If you aren’t aware, every year, the massive r/Fantasy Reddit publishes a reading bingo sheet. https://old.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1s9n3e6/official_rfantasy_2026_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.
As I do each year, I’ve collected suggestions for anyone looking to attempt the Bingo while staying in the progression/litRPG/gamelit sphere. I’ve also posted this on my site in a slightly more readable format but if clicking links is hard feel free to keep scrolling.
Reading 25 books in a year is pocket change to many of you, and I thought this could be a fun way to spread love of the genre. I AM SURE I left many titles that complete these squares out of my list, so if you comment on this thread with an eligible title, I’ll add it.
I didn’t leave the rules for each square in this post due to space concerns, but you can find them in their 2026 thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1s9n3e6/official_rfantasy_2026_book_bingo_challenge/
Standard font = completes challenge
Italics = completes hard mode of challenge
I have not read all the books listed, so there will be some books that qualify for hard mode that are not italicized. This information should be accurate, but it may not be complete! Feel free to comment with more updates!
First Row Across:
1. Trans or Nonbinary Protagonist
Friendly Fyre or Nyte in Shining Armor by Kia Leep
Wayward Running by T.A. Star
Mana Mirror by Tobias Begley
Quill and Still by Aaron Sofaer
If you’re willing to read web serials, you can also look into:
A Spark of Sylvan Flame by Deliriousprite
State of the Art by Clo
Code of Ethics by princessColumbia
2. Judge a Book By Its Title
This is a vibes thing, so it’s on you. However, here are some unusual titles to get you thinking:
Calamitous Bob by Alex Gilbert
Beware of Chicken by CasualFarmer
A Practical Guide to Evil by David Verburg
3. Translated:
Lord of the Mysteries by Cuttlefish That Loves Diving
Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint by Eric Yang
4. Small Press or Self Published:
Almost everything counts! Not Dungeon Crawler Carl, The Wandering Inn, Legends & Lattes, or Apocalypse Parenting, but everything else! I’m pretty sure Aethon’s stuff—despite making it onto trad shelves!—has gotten there without partnership from a major publishing house, so you’re still good with Cradle, He Who Fights With Monsters, etc. Correct me if I’m wrong, please!
For those unfamiliar with the genre, that means you can take almost any recommendations from any square I listed here, and use them for this square.
5. Unusual Transportation:
Battle Trucker by Tom Goldstein – Bertha is really unusual
He Who Fights with Monsters by Shirtaloon has the weird non-horses they ride and other strange modes later on.
Whispering Crystals by HC Mills has an entire book on a weird concept-ship later on in the series.
BuyMort by Damien Hansen – the MC’s “armor” and the old lady’s mecha ought to count
Mimic Dungeon by Alex Raizman – a mobile dungeon is pretty weird
The (Second) Life of Brian by Chris Tullbane (not-horses)
Second Row Across
6. The Afterlife
Book of the Dead by RinoZ
Liches Get Stitches by HJ Tolson
See These Bones (Murder of Crows) by Chris Tullbane
7. Game Changer
Lots of options here, especially if you look at the System Apocalypse or VRMMMO subgenres. An incomplete and inexhaustive list:
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Tower of Somnus by Cale Plamann
Life Reset by Shemer Kuznits
Apocalypse Parenting by Erin Ampersand (me)
Disgardium by Dan Sugralinov
Player Manager by Ted Steel
Ripple System by Kyle Kirrin
Books 2 & 3 of Andrew Rowe’s Weapons and Wielders series are also very focused on tournaments.
8. Vacation Spot
This is subjective, but you might want to look at some of the cozier, more idyllic stories/worlds, or stories that take place over a long timespan. Some ideas:
Beware of Chicken by CasualFarmer
Casual Farming by Wolf Locke
I Ran Away to Evil by MysticNeptune
Heretical Fishing by Haylock Jobson
Tree of Aeons by Spaizzzer
Beneath the Dragoneye Moons by Selkie Myth
9. Five Short Stories
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
10. Older Protagonist
I’d count Eight by Samer Rabadi. The protagonist has reincarnated as a young child, but still has a long life of experience to look back on.
