13 LitRPG Read-Alikes for Fans of Dungeon Crawler Carl
Posted on August 17, 2026
by Zachary H
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The world is swooning for the chaotic, hilarious, and high-stakes adventure of Dungeon Crawler Carl. It has spawned an upcoming live-action television series, graphic novel series, and some rad merch. The popular series has introduced countless readers to the exciting world of LitRPG, a genre that blends fantasy and science fiction with the mechanics of role-playing games. Characters level up, earn skills, complete quests, and battle increasingly difficult enemies, often with stats, inventories, and game-like systems woven directly into the story. Whether you’re a longtime gamer or simply love fast-paced adventures with unforgettable characters, these LitRPG novels are ready to help you level up your reading list.
operation bounce house by Matt Dinniman
A man must fight for his planet against impossible odds when gamers from Earth attempt to remotely annihilate it in this epic, fast-paced novel from author of the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl. All colonist Oliver Lewis ever wanted to do is run the family ranch with his sister, maybe play a gig or two with his band, and keep his family's aging fleet of intelligent agriculture bots ticking as long as possible. As a fan of Earth television and culture, he figures it will be a good thing when the transfer gate finally opens all the way and restores instant travel and full communication between Earth and his planet, New Sonora. But there's a complication. Even though the settlers were promised they'd be left in peace, Earth's government now has other plans. The colossal Apex Corporation is hired to commence an "eviction action." But maximizing profits will always be Apex's number one priority. Why spend money printing and deploying their own AI soldiers when they can turn it into a game? Why not charge bored Earthers for the opportunity to design their own war machines and remotely pilot them from the comfort of their own homes? The game is called Operation Bounce House. Oliver and his friends soon find themselves fighting for their lives against machines piloted by gamers who've paid a premium for the privilege. With the help of an old book from his grandfather and a bucket of rusty parts, Oliver is determined to defend the only home he's ever known.
unsouled by Will Wight
The beginning of the New York Times best-selling Cradle series!Lindon is born Unsouled, the one person in his family unable to use the magical Paths of the sacred arts. He uses every trick and technique he can borrow or steal to improve his life, but it seems he will never be able to join the ranks of the truly powerful.Until the heavens descend and show him the future.When Lindon becomes the only one who sees the approaching doom, he must leave his homeland to save it…and to see how far he can go by walking his own Path.
ready player one by Ernest Cline
Ready Player One takes place in the not-so-distant future--the world has turned into a very bleak place, but luckily there is OASIS, a virtual reality world that is a vast online utopia. People can plug into OASIS to play, go to school, earn money, and even meet other people (or at least they can meet their avatars), and for protagonist Wade Watts it certainly beats passing the time in his grim, poverty-stricken real life. Along with millions of other world-wide citizens, Wade dreams of finding three keys left behind by James Halliday, the now-deceased creator of OASIS and the richest man to have ever lived. The keys are rumored to be hidden inside OASIS, and whoever finds them will inherit Halliday's fortune. But Halliday has not made it easy. And there are real dangers in this virtual world. Stuffed to the gills with action, puzzles, nerdy romance, and 80s nostalgia, this high energy cyber-quest will make geeks everywhere feel like they were separated at birth from author Ernest Cline.
heretical fishing by Haylock Jobson
A world abandoned by the gods, mystifying cosmic forces, unimaginable power for those willing to ascend, and a hero who would rather . . . go fishing??? When summoned to a fantastical world and granted powers by a broken System, most freshly minted protagonists would strap on their big-boy boots and get ready for their stats to start climbing. But Fischer isn't like most MCs. In fact, he doesn't want to be a hero at all. Fame? Fortune? Power? He had enough of all that in his old life. Discovering forbidden fishing techniques and petting every cute animal that comes within scritching distance? Now that's a good time. Unfortunately for Fischer, cosmic forces rarely care for mortal feelings. He's hounded on all sides by inept cults, conspiring nobles, and more magical misunderstandings than those of a preteen relationship. Even his dutiful pet crab is firing energy blades like an anime antagonist. So grab your fishing rod and a good snack, and pet your dog for me. The catch of a lifetime awaits!
how to become the dark lord and die trying by Django Wexler
Davi has done this all before. She's tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she's rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she's killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she's been defeated every time. This time? She's done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that's who she needs to be. It's Davi's turn to play on the winning side.
all the skills: a deck building litrpg by Honour Rae
For a boy coming of age and discovering a magical self-reliance and new powers for every occasion, the future is in the cards, in this fantasy adventure. Arthur lives with his father, a fallen but proud former noble, in Border Village #49, along with the other good folks condemned to toil in service to the Baron. But Arthur has an edge: a stolen heart card that secretly fell into his possession, thanks to a dragon. It's a priceless source of power for the Baron and the tyrant will kill to get it back. Invaluable, too, to a young man of spellcasting ambitions. So, at the behest of his father-and to save his own hide-Arthur flees and joins a trader caravan on the kingdom's backroads. Mile by dusty mile, he gains new skills and learns more about his increasing capabilities. But when he meets Horatio, his sharp-tongued new best friend and a spell card collector himself, Arthur discovers the greater powers to come by building on the Legendary card hidden close to his heart. One step ahead of the Baron's hunters, Arthur and Horatio forge on under a sky full of guardian dragons-from the adorably loopy to the mystically wise-and their unflappable riders. Amidst danger, rescue, and friendships with both humans and those creatures of the more leathery variety, Arthur awakens to a newfound confidence . . . and the extraordinary things that can arise from the simplest magics.
