If you aren’t aware, every year, the massive r/Fantasy Reddit publishes a reading bingo sheet. https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1bt4iqf/official_rfantasy_2024_book_bingo_challenge/
If you complete the entire card (and turn it in during a form they post the following March) you get a “Reading Champion” flair in the subreddit. If you do this for multiple years, they’ll increment your title to “Reading Champion II”, “III,” etc.
Last year, I thought it would be fun to see how much of the card I could complete using Progression Fantasy/LitRPG titles, and my effort was well-received, so I’m doing that again this year!
Reading 25 books in a year is pocket change to many LitRPG fans, and I thought this could be a fun way to spread love of the genre. These aren’t all the titles that would work, of course, but I added what I could. I summarized the rules for each Bingo square, but you can find the full official rules here.
Bold font = completes challenge
Italics = completes hard mode of challenge
“*” = the book that qualifies for the challenge is not the first book of the series
1. First in a Series:
Read the first book in a series. HARD MODE: The series is more than three books long.
So many options here, so I’m not going to list them all. We’re a genre of long series.
2. Alliterative Title
HARD MODE: 3+ alliterating words
Saintess Summons Skeletons by Mornn
Super Sales on Super Heroes by William D. Arand
Arcane Ascension by Andrew Rowe
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
Divine Dungeon or Completionist Chronicles by Dakota Krout
Good Guys by Eric Ugland
Big Sneaky Barbarian by Seth McDuffee
Forever Fantasy Online by Rachel Aaron
Jake’s Magical Market by J.R. Mathews
3. Under the Surface:
HARD MODE: more than 50% underground/underwater
The vast majority of the dungeoncore subgenre would count! Also, books that take place in a dungeon, such as:
The Castle of 1,000 Doors (Toroth-Gol series) by Kenny Gould
Never Die Twice by Maxime J. Durand
I would personally also count Bastion by Phil Tucker. What is going on with that geography is up for grabs, but it seems pretty underground to me.
12 Miles Below by Mark Arrows
Chrysalis by RinoZ
4. Criminals:
HARD MODE: contains heist
Tower of Somnus by Cale Plamann
Forging Hephaestus by Drew Hayes
Bad Guys by Eric Ugland
Apocalypse Assassin by J.J. Thorn
King’s Dark Tiding by Kel Kade
Isekai Assassin by Grayson Sinclair
The Queen of Smiles by Chris Tullbane
Sentenced to Troll by S.L. Rowland
5. Dreams:
Contains dreams. HARD MODE: dream is not mystical or unusual
Tower of Somnus by Cale Plamann
Whispering Crystals by H.C. Mills
Bog Standard Isekai by Miles English
Eight by Samer Rabadi
6. Entitled Animals:
Animal in title. HARD MODE: animal in title is a fantasy animal
Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon by Matt Dinniman
Dragon Sorcerer by Sean Oswald and Dutch Palmer
Vainqueur the Dragon by Maxime J. Durand
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
Cat Core by Dean Henegar and Gianpiero Mangialardi
Heroic Bunny Saga by Richard J. Hansen
Murder of Crows series by Chris Tullbane
Beware of Chicken by CasualFarmer
So I’m a Spider, So What? by Okina Baba
Stray Cat Strut by Ravensdagger
7. Bards:
HARD MODE: explicitly called “bard”
Bard from Barliona series by Vasily Mahanenko and Eugenia Dmitieva
Wayward Bard by Lars Machmuller
Melody of Mana by Wandering Agent
Trickster’s Song by Tom O’Bedlam
Path to Villainy by S.L. Rowland (skald)
Forge of Destiny by Yrsillar
8. Prologues and Epilogues:
HARD MODE: must have both
There’s a lot out there, but here are a few I’ve verified:
Trickster’s Song by Tom O’Bedlam
Unsouled (Cradle #1) by Will Wight
A Touch of Power by Jay Boyce
Soul Relic by Samuel Hinton
Edge of the Woods by Andrew Rowe
9. Self-Published or Indie Publisher:
THIS IS OUR MOMENT. (Almost) EVERYTHING QUALIFIES. Although, what qualifies for hard mode (fewer than 100 ratings on Goodreads) is more of a moving target. My advice? Check the r/LitRPG or r/ProgressionFantasy new releases thread for the month.
10. Romantasy:
HARD MODE: main character is LGBTQIA+)
This one is a tricky one. From what I understand, even harem books don’t usually have the harem as the main focus, and those that do don’t frequently focus on actual romance.
There’s only one book I know of that qualifies, but please let me know if you find others:
I Ran Away to Evil by Mystic Neptune
11) Dark Academia:
This one’s about the aesthetic of the school. HARD MODE: school is actually a mundane school
Schooled in Magic by Christopher G. Nuttall
House of Blades by Will Wight
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka
Babel by R.F. Kuang
12) Multi-POV:
HARD MODE: At least five point of view characters)
The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba laughs at your puny “at least five POV characters.”
Super Powereds by Drew Hayes
Titan Hoppers by Rob J. Hayes
13. Published in 2024:
HARD MODE: It’s also the author’s first published novel.
Check the r/LitRPG or r/ProgressionFantasy new releases thread, especially if you’re trying hard mode!
