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Books like Dungeon Crawler Carl
A lot of what you loved may have been Jeff Hays. That changes the recommendation entirely, and most lists never consider it.
We earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Prices come from Amazon and were last checked on October 6, 2026. It does not change which books we pick — see how we choose and how we are funded.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is three things stacked on each other, and which one hooked you decides where to go next. Most read-alike lists assume it was the LitRPG mechanics. For a lot of listeners it was not.
What hooked you
- The comedy. Carl is the funniest book in its genre and funny is portable. If the jokes were the draw, Good Omens is a better next listen than most LitRPG.
- The system mechanics. Levels, stats, announcements. He Who Fights with Monsters and The Primal Hunter are the direct comparisons.
- The production. Jeff Hays doing dozens of voices with sound design on the system messages. If that was it, you want ambitious audio rather than similar books — start with World War Z and full-cast audiobooks.
- The escalation. Each floor bigger than the last. Cradle does this cleanly across twelve complete books.
And the obvious answer first: Carl's Doomsday Scenario. The series runs to eight published volumes and over 150 hours, so if you want more Carl, there is a great deal more Carl.
What to listen to after Dungeon Crawler Carl
Labeled by which appeal each matches. Credits from the publisher's catalog; prices from Amazon at our last check.
| # | Title | Best for | Narrator | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Carl's Doomsday Scenario Matt Dinniman · read by Jeff Hays The second Dungeon Crawler Carl: a new floor, worse rules, and the series starting to show its real ambition. | Continuing the series | Jeff Hays | $18.41on Amazon |
| 2 |  He Who Fights with Monsters Shirtaloon · read by Heath Miller A sardonic Australian wakes up in a fantasy world with a quest system and no patience. The most-recommended progression fantasy after Carl. | Listeners who want the system mechanics foregrounded | Heath Miller | $27.67on Amazon |
| 3 |  Unsouled Will Wight · read by Travis Baldree A boy with no talent in a clan that measures everything by talent decides to get strong anyway. The cleanest progression-fantasy series, and it is actually finished. | A progression series with a real ending | Travis Baldree | $16.41on Amazon |
| 4 |  The Primal Hunter Zogarth · read by Travis Baldree An office worker is dropped into a survival tutorial and turns out to be very good at it. Cleaner, leaner system fantasy than most of the shelf. | Progression fantasy without the comedy | Travis Baldree | $27.67on Amazon |
| 5 |  Beware of Chicken Casualfarmer · read by Travis Baldree A cultivator decides to skip the murder tournaments and farm instead. Cozy progression fantasy, and the chicken is the best character. | Cozy listeners curious about progression fantasy | Travis Baldree | $19.10on Amazon |
| 6 |  The Wandering Inn Pirateaba · read by Andrea Parsneau A girl from Earth runs an inn at the edge of a fantasy world. Vast, slow, and deeply loved by the people who stay with it. | Listeners who want an enormous world to live in | Andrea Parsneau | $27.48on Amazon |
| 7 |  Good Omens Neil Gaiman · read by Martin Jarvis An angel and a demon conspire to prevent the apocalypse because they rather like England. The funniest book on this site. | A listen that will make you laugh aloud in the car | Martin Jarvis | $25.98on Amazon |
| 8 |  World War Z Max Brooks · read by Various An oral history of a zombie war, told as interviews with survivors around the world. Built for audio more deliberately than almost anything else on this site. | The best argument for full-cast production | Various | $15.75on Amazon |
The picks, in detail
Our top pick · Continuing the series
Carl's Doomsday Scenario
by Matt Dinniman · narrated by Jeff Hays
- Runtime
- 11h 28m
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2021
The second Dungeon Crawler Carl: a new floor, worse rules, and the series starting to show its real ambition.
On audio
Hays again, with a wider cast of monsters to invent voices for.
Who should skip it
- Not a starting point.
- Middle-floor pacing dips.
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Runtime from the audiobooks.com catalog listing.
Pick 2 · Listeners who want the system mechanics foregrounded
He Who Fights with Monsters
by Shirtaloon · narrated by Heath Miller
- Runtime
- Not published in our source
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2021
A sardonic Australian wakes up in a fantasy world with a quest system and no patience. The most-recommended progression fantasy after Carl.
On audio
Heath Miller's dry Australian delivery is most of why this series works, and the audio is the format the fandom actually uses.
Who should skip it
- The protagonist's constant quipping is divisive.
- A great deal of stat and ability bookkeeping.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Pick 3 · A progression series with a real ending
Unsouled
by Will Wight · narrated by Travis Baldree
- Runtime
- Not published in our source
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2019
A boy with no talent in a clan that measures everything by talent decides to get strong anyway. The cleanest progression-fantasy series, and it is actually finished.
On audio
Travis Baldree across twelve books, with a consistent voice the whole way.
Who should skip it
- Book one is short and slight compared with what follows.
- The martial-arts terminology comes fast.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Pick 4 · Progression fantasy without the comedy
The Primal Hunter
by Zogarth · narrated by Travis Baldree
- Runtime
- Not published in our source
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2022
An office worker is dropped into a survival tutorial and turns out to be very good at it. Cleaner, leaner system fantasy than most of the shelf.
On audio
Travis Baldree reads it, which is a large part of why it broke out of the web-serial audience.
Who should skip it
- Thin characterization outside the lead.
- Repetitive by structure — leveling is the plot.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Pick 5 · Cozy listeners curious about progression fantasy
Beware of Chicken
by Casualfarmer · narrated by Travis Baldree
- Runtime
- Not published in our source
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2022
A cultivator decides to skip the murder tournaments and farm instead. Cozy progression fantasy, and the chicken is the best character.
On audio
Travis Baldree, whose unhurried delivery is exactly right for a farming book.
Who should skip it
- Almost no conflict in the first half.
- Assumes some familiarity with cultivation tropes to get the jokes.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Pick 6 · Listeners who want an enormous world to live in
The Wandering Inn
by Pirateaba · narrated by Andrea Parsneau
- Runtime
- Not published in our source
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2019
A girl from Earth runs an inn at the edge of a fantasy world. Vast, slow, and deeply loved by the people who stay with it.
On audio
Andrea Parsneau sustains a cast of hundreds across a serial that is longer than most book series.
Who should skip it
- The pacing is genuinely glacial early on.
- The total length is intimidating and the series is ongoing.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Pick 7 · A listen that will make you laugh aloud in the car
Good Omens
by Neil Gaiman · narrated by Martin Jarvis
- Runtime
- Not published in our source
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2009
An angel and a demon conspire to prevent the apocalypse because they rather like England. The funniest book on this site.
On audio
Martin Jarvis handles the footnote-dense comedy and the enormous cast, and the jokes land better spoken than read.
Who should skip it
- The footnotes are intrusive in audio.
- The plot is secondary to the gags throughout.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Pick 8 · The best argument for full-cast production
World War Z
by Max Brooks · narrated by Various
- Runtime
- Not published in our source
- Narrators
- 1
- Audio edition
- 2013
An oral history of a zombie war, told as interviews with survivors around the world. Built for audio more deliberately than almost anything else on this site.
On audio
A large cast plays the interviewees, so the book's documentary conceit stops being a conceit. The print edition is strictly worse.
Who should skip it
- No continuous protagonist, so there is nobody to hold on to.
- The episodic structure means quality varies chapter to chapter.
#ad How we are funded · Audible price as of October 6, 2026
Matched to what you liked
| If you loved... | Read | Note |
|---|---|---|
| More Carl | Carl's Doomsday Scenario