The book series Dungeon Crawler Carl
pulls you into its deadly game so much that you almost feel like you’re playing along. Is there anything similar on the PS5? MyMMO author Max Handwerk is on the hunt.
I love reading. However, I must admit that it has lately become rarer for a book, let alone a book series, to truly grab me. Now it has finally happened again: Dungeon Crawler Carl ensures that I sometimes stay up way too late reading about what happens next with the main character Carl and his cat Princess Donut.
What is Dungeon Crawler Carl about? When Princess Donut, the cat of his ex-girlfriend Beatrice, jumps out the window one night, the sleepy Carl has to run after her in his underwear to catch the fleeing pet. As soon as he steps outside, the world suddenly comes crashing down: All structures, houses, cars, and similar things are pressed onto the surface of the planet. Those who were inside at that moment die. Those who were outside live.
The starting situation is not much better: gates suddenly open to the interior of the earth. Those who enter become part of the game Dungeon World
. The task of the people who enter there: to orient themselves, survive, and descend deeper into the dungeon while entertaining the viewers – preferably by creatively fighting the dungeon monsters, bosses, and other players. Every few days, a level collapses – and whoever hasn’t managed to go further down by then dies.
Carl and Princess Donut play Dungeon World to save their lives
What makes Dungeon Crawler Carl special: It reads like a video game. Carl gets stats like those found in D&D or Baldur’s Gate 3 and now has to try to improve them to survive. This happens through:
- The right equipment
- Experience points
- Rewards for achievements
Effectively, Dungeon Crawler Carl is the book version of Looting & Leveling
.
Every few pages, there are new equipment, new abilities, new circumstances that change the game. And this makes the book extremely diverse.
The twist: Donut, the cat, not only learns to talk but quickly becomes a master player of the game. She evolves from a simple pet to a pretty ruthless, confident, and sassy player who is clearly superior to Carl at the beginning of the game.
No wonder she immediately becomes the leader of the party, which is henceforth called Royal Court of Princess Donut, and appoints Carl as the Royal Bodyguard
.
The duo punches, shoots, and bites their way through a pretty insane world from minute one, which does everything to kill them. From the first encounter with goblins to battles against lava-spitting llamas to the first boss fight: it gets intense in Dungeon World.
Despite all the madness, the book does not forget to bring a lot of heart. You empathize with Carl, who has been thrown into a crazier version of games like Baldur’s Gate 3 as one of the only few million survivors, mainly for the entertainment of an overwhelming threat.
It deals with themes like rebellion, resistance, and personal moral understanding: Where do you draw the line to become stronger yourself?
A scene in the first book I found very striking is when Carl and Donut encounter a group of seniors who wander through the game world almost alone and completely underlevelled. Helping them means exposing oneself to great danger – especially in light of the fact that the dungeon is only getting worse and more dangerous. At the same time, there are other ruthless players who would use the group as a practical XP farm to progress themselves. How it all ends, I will leave open here.
Dungeon Crawler Carl brings everything a good video game needs as a book. Loot, level, exciting abilities, crazy enemies, unusual game locations, interesting side quests, and a story that takes unexpected turns again and again. And I realize about myself: I would really like to play this on a console.
Dungeon Crawler Carl suddenly makes me crave games I rarely play
The whole reading about the gear, the new abilities, and the progress of Carl and Donut almost replaces gaming for me right now. Primarily because I can hardly find a game that satisfies this need as well as the book does. And I have tried!
- First, I fired up Baldur’s Gate 3 again. This is quite similar to the game in Dungeon World, logically, since both are based in some form on Dungeons & Dragons. Baldur’s Gate probably offers the feeling of free decisions that define Dungeon World best. My main problem: I’ve already completed BG3 three times, plus a few started runs. (Yes, I know, you still find something new in BG3).
- My next attempt was Borderlands 4. I had shelved it after the release, and it actually turns out to be a pretty good choice for comparison with Carl. Borderlands is also (in a good way) crazy, offers loot, offers level. However, it lacks the narrative depth that the book has and primarily links battles one after another.
- Divinity: Original Sin II is my next candidate. My only issue here is that I still exactly remember why I stopped playing last time. My last save file is stuck in the middle of a fight that, I fear, I cannot win because I either misbuilt my character or am just too dumb. We’ll see, maybe it’s still worth a try.
- And Diablo 4 is still in my repertoire. It was once available on PS Plus for the PS5 and currently rests unplayed on my home screen. However, based on my experiences with Diablo 2 and 3, I assume that while the game is perfect for loot and leveling, it’s just not fun. And that’s also something that defines my current favorite book.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a Dungeon Crawler Carl game in this form. But hey, at least a series has already been announced recently. That’s not bad either, even if I can hardly imagine how it is supposed to be adapted for screen. But: I thought the same about Live-Action One Piece, and that works well too. I still have a few books from the series ahead of me; I’m currently only on book 3. But: Do you have any tips for me on which game I should try again? Write it in the comments!
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