14. Character with a Disability:
Regular mode is an important character has physical/mental disability. Hard mode is that character being the MC.
Apocalypse: Generic System by Macronomicon features a lead who becomes physically disabled
Beneath the Dragoneye Moons by Selkie Myth. Selkie has stated that Elaine is intended to be read as ADHD.
By book 3 of Chris Tullbane’s Murder of Crows series, One Tin Soldier*, the main character has a physical disability.
Glass Kanin by Kia Leep (deaf side character, main character becomes mute, Royal Road only)
True Smithing by Jared Mandani (main character joins a VRMMO to practice smithing hobby he can no longer pursue with his physical body)
A Touch of Power by Jay Boyce (the main character is bedridden. Although this is solved at the start of the series, it informs her choices and experience of the world)
If you accept magical disabilities as mental disabilities, Cradle by Will Wight and Soul Relic by Samuel Hinton would also count.
15. Published in the 1990s:
hard mode: The author has also published something in the last five years.)
This one’s tricky!
Many people consider Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series to be Progression Fantasy
Books 6 to 10 of Guardians of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg* series would count
Caverns of Socrates by Dennis L. McKiernan was published in 1995 and the description makes it sound JUST like a number of genre entries published in the last few years. Doesn’t look like it’s available on eBook, though, so it might be tough to track a copy down…
SF-Fan-Joe also suggested Dave Duncan’s A Man of His Word and Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurts Empire Trilogy.
16. Orcs, Trolls, and Goblins – Oh My!:
HARD MODE: character is the MC
Big Sneaky Barbarian by Seth McDuffee
Morcster Chef by Actus
Sentenced to Troll by S.L. Rowland
Life Reset by Shemer Kuznits
17. Space Opera
HARD MODE: written by author of marginalized gender identity, e.g. women, trans people, non-binary people
Torth Series by Abby Goldsmith
To Flail Against Infinity (Stargazer’s War) by J.P. Valentine
Titan Hoppers by Rob J. Hayes
The Last Horizon by Will Wight
Starship Mage by Glynn Stewart
18. Author of Color:
HARD MODE: debut novel from past 5 years
The Weight of it All series by J.J. Thorn
System Orphans by J.J. Thorn
The Tower Unbroken: A West African Progression Fantasy by Michael Nwanolue
The Mimic & Me by Cassius Lange and Ryan Tang
The Burning series by Evan Winter
Lightblade by Zamil Akhtar
Most translated xianxia, such as
Coiling Dragon by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi
I am sure there’s more out there! Please let me know about authors of color I’m missing.
19. Survival:
HARD MODE: no superviruses or pandemics
We’re so solid here. A lot of isekai and gamesystem apocalypse books not only count here, but count as hard mode! A few ideas to get you started:
Whispering Crystals by H.C. Mills
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Alpha Physics by Alex Kozlowski
Apocalypse Parenting by Erin Ampersand (full disclosure: this is me)
Eight by Samer Rabadi
20. Judge A Book By Its Cover:
HARD MODE: Pick the book based only on the information available on the cover. No reading the blurb!
Fortunately, there’s been a trend to share visual versions of LitRPG tier lists recently, so just pull one up and see if any of the covers jump out at you.
21. Set in a Small Town:
HARD MODE: The small town can be real or fictional but the broader setting must be our real world and not a secondary world.
Mayor of Noobtown by Ryan Rimmel
Haley and Nana’s Cozy System Armageddon by M.C. Hogarth
Heretical Fishing by Haylock Jobson
Oh Great! I Was Reincarnated as a Farmer by Benjamin Kerei
Casual Farming by Wolfe Locke and Mike Caliban
Sagewood: Restore the Farm by Blake Arthur Peel & Kimberly Ann Peel
22. Five SFF Short Stories:
HARD MODE: read entire anthology or collection
The Gorgon Incident and other stories by John Bierce
The Wizards of Sevendor by Terry Mancour and Emily Burch Harris
System Apocalypse Short Story Collection I & II by Tao Wong and others
Legendary LitRPG by a variety of authors
You’re in Game! By a variety of Russian authors
23. Eldritch Creatures:
HARD MODE: not Cthulu mythos
My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror by Actus
The Mimic & Me by Cassius Lange and Ryan Tang
The Eldest Throne by Bernie Anez Paz
Everybody Loves Big Chests by Neven Illiev, but Putting a trigger warning here for you. Lot of fans of this series, but it features detailed on-page rape and other similar topics.
24. Reference Materials:
HARD MODE: book contains at least two different types of reference materials
A Touch of Power by Jay Boyce includes multiple appendices, a timeline, and a guide to the MC’s abilities
Soul Relic by Samuel Hinton contains a map and a style guide
Apocalypse Parenting: Time to Play by Erin Ampersand contains a map and a bestiary (full disclosure: this is me)
According to sfi-fan-joe, Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald and Edge of the Woods by Andrew Rowe also qualify for hard mode.
25. Book Club or Readalong Book:
HARD MODE: doing a current book club book and joining in the discussion. Y’all on your own with that.
God of Gnomes by Demi Harper
Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe
Portal to Nova Roma by J.R. Mathews
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree