What is LitRPG? Why do people read it?
With Dungeon Crawler Carl slated for a television adaptation, a lot of people are curious about LitRPG. Whether it’s the first time you’re hearing about the genre or if you were aware of it but just a little unsure, I’m here to break it down for you.
In short: LitRPG is speculative fiction that utilizes gamelike mechanics or elements to build a world or magic system.
Many people assume LitRPG books are more like the old “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, but they’re not. If you’re looking for something like that, you don’t want LitRPG, you want a type of video game called a “Visual Novel.”
But what does it mean to include gamelike elements if the book is just a book?
Another way of putting this is to say that LitRPG books have a super rigid magic system. For people who are familiar with Brandon Sanderson’s Laws of Magic, you’ll immediately see how this opens up a lot of space for interesting storytelling.
There are lots of ways these gamelike elements can be expressed. Some examples:
- Characters could be trapped in a literal video game, sort of like in the movie Jumanji or in the anime Sword Art Online. This has fallen a bit out of style in the past couple years, but it’s still part of the genre (subgenre: VRMMO. Example series: Forever Fantasy Online by Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach, Disgardium by Dan Sugralinov)
- A gamelike system descends on the world. Sometimes aliens are using humanity for sick entertainment, as in Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl. Sometimes the system is meant as a test of some kind. Sometimes the wave of magic isn’t something that could be stopped, but the system was created to help humanity adapt as it hits, as in Alex Kozlowski’s Alpha Physics. (subgenre: Gamesystem Apocalypse, often simply referred to as system apocalypse.)
- A person is transported to a world in which different, gamelike rules have always applied. (subgenre: isekai/portal fantasy. Example series: Beneath the Dragoneye Moons by Selkie Myth, The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba)
- The story takes place in an alternate world that has always had gamelike rules/a rigid magic system. I don’t know that this subgenre actually has a name, but This Trilogy is Broken by J.P. Valentine and Titan Hoppers by Rob J. Hayes are good examples.
That’s hardly an exhaustive list, but it gives you some idea of the flexibility.
Okay, so that’s what it is. Why is it so popular? Would I like it?
I mean, at its core, it’s just more speculative fiction! Just another flavor of fantasy or sci-fi. It’s not that scary, so the easiest way of finding out if you like it is giving it a try. That said, it does have a few selling points.
As a genre, LitRPG prioritizes fun.
Don’t get me wrong! There’s plenty of drama, horror, terror, and grief.
There just aren’t a lot of pretensions. No one’s trying to write the literary masterpieces, they’re trying to write stories that will appeal to the masses, gripping adventures that are easy to sink into and use as an escape from everyday life.
As the great C.S. Lewis said “When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness.” Authors here aren’t scared to pursue just about any premise that catches their imagination, and readers aren’t scared to give something weird a try. Which brings me to my next point…
Self-publication is the norm, so authors don’t have to write things the market is already demanding
I won’t lie, self-publication has upsides and downsides. The standard of editing in the genre is lower than traditional fantasy. That’s not to say that the best titles aren’t just as well-edited as any traditionally published book, but other titles… aren’t.
Why do readers put up with this? That’s easy!
Authors don’t have to write to market. They can write whatever their crazy little brains dream up. Some examples from books I’ve read and enjoyed:
- Man has to fight for his life by the side of his girlfriend’s cat, who recently gained sapience (Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman)
- Man with the power to return to a self-made save point is determined to save a friend. Unfortunately, the city she’s in is about to be destroyed in about five different ways. (The Perfect Run by Maxime J. Durand)
- Woman was just trying to work a hot dog stand when the whole area is sucked into another, extremely lethal, dimension. Good thing someone replaced her eye with a crystal that’s giving her advice and guidance. (Whispering Crystals by HC Mills)
- Magic and monsters have swept across the world, leaving one long-haul trucker stranded as her beloved big rig breaks down. How can she leave Bertha? Maybe, if she pursues the right magic, she doesn’t have to. (Battle Trucker by Tom Goldstein – warning: lots of swearing)
- Stuffed teddy bear golem gained sapience, but no one realizes. Can it survive the magically terrible luck that accompanied its birth without help? (Threadbare by Andrew Seiple)
- Man is reincarnated in the body of a female ant monster, and takes to it with gusto. (Chrysalis by RinoZ)
- Old lady who doesn’t understand games becomes the guiding intelligence for a magical monster lair. (Cat Core by Dean Henegar and Gianpiero Mangialardi)
And those are just a small sampling of a few of the books where I can sum up the weirdness in a short, non-spoilery blurb! There are dozens more titles with storylines and settings that are just as strange and unexpected.
One thing I should add is that many of the books in this genre were first published serially, the digital heirs to a longstanding tradition. Yeah, we had a while where serially-published works were unusual, but serial publication brought the world many of literature’s past greats. Serial publication brought the public everything from Count of Monte Christo and Sherlock Holmes, to the works of Charles Dickens, to early science fiction like Dune and and The Time Machine. It’s been out of style for several decades, but it’s back, baby! However, it does lead to a certain pace that some readers don’t enjoy, so if you’re interested in LitRPG but already know serials aren’t your thing, you might consider the works of J.R. Mathews, Forever Fantasy Online by Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach, or Travis Bagwell’s Awaken Online.
Finally… odds are that you enjoy videogames. Have you really never thought to yourself, “Wouldn’t it be crazy if life really worked like that?” Have you never wanted to see the stories of your mental what-ifs played out?
Games guarantee reward for achievement. With so many of us paying more and earning less (in adjusted dollars) than people in similar positions were a few decades ago, it’s easy to see why a fantasy of fairness might appeal, as well.
If not, this might not be the genre for you… but for us, it’s fabulous!