Thomas P. King, Author & Game Designer
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tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Thomas P. King, Author & Game Designer
@tpkingauthor.bsky.social
170 followers 35 following 350 posts
Writer and game designer. Fantasy/sci-fi/horror/historical fiction.
The Unseen World, a solo horror gamebook set in Japan is available now: http://bit.ly/3STdY5j
#WritingCommunity #RPGs #ttrpg #boardgames
https://thomaspking.com/
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tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Catching up! We played Endeavor: Deep Sea for the first time recently. We had never played the original, but were interested in the new one. My brother seemed to like it the most. It's not bad. Maybe a bit random for a Euro (less than the first from what I hear?), but it's short.
#boardgames
Endeavor: Deep Sea. Player area. Very early, I got locked out of doing a journal (someone grabbed the last dive token in my tile) which put me behind with no way to catch back up. Endeavor: Deep Sea. Main area. We didn't go very deep. You need to have a surprising amount of space.
November 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Our Halloween game went pretty well. A couple of deaths, but we were able to recover without much trouble. We played with the optional rule where gathered resources don't teleport to the house, you have to drop them off. It was getting dicey by the end of the boss fight, but we defeated Bonemass.
Valheim, game 3 map. An event respawned everthing, and we were surrounded by enemies! Valheim, game 3 player board. Was hoping to upgrade my armor or craft a helmet, but we didn't have turns left. Valheim, final map of game 3. We seeded the wraith's tile into the game (for Halloween), but didn't end up exploring it. Valheim, game 3 house (dice tower version). I think the other two players were very focused on upgrading gear, I was the only one looking at crafting furniture for the house. Sadly, all our potions were destroyed in the fight with Bonemass.
November 3, 2025 at 7:31 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Game 2 against Elder. Didn't go so well. I was often short on resin and couldn't light my weapon on fire until late, and spent so much effort getting resin, I wasn't as prepared for the boss fight as I wanted. Died in the battle.
Valheim, final map of game 2. Valheim, player board. Really wanted to replace the helmet, just didn't have time. Valheim, the house (dice tower version), end of game 2. Bees were handy.
November 3, 2025 at 7:31 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Always behind on games. Valheim came in, and I've played two solo games and one 3-player game. Really enjoying it so far. We played scenario 4 on Halloween (it's the swamp scenario with lots of undead to fight). Can't wait to play more. First session in photos.
#boardgames
Valheim, map area. Final map when I started the boss fight. A raid was just about to hit the house. Valheim, boss arena, end-game. Victory over Eikthyr. Valheim, player board. The chest stored the items at home so they weren't in the way of the dice tower. Valheim, the house (dice tower version).
November 3, 2025 at 7:31 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
More catching up! It's October, so we brought out the Arkham Horror LCG with a one-shot scenario. It was quite brutal, which two of us liked, but my brother didn't enjoy it as much (he prefers winning on the first try). Hoping to play our second campaign next year.
#boardgames
Arkham Horror LCG, location map. My friend went nuts upgrading components. They're all pretty good, but I'm not a fan of the damage/insanity tokens. They're one-sided, the design doesn't really feel consistent with AH's aesthetic, and the insanity token is green instead of blue (the correct color). Arkham Horror LCG, my player area. Didn't have time to make a deck, so my friend and I used starter decks. It's a neat deck that does all kinds of stuff when failing a test, but didn't work out well in this scenario because the negative modifiers are pretty large, so I was often failing by too much to use all my cool stuff. Arkham Horror LCG, location map.
October 24, 2025 at 1:36 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Still catching up. We played Sweet Lands 3p, and while I'm really enjoying the game, I recommend not playing any AP-prone players. It's agonizing. This was over 4 hours. Players need to make decisions and stick with them and not overthink it. Fun game, though!
#boardgames
Sweet Lands, player area. Sweet Lands, player map. Didn't get my 4th city, that was a bummer. Also hoped to get out more bunnies.
October 23, 2025 at 4:57 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
I'm behind on games again! We recently played Spirit Island. It was the first game for my brother and I and one of our friend's favorites. I enjoyed it more than I expected, mostly due to the card play, but not in love with it yet. Lots of stuff to trigger, some of it pretty minor.
