Overall, Court of the Dead: Mourners Call has plenty of unforced errors that make for an uninspiring whole. It doesn’t make any mistakes so large that it should be relegated to the bottom shelf of gaming, but it’s not digging deep enough into the theme to find the real game. This feels very much like a game made for an IP, not a game designed with mechanisms as the central draw. Players who like the Court of the Dead theme will be satiated. Gamers looking for the next Blood Rage will be disappointed.

I did like the drafting of cards at the start of each round, however again I was only looking for cards that would grant me unity at the expense of all else. The artwork is utterly gorgeous on the cards, the mainboard, the character boards. Some of the card art I’d even want as art prints on a wall.I'd probably need another play through to make up my mind, so I can say I enjoyed it enough to at least consider doing that. The art is ON POINTTT. Reminded me of Keith Thompson and Requiem Vampire Knight Vol. 1: Resurrection I feel that the co-operative element is just bolted on and doesn’t really play out the way it was initially planned for I think. It's more like a random tax you have to pay each round. Xiall, The Great Osteomancer, leads Bone Faction. This authoritative leader adheres to tradition and believes Bone is the only true path, the only Underworld Faction that will ensure a productive and successful future. With Xiall’s might, knowledge of arcane arts, and unwavering will, Illverness will be safe from the Celestial War.

The Final Verdict: At the time of this writing, this book had only been out for a little over a year and it appears that Court of the Dead has not been out for much longer either. Bookworm could not be more excited! Normally, when they have discovered a franchise, it already has a dedicated fanbase and Bookworm has to struggle to keep up! Here, Bookworm is right at the beginning. Bookworm cannot wait to explore more of the Underworld and the Court of the Dead. But ignore the flowery language, and you’ll notice that there is some real potential behind the CotD universe. It’s so incredibly vast and detailed, I fully expected there to be some kind of Tabletop Role Playing Game based on CotD and was honestly surprised when I found out that there’s nothing more than this book and the standard Sideshow figurines. Don’t get me wrong, the statues are beautiful, but I’ll really start throwing money at my screen as soon as they release something like Fate Core based Tabletop RPG campaigns. CotD deserves more. In terms of an Underworld United, those in Spirit should consider connecting with their physical selves to further their connections with other mourners and to remain more grounded in their environments. Like followers of Bone, beings who lean toward the Spirit Faction might benefit from structure so that they can complete a project rather than drift from interest to interest, never achieving one idea’s fullest potential.

When I first began reading this book I was sure that this was a companion piece to an RPG game, where they give more description so players can flesh out their gaming experience. A little reconnaissance shows that while there's no game, there is a line of figures by Sideshow Collectibles and apparently this book is a tie-in. This explains quite a bit, since I kept feeling like the book was a part of something else and not something on its own. Empowered by souls taken from the Mortal Realm, Death bids his scions of Flesh, Bone, and Spirit to fashion for him an army of the undead — one hundred arcane warrior reapers, each singularly gifted and compelled by loyalty and familial bond to stand in defense of their realm.