steer the worm the way Paul and the Fremen riders do in the movie, but it sure shows the possibilities in a game where it’s not actually a feature.
Not to brag, but I did a tiny bit of wormriding myself. Unintentionally. I was driving across the desert not paying close attention and a worm crossed right in front of me, and my sandbike’s treads briefly touched the sandworm’s back—at which point I squealed in fear, turned around as fast as I could, and hit the boosters until I was back on safe ground again.
That’s as close as I care to get. I’ll leave the actual worm riding to the professionals.