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Spirit Island, my spirit. The card play is fun, but it doesn't quite feel like you're a kaiju stomping around the map destroying stuff; there's a strong level of abstraction with the map. Spirit Island, main board. I was pretty disappointed in the colonists having no identity/personality. They're like orcs or robots mindlessly spreading. My friend showed me some stuff that's supposed to make them specific cultures, but he said it doesn't quite feel like distinct people, just more effects to deal with? Spirit Island, main board. My friend has pieces from Etsy. I can't say this is an attractive game. It should have a "wow" factor all set up, but it's kind of... blah?
October 22, 2025 at 2:09 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Played Sweet Lands solo last night. Pretty long, but it was a learning game (I have better storage solutions coming that should speed things up a touch). Just a first learning game, but definitely enjoyed it. Very crunchy, but the rules are actually quite smooth. Will play again soon!
#boardgames
Sweet Lands, end of solo game. I forgot my industry points, but overall, I did poorly. Spread myself out too thin into different strategies, and missed some things that would have been more efficient. Sweet Lands, my map board. Very satisfying spreading out and building cities. Just building the roads and flipping tiles to get their rewards is satisfying. This board alone could have been a fun game! Sweet Lands, my character board. I went heavy into automation since my character got a free diamond income each round, and one of the income tiles made automation free for a round. Wasn't able to trigger the industry bonuses as much as I would have liked though; I needed to put more effort into the industry track.
September 30, 2025 at 2:41 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Sweet Lands arrived yesterday. I spent a while organizing pieces and figuring out storage solutions. I've got some small boxes on the way that should help with the tokens that form a general supply. Player pieces will just have to be in bags; no way to speed up setup. Amazed it all fits!
#boardgames
Sweet Lands. Sweet Lands, components stored mostly in baggies. Cards sleeved, mostly in 2 Dragon Shield boxes, and another stack in a bag.
September 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Yesterday, we played Robinson Crusoe, the Encounter at R'lyeh scenario. While the main game is growing on us more (despite huge clarity issues), the scenario was a bit of a letdown. Really lacked the Cthulhu flavor. No monsters. No cultists. Just some wind? And seems to have errors. Felt unfinished.
Robinson Crusoe. My character. My abilities, unfortunately, didn't help much with the scenario, and we left the river tiles early on, so the raft wasn't going to help. The scenario gave Friday sanity, but there must have been an error in the scenario rules, because none of the sanity loss effects affected Friday since he's a "character" but not a "player," and all the sanity loss effects were either weather (which he ignores anyway) or were specifically players or the dog. There were other clarity issues we just had to make a ruling for and move on. Robinson Crusoe, main board. We did a bit of crafting this time, partially because we had extra time and spare wood while trying to collect the last pelt. Robinson Crusoe, main board, scenario sheets. Another problem with the scenario is that the cost in pelts for building the balloon scales based on the number of players. But no source of pelts scales. I feel like the scenario could break at 4p but be easier at 1-2. You also get automatic sanity healing at solo. This didn't feel like a well-playtested scenario. Robinson Crusoe, main board.
September 28, 2025 at 5:16 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
We had a couple of recent gamedays. Finally brought back out Fire & Axe. While still a fun game, it's really showing its age. I don't think it needs to be massively updated, but it could use a little more depth. After was some BattleTech CCG. My friend is still learning.
#boardgames
Fire & Axe, main board. It looks neat, but it's one of the worst game boards in terms of play-ability and function. Nearly unreadable port regions. Fire & Axe, main board. Fire & Axe, my player area (final score: 274). First time going all-in on one Homeland. BattleTech CCG. Still using the decks I made for us last time. I wanted to buy some fan-made updated decks, but a shipping glitch would charge me hundreds of dollars, so I'll just have to wait. I'm surprised this game hasn't come back now that the miniatures game is doing really well and CCGs are back in style.
September 28, 2025 at 5:16 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
After, we had time for Endangered. It's pretty light, but we all enjoyed it more. The dice placement can be tricky and definitely needs some cooperating. It was neat seeing the available actions grow during the game. My friend already has everything; he had been wanting to play for a while!
Endangered, my player area. Got some great use out of Research Findings. We ended up with almost all Tiger Sightings at the bottom of the Impact deck, and I was able to use my card to filter them out a couple of times. Very last turn, I put another card on top which didn't affect us, and we won. Endangered, main board. My brother's cards helped us clear a lot of the deforestation, so that helped keep that managed. We did pretty well overall with the breeding rolls. I was just worried that my brother wanted to spread us out on several ambassadors, but I wanted us to pick our 4 so we knew where to focus.
