I usually jump at every new release of e-Adventure Tiles, but this is one set that I will probably not use very often. The design is ... well ... creepy, with skeletons embedded in the floors and walls of all thirty-one tiles (counting one announced bonus tile that doesn't seem to have been uploaded to the SKG website as of 10 PM PDT on 09/08/05). The set is basically a spin-off of the designs used in Hazards - Terror Stones, and I think they work better as terror stones than as full dungeon rooms.

Besides the ubiquitous skeletons, the shape of the chambers and passages in this set is a little bit different from the other e-Adventure Tiles dungeon sets, in two ways. For one, Ed has added little triangular indentations along the walls on these tiles, giving the chambers and passages a "rippling" feel. Second, the passages and chamber entrances are slightly disorienting if you're used to the other e-Adventure tiles sets, because most of them span three inches rather than two; yet they are still centered on the tiles, such that they mesh perfectly with one another.

A couple of the tiles introduce neat little variations that would have been nice in the "mainstream" dungeon tiles as well; for example, DotD08 is a four-way intersection tile with a diamond-shaped column at the middle of the intersection, DotdD19 is a 30 ft. square section of floor (no outer walls) with a large (approximately 10 ft. by 10 ft.) diamond-shaped column in the center of the tile, and DotD21, DotD22, and DotD23 feature small (10 ft. "square") chambers. A selection of five bonus tiles, included with the set, make it easy to link Dungeons of the Dead with other SKG dungeon tiles.

If you are unsure whether you would like this product, I recommend that you take a look at the Hazards - Terror Stones set, or snag the bonus tile DotD31 from the SKG website (once it gets posted), and then decide whether you'd like a whole dungeon, or whole dungeon subset, made out of that skeleton-embedded rock. If you would, then definitely get this set. If you don't have any use for dungeon rooms with skeletons embedded in the floors and walls, you can safely bypass this one.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Small chambers, columned rooms and intersections, and Ed's foresight in including five tiles that link Dungeons of the Dead with standard SKG dungeons.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Limited appeal and application. The designs are cool in a creepy way, but it seems to me that these tiles would have to be used quite sparingly to get the maximum cool/creep benefit. My overall rating is thus based largely on the amount of use to which I think I will put these tiles, not the quality of the art (which is up to Ed's usual high standards).<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>