the wandering inn by pirateaba
"No killing Goblins." So reads the sign outside of The Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours. It's a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a Dragon. She doesn't belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of life, and where Humans are one species among many. But she must adapt to her new life. Or die. In a dangerous world where magic is real and people can level up and gain classes, Erin Solstice must battle somewhat evil Goblins, deadly Rock Crabs, and hungry [Necromancers]. She is no warrior, no mage. Erin Solstice runs an inn. She's an [Innkeeper]. Thus starts the first volume of The Wandering Inn, an epic fantasy series filled with heart and fear, magic, dragons, and monsters, adventurers and chess players...and humans pulled from the real world into a wondrous and deadly land where the game is to survive and these new pieces could decide who's the winner.
beware of chicken by Casualfarmer
Jin Rou wanted to be a cultivator. A man powerful enough to defy the heavens. A master of martial arts. A lord of spiritual power. Unfortunately for him, he died, and now I'm stuck in his body. Arrogant Masters? Heavenly Tribulations? All that violence and bloodshed? Yeah, no thanks. I'm getting out of here. Farm life sounds pretty great. Tilling a field by hand is fun when you've got the strength of ten men-though maybe I shouldn't have fed those Spirit Herbs to my pet rooster. I'm not used to seeing a chicken move with such grace . . . but Qi makes everything kind of wonky, so it's probably fine. Instead of a lifetime of battle, my biggest concerns are building a house, the size of my harvest, and the way the girl from the nearby village glares at me when I tease her. A slow, simple, fulfilling life in a place where nothing exciting or out of the ordinary ever happens . . . right?
one more last time by Eric Ugland
A ruined life. A broken heart.He thought it was the end, and his gun sat ready to make sure.But an oddball offer from his only friend comes at the literal last second. Curiosity gets the best of him, and he finds himself sucked into iNcarn8, a game claiming to be a whole new life. Now as Montana, the larger-than-life tank warrior, he has one more last time to get his life right.
the mayor of noobtown by Ryan Rimmel
It could be worse. You could be stuck with a literal shoulder demon. For Jim, it’s very much worse. Because after dying and being reborn into a world that’s built like a video game, Jim has found himself stuck in an antiquated new player zone for low level adventurers-stuck with a demon shrunk to the size of a plush animal, who only will help keep Jim alive so that it can kill him later and get back to its demon realm. But in order to survive, Jim must level up. Except the zone he’s in fell out of use centuries ago and so this isn’t the typical grind through the forest part of the game anymore. On top of that, no one told the monsters that remain they were supposed to take it easy on the Noobs. And even worse, the only new player around is Jim. Yet Jim has been given an opportunity, and he’ll do his best to take advantage of it. Death caught him by surprise once. He isn’t going to let it happen again.
the only way out is up by Django Wexler
A small-time scrapper and his pet robot will fight their way out of the junk-heap in a tournament that will either make them richer than gods or rip them apart in the first book of Django Wexler's lightning paced progression fantasy adventure for fans of Cradle and Dungeon Crawler Carl. Taj lives in a junkheap, scavenging scrap to keep his family fed and dodging the monsters who live among the wreckage. His only edge is a smart-ass construct named Star he built himself. Taj dreams of winning big with Star in the construct fighting circuits, but victory always seems just beyond his reach and the debt collectors are at the door. His world changes forever when someone there makes him an offer that seems too good to be true: a chance to fight in the Ascent, the ultimate fighting tournament, for a prize beyond his wildest fantasies. But things that seem too good to be true usually are, and Taj finds his new benefactor comes with plenty of new enemies. As he ventures beyond the only world he's ever known, he discovers it's not just his money on the line in the Ascent--it's his life. When you start at the very bottom, the only way out is up.
(mostly) human resources by Grace Viall
A debut slow-burn work-nemesis romance set in a world where cryptids and monsters are a part of life . . . and someone has to do the paperwork. Working in human resources was not what Alexys had in mind when she joined Entity, the private company that categorizes and manages the world's cryptids. But after her dad was killed on the job as a Warden in the Appalachian Mountains, she was filled with noble ideas of carrying on his legacy . . . from the safety of a desk. Alexys dreams of climbing the corporate ladder while managing the Appalachian Wardens and sparring with Nic, the frustrating (and annoyingly attractive) Director of Research and Cataloging. When one of Alexys's new Wardens goes missing after inquiring about a mysterious and highly dangerous monster, her chances of promotion disappear along with him. Determined to save her career--and to shield the Warden's family from the trauma she experienced after losing her father on the job--she marches off into the monster-infested wilderness to find him herself. Meanwhile, Nic, with ambitions of becoming the youngest Entity employee to discover a new monster, follows Alexys on her hunt. But the work nemeses are about to discover why the Appalachian Mountains are the last place you want to find yourself after dark. Among mountains older than bones, the jackalopes and ghouls are the least of their worries.
he who fights with monsters, book 1: outworlder by Travis Deverell
What's it like to wake up in a mysterious world of magic and monsters? It's not easy. For Jason, making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer is surreal. Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil. He'll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters...and that's just on the first day. Jason's a stranger in a strange land, and if he's going to survive, he'll have to find something inside himself he never knew was there. He's going to need courage, he's going to need wit, and he's going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he's going to need pants. Experience the start of this legendary million-copy best-selling LitRPG epic where a snarky underdog takes on everything from corrupt aristocrats to literal gods in HE WHO FIGHTS WITH MONSTERS, Book 1: OUTWORLDER.
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