LitRPG

LitRPG, short for literary role-playing game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of computer RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels. The term was introduced in 2013. In LitRPG, game-like elements form an essential part of the story, and visible RPG statistics (for example strength, intelligence, damage) are a significant part of the reading experience. This distinguishes the genre from novels that tie in with a game, like those set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons; books that are actual games, such as the choose-your-own-adventure Fighting Fantasy type of publication; or games that are literarily described, like MUDs and interactive fiction. Typically, the main character in a LitRPG novel is consciously interacting with the game or game-like world and attempting to progress within it.

History

The literary trope of getting inside a computer game is not new. Andre Norton's Quag Keep (1978) enters the world of the characters of a D&D game. Larry Niven and Steven Barnes's Dream Park (1981) has a setting of LARP-like games as a kind of reality TV in the future (2051). With the rise of MMORPGs in the 1990s came science fiction novels that utilised virtual game worlds for their plots. In Taiwan, the first of Yu Wo's nine ½ Prince (½ 王子 Èrfēnzhīyī Wángzǐ) novels appeared, published in October 2004 by Ming Significant Cultural. In Japan, the genre started in 1993 with the comedy Magical Circle Guru Guru were the characters lived in a JRPG and the cliches and mechanics of the time were often source of humor. Later Japanese examples include .hack//Sign in 2002 and Sword Art Online in 2009. The Korean series Legendary Moonlight Sculptor has over 50 volumes.

These novels and others were precursors to a more stat-heavy form of novel. Using a looser definition, a Russian publishing initiative identified the genre and gave it a name. The first Russian novel in this style appeared in 2012 at the Russian self-publishing website samizdat.ru, the novel Господство клана Неспящих (Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones) by Dem Mikhailov set in the fictional sword and sorcery game world of Valdira, printed by Leningrad Publishers later that year under the title Господство кланов (The Rule of the Clans) in the series Современный фантастический боевик (Modern Fantastic Action Novel) and translated into English as The Way of the Clan as a Kindle book in 2015.

In 2013, EKSMO, a major Russian publishing house, started its multiple-author project entitled LitRPG. According to Magic Dome Books, a major translator of Russian LitRPG, the term "LitRPG" was coined in late 2013 during a brainstorming session between writer Vasily Mahanenko, EKSMO's science fiction editor Dmitry Malkin and fellow LitRPG series editor and author Alex Bobl. Since 2014, EKSMO has been running LitRPG competitions and publishing the winning stories.

Most LitRPG books were self-published, with some works in the genre having reached mainstream success. In January 2020 Aleron Kong's The Land: Monsters appeared on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list in the Fiction E-Books category. Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series was picked-up by Ace Books, and has a television series in production. In March 2025, Dinniman's novel This Inevitable Ruin (book 7 of Dungeon Crawler Carl) reached #2 on the Audio Fiction list of the New York Times best-seller list.

Notable examples

• Dungeon Crawler Carl (2020–) by Matt Dinniman
• Fayroll (2017–) by Andrey Vasilyev (Андрей Васильев)

GameLit

Many of the post-2014 writers in this field insist that depiction of a character's in-game progression must be part of the definition of LitRPG, leading to the emergence of the term GameLit to embrace stories set in a game universe but which do not necessarily embody leveling and skill raising.