2024 r/Fantasy Bingo Guide: Progression Fantasy, LitRPG, & Gamelit

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

Posted in books, litrpg, Uncategorized and tagged , .

One Comment

Leave a Reply