September 14, 2025 at 3:21 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Gameday yesterday. First was La Granja. Two of us had played before and enjoyed it, but my brother (first time) was really bored with it. It's surprisingly quick compared to modern Euros of the size (2hrs for 3p), but it's also quite random. Resources can be scarce!
#boardgames
La Granja, my player area. Resources were pretty this time, few 2s and 3s rolled over the course of the game. I built up my fields, which helped. Sadly, because of the rolls, my Marketeer card was basically useless. Lesson learned, bad card! La Granja, main board. I sadly lost out on lots of points with my markets. Almost every time I put out a marker, my opponents had already removed each other, so there weren't any bonus points for me to earn except once or twice. My score was terrible...
September 14, 2025 at 3:21 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
We technically didn't finish VoE (ran out of time from starting it too late), but one more round would have ended it. I had a ridiculous combo that earned me 30 points, and I would have been able to do it again for 27 points thanks to one of the artifacts. Really enjoyed VoE.
Vale of Eternity, with Artifacts expansion. My player area. I was able to recover and play Horus a couple of times. Last turn we had time for, it was Horus, then Scorch (for free from Horus), then Behemoth (for free from Scorch copying Horus). 30 points in one turn. Had enough money from selling a card to do it again; just had to use an artifact that would recover all of my cards.
September 2, 2025 at 6:28 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
This past weekend, we played more Earthborne Rangers and Vale of Eternity w/Artifacts. We made a lot of traveling progress in EBR, but luckily were able to also finish the next part of our mission with 1-2 cards left in our decks. Close! Deck improvements have helped.
#boardgames
Earthborne Rangers. My player area. The lute came out really late this time, but I was able to do some big soothing with my 3-spirit moment (I forget the name). Earthborne Rangers. Main area. With our deck changes, we were able to travel much easier this time around. Traveled a total of 3 times (last one was to camp for the day) and finished the next part of our mission.
September 2, 2025 at 6:28 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
We recently played Vantage for the first time (except my friend who played solo some in secret). I ended up enjoying it the most, and more than I expected. My friend actually liked it less than he expected. You really need to play for the exploration more than anything.
#boardgames
Vantage. My player area. Some items you collect might not really get used, but the dice spaces are always useful. Vantage. Main board. We were close to an early ending a couple of times from unlucky rolls (kept coming up with the same symbols). We ended up completing the mission and a destiny. Wasn't really much of an epic victory; it just says, "good job, you win" and that's really it. The game is all journey and no destination.
September 2, 2025 at 6:17 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Last weekend we played Tidal Blades. 1st impressions: some neat mechanics but rough around the edges. Seems like fighting monsters is bad until the last round of the game? And you could probably still do well never fighting them. Also might be a bit shallow and repetitive? It's... okay 🤷‍♂️
#boardgames
Tidal Blades, my player area. The character upgrades are neat and can make you feel different from the other players, though there are only 4 in the base game, and you won't get that many upgrades. It's nice to have, but not sure it saves the rest of the game? Tidal Blades, main boards. Turns flew by really quick, but largely due to the lack of meaningful decisions. Almost always, what you needed and where to get it was obvious. It's all fine, I guess, but makes the game feel a bit shallow and repetitive. Never have I played a game and felt so much like something wasn't working properly; it felt like we played it wrong, but we didn't.
August 21, 2025 at 2:25 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Another classic (for me) that we got to the table was Core Worlds, a bit of a forgotten deck builder. Great crunchy game with tableau building and comboing. Just don't forget the optional rules! I missed out on 8 points and lost 😭
I'll have to try solo soon, too.
Core Worlds, my player area, part 1. Too big to really fit into one photo. Core Worlds, my player area, part 2. I have a second warbot underneath the one shown, and they got some real work done.
August 15, 2025 at 6:50 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Some recent games we've been playing (besides more Earthborne Rangers!): Yedo: Deluxe Master Set. It's a classic game, and really deserves to be in retail. A shame this seems to be the 'final version' with a truly awful rulebook. Great game, though.
#boardgames
Yedo, my player area. Really needed an annex that my friend nabbed the last one of. It made like 3 or 4 of my missions impossible to do. Yedo, main board. It's a huge game, but probably didn't need spaces on the board to hold the cards and token supplies. That was kind of an old-school thing to do, but made boards way bigger than they needed to be. Yedo, main board. Watch Patrol hanging out in the center (doesn't get used in the last round).