Cat Core by Dean Henegar clearly counts for the same reason
Summoner Awakens by Kerberos
The Weirkey Chronicles by Sarah Lin
Tree of Aeons by Spaizzzer
The Storm Who Rides by Chris Tullbane
Third Row Across
11. Duology Part 1 (part 2 is a later square in this row, #15)
Pickaxe of a Thousand Attributes by Dan Sugralinov
Adventures of a Scribe & Challenges of a Scribe by Michael Deyhim
System Keeper by Cassius Lange and Ned Castor
Secret Records of Axel Font by Tobias Begley
The Between by Ryan Leslie
Arianna by Emilie Millie/Steeve N
City of Artem by Kevin Sinclair
Also of note:
Worm & Ward by JC McCrae
Pact & Pale by JC McCrae
…although it should be noted that there is significant disagreement over whether any of Wildbow’s works should count as progression fantasy. I’d call them progression-adjacent, myself.
12. r/Fantasy Book Club or Readalong Book:
Tackle any past or active r/Fantasy book clubs OR past or active r/Fantasy readalongs. See our full list of book clubs here. NOTE: All of the current book club info can also be found on this Goodreads page. Every book added to the Goodreads shelf or on this Google Sheet counts for this square. You can see past readalongs here.
Hard mode is 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
The Crafting of Chess by Kit Falbo
13. Published in 2026
Check the monthly release threads! Here’s the one for April for r/litrpg: https://www.reddit.com/r/litrpg/comments/1s8si3w/april_2026_ebook_list/
I checked a few of the Book 1s, and it looks like Soul Harvest #1 is the first published work for its author, Steevie, if you’re looking for hard mode!
14. Explorers and Rangers
Primal Hunter by Zogarth
Red X Wolf by Dakota Krout
Edge of the Woods by Andrew Rowe
I almost want to count Beneath the Dragoneye Moons, but I feel like it’s going against the spirit of the square.
15. Duology Part 2
See square 11, “Duology Part 1”
Fourth Row Across
16. One-Word Title
Gravesong by Pirateaba
Fluff by Ravensdagger
Bioshifter by Natalie Maher/Thundamoo
Eight by Samer Rabadi
Roverpowered by Drew Hayes
Bastion by Phil Tucker
17. Non-Human Protagonist
Kitty Cat Kill Sat by Argus
All the Dust that Falls by Zaifyr
Shrubley, Monster Adventurer by James T. Callum
The Storm Who Rides by Chris Tullbane
Edge of the Woods by Andrew Rowe
Six Sacred Swords by Andrew Rowe
18. Middle Grade
Haley & Nana by Maggie Hogarth
The Accidental Minecraft Family by Pixel Ate
19. First Contact
Hooray for system apocalypses!
But for hard mode here, you might want to look at those where the aliens are fellow victims of the system, or the system is a response by the universe to a greater threat. Here are two:
Alpha Physics by Alex Kozlowski
Super Supportive by Sleyca
20. Murder Mystery
I genuinely don’t know if this exists. There are books that feature mystery elements, or murder mysteries as a side plot (Game at Carousel, Fate Points) and some that have a mystery element (but not murder mystery) to the main plot, such as Butler to a Core Lord, but I’m not aware of any murder mystery LitRPG.
Fifth Row Across
21. Cat Squasher
Lots of choices here, especially if you don’t care about hard mode. Here are a few series where Book #1 counts for non-hard mode:
Mother of Learning by Domagoj Kurmaic
Primal Hunter by Zogarth
He Who Fights with Monsters by Shirtaloon
Jake’s Magical Market J.R. Mathews
The (Second) Life of Brian by Chris Tullbane
For the hard mode, we have to look at the tarrasque in the room: The Wandering Inn. Any of its web-based “volumes” will count, and at time of writing, the eBook of “Book 3” clocks in at 1144 pages, but it looks like those “Books” are being split up into part 1/part 2 for trad publishing, so fun times ahead for Wandering Inn fans trying to figure out where each other are in the series!
22. Feast Your Eyes on This
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
Beware of Chicken by CasualFarmer
Morcster Chef by Actus
Casual Farming by Wolfe Lock and Mike Caliban
Heretical Fishing by Haylock Jobson
23. Published in the 70s
Quag Keep by Andre Norton
24. Politics and Court Intrigue
Path of Ascension C. Mantis
The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba
Liches Get Stitches by HJ Tolson
Good Guys by Eric Ugland
Mark of the Fool by JM Clarke
Calamitous Bob by Alex Gilbert
25. Author of Color
Any of the works of Hunter Mythos
The Tower Unbroken: A West African Progression Fantasy by Michael Nwanolue
The Mimic & Me by Cassius Lange and Ryan Tang
For hard mode, I’d look at translated works, such as:
Lord of the Mysteries by Cuttlefish That Loves Diving
Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint by Eric Yang
I am sure there are more out there! Please let me know about authors of color I’m missing, especially if anyone knows of a book that counts for hard mode here.