Written by Matt Dinniman, Dungeon Crawler Carl (2020) is a contemporary fantasy and litRPG (literary role-playing game) novel that blends humor and adventure with a unique structure that deliberately mimics game mechanics common to such RPGs as the classic Dungeons and Dragons. This novel is the first installment in a series that currently consists of seven books.

The novel begins in Seattle, Washington, and follows Carl, an ordinary guy who accidentally survives a near-extinction event when all man-made structures collapse. Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, become trapped in a bizarre and deadly reality show and must make their way through an 18-level dungeon. To survive, participants—called “Crawlers”—must navigate treacherous obstacle courses, battle monsters, and solve puzzles, and all of their efforts are televised for the entertainment of a galactic audience. Dungeon Crawler Carl encompasses Carl’s exploits as he works through the first two levels of the dungeon, and the novel ends as Carl and Princess Donut reach Level 3.

Blending humor with the conventional mechanics of gaming, Dungeon Crawler Carl is a story of survival, resilience, and the complexities of relationships in intense circumstances. Dinniman blends fantasy elements, alien politics, and present-day culture to create an unconventional narrative that also manages to poke fun at the conventions of gaming mechanics and the gaming community as a whole. Through Carl’s eyes, the novel explores themes of The Human Capacity for Resilience, The Ethical Implications of Sadistic Entertainment, and Partnership and Loyalty under Duress.

This guide refers to the Kindle edition published by Dandy House in 2020.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain descriptions of graphic violence and gore, abuse, and child loss.

Plot Summary

Dungeon Crawler Carl is a litRPG narrative that begins in present-day Seattle, Washington. Carl just recently broke up with his unfaithful girlfriend, Beatrice, while she was on vacation. Now, Princess Donut, Beatrice’s show cat, jumps out the window, and Carl hurries after her. The weather is freezing, and while Carl attempts to retrieve Donut, all the man-made buildings around him collapse. A voice tells him that he can either enter one of the stairwells that have just appeared and compete in a dungeon, or he can stay outside and try to survive in the cold. Because Carl and Donut are freezing, Carl has no choice but to enter the dungeon, which has 18 levels. The person to beat Level 18 will become the ruler of Earth. Thirteen million people enter the dungeon before the openings close.

Once in the dungeon, Carl is immediately attacked by goblins. He meets his guild master, Mordecai, who becomes his and Donut’s mentor as Carl traverses the dungeon. There are 18 levels to the dungeon, but Mordecai explains that in the history of the show, no “crawler” (participant) has ever gotten past Level 13. This admission reveals that the game is rigged against the crawlers. Per the rules of the game, Carl will not be able to choose a species or class until Level 3. Carl receives an enhanced pet biscuit, which he feeds to Donut, and the cat transforms from a pet into a crawler. Her charisma is 25, which is much higher than Carl’s; Donut’s charisma score is also absurdly high for this level of the dungeon. Donut receives a crown, which she places on her head. The crown places her in the line of succession for the Blood Sultanate. This means that on Level 9, she will be required to kill all the members of the royal family.

Donut and Carl leave, and Carl tries to separate from Donut because she is so mean to him. She apologizes and promises to be nicer, and they stay together. Donut and Carl face their first neighborhood “boss,” (the opponent that the game requires them to beat). This particular boss is a “hoarder.” She is a real Earth woman who has been turned into a 15-foot monster. She is Spanish-speaking and is clearly in pain. Carl kills her but is horrified by the entire situation.

Donut and Carl find a dead crawler who has been killed by another human named Frank. Carl is furious to realize that crawlers are turning against each other. After the first day, an episode airs, and Carl and Donut are able to watch it from a safe room. The show focuses on different crawlers but does not feature Donut and Carl.

Donut charms a group of goblins who build her and Carl a coal-powered motorcycle. When the main group of goblins leaves, Donut and Carl create a makeshift explosive to kill the goblin boss. Only after they have pushed the cart of explosives into the room does Donut mention that the room contains babies, elderly, and pregnant goblins. The room explodes, and all of the goblins are killed. Carl is horrified to realize that he has killed goblin babies.

Donut and Carl meet Frank in a safe room. Frank and his partner and wife, Maggie, attack Carl and Donut, who escape. Carl leaves a stick of dynamite in a dead rat as a trap for Frank. Carl then finds a group called Meadow Lark, consisting of four able-bodied people who worked for an assisted living facility and around 40 elderly people. Brandon, the leader, knows that protecting the elderly people in the dungeon is hopeless, but he will not abandon them.

Donut and Carl decide to help Meadow Lark. Donut and Carl use tables and other gear to fight a borough boss alongside Meadow Lark, and they defeat it together. They go down to Level 2, and Donut and Carl are teleported to an interview with a host and former crawler named Odette. Odette interviews them and Donut charms the crowd. Privately, Odette gives them advice on how to survive. She was a crawler many years ago and survived to Level 12. She stopped on the staircase to Level 13, made a deal, and got out of the dungeon.

Level 1 has killed over 10 million people, and an additional 1.2 million people die when it collapses. Carl and Donut continue to try to help the elderly people in Meadow Lark to survive. While fighting another neighborhood boss, Carl nearly dies and uses what little health he has to protect Donut. Donut drags him to safety and saves his life in return. Because of Donut and Carl’s rising fame, they are assigned a PR agent named Zev, who is a kua-tin, or fish creature. Zev works for Borant Corporation, and Carl is surprised when she is sympathetic to their plight and bonds with Donut immediately.

To deter people from urinating or defecating outside of the bathrooms, the game mechanics are such that these actions spawn a high-level elemental that will kill anyone nearby. Suddenly, an elderly man named Jack urinates before the group can stop him, causing a Level 93 rage elemental to manifest. Meadow Lark, Carl, and Donut are barely able to take shelter in a safe room. Carl creates a plan to exploit a bug in the dungeon’s programming, and he and Donut use their motorcycle to drop bombs on the elemental as it chases them. They trick the elemental into entering a staircase, and the mechanics of the dungeon automatically disintegrate the monster. This exploit increases Donut and Carl’s fame.

Borant Corporation puts Donut and Carl on a show that exploits and laughs at crawler deaths, and Carl makes enemies with a prince of the Skull Clan, Maestro. Maestro promises to kill Carl later in the dungeon. Maestro also brings Frank and Maggie onto the show and reveals that the trap that Carl laid for Frank actually injured their daughter, Yvette. Maggie then killed her injured daughter. Maggie tells Carl that he doesn’t understand everything, and promises to kill him.

When Donut and Carl clear a neighborhood boss, they are rewarded with a pet. Their pet is a baby velociraptor, which Donut names Mongo. Donut spends the rest of Level 2 trying to bond with Mongo. Then Carl and Donut descend to Level 3, where they will be permitted to choose a “race” and class.