August 15, 2025 at 6:50 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Day 2: First, Lord of the Rings TCG with our Mines of Moria decks. Gandalf/Moria vs. Dwarves & Aragorn/Uruk-hai. The goblins did little against the dwarves until the Balrog made a showing, then archers won the day at site 8. After, Star Wars: Unlimited, SotG sealed and JtL spotlight decks.
Lord of the Rings TCG with Mines of Moria, my player area. I really wanted to get out the Cave Troll too with 3 Dark Places out to give him +3 strength. But I was happy with the Balrog and his whip which prevented Gimli from taking him since I could discard his armor and overwhelm him. Legolas ended up being Balrog fodder for both of us. Star Wars: Unlimited, Shadows of the Galaxy sealed decks. I've really enjoyed this Cad Bane underworld/bounties deck. Star Wars: Unlimited, Jump to Lightspeed spotlight decks. We played twice, both times playing with the same decks instead of swapping. I had heard that the decks aren't especially balanced against each other, and the Boba Fett deck definitely felt easier to pilot (no pun intended), especially his ship just getting free damage out constantly. Very excited to crack open some packs and make a deck.
July 29, 2025 at 10:42 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Last weekend was another couple of game days. Lots of card games! We played another eventful day of Earthborne Rangers (got canoes!). We've arrived in High Basin, ready to tackle our mission. We've also progressed the other mission and are tracking vines.
#boardgames
Earthborne Rangers, my player area. I spent time with an Elder so I could make a couple of adjustments to my deck, swapping a couple of cards that I wasn't getting use out of and taking two copies of Familiar Ground. Earthborne Rangers, surroundings and along the way. We made some good progress, doing a side mission and one of our main missions. Also finally arrived in High Basin. Earthborne Rangers Valley Map.
July 29, 2025 at 10:42 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Had some time this morning to bring out Middle-earth CCG again. I made a simple deck for a quick game, a few factions, a palantir, and some fun items. The team got rocked by wolves, sadly. Dice were against us. 4 dead by the end! 26 points when I called it, 4 points lost to the dead.
#boardgames
Middle-earth CCG set up. Starting company: Aragorn controlling Voteli and bearing Athelas, Halbarad bearing an Elven Cloak, and Balen controlling Fili. Middle-earth CCG, end of the game. Decided to call it after I was able to get Rangers of the North into play. Aragorn failed earlier in the game, but I was able to draw them back out after the deck was exhausted. It was a rough game with 4 dead and Fili running off after a failed corruption check (got discarded with 2 items on him!).
July 23, 2025 at 6:40 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
This past weekend, we played 2 more days of Earthborne Rangers. We're now in the downpour, and the fatigue piles up fast! Luckily, I've got great ways of healing everyone's fatigue, but we go through the decks quickly. Still knocking out missions, though!
#boardgames
Earthborne Rangers, my player area. Very little of the deck left, this time. Earthborne Rangers, surroundings and along the way. We've got two missions now. The rain will definitely be slowing us down, though. Earthborne Rangers, the valley map. We marked where our mission is sending us so we can easily decide where we needed to head with our last travel of the day. We're going to head to Branch since it's a pivotal location we haven't been to yet. We wanted to see what that place is like.
July 22, 2025 at 7:55 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Today was Obsession. I love this game, but we probably spent 30-40 minutes total just looking up rules, trying to interpret rules, and looking up stuff online when nothing made sense. Man, there are problems. Still a great game in my top 100, but terrible rules/text descriptions.
Obsession. My play area. Very close game, only 15 points between 1st and 2nd. Last courting won it for me (a swing of 16 points just from the Fairchild, but I drew a 4-point VP card, too). Obsession, main board. Accidentally cut off the round track board with the event cards.
July 13, 2025 at 11:30 PM
tpkingauthor.bsky.social
Games this weekend, first was more Earthborne Rangers! Long day 2. We did a bit more exploring, talking to characters, but mostly focused on the mission we picked up last time. We completed that but also finished a little sidequest for more rewards (ran out of time for a 2nd sidequest).
#boardgames
Earthborne Rangers. My play area. We did a long day this time and ran through almost our whole decks. But we made sure to stop so we could camp and add the new rewards to our decks. Earthborne Rangers. Middle area. We met several new characters. One gave us a sidequest but we weren't able to finish it. The other one had a bonus little objective that we were able to do (and earned a new reward). Earthborne Rangers. Valley map.
July 13, 2025 at 11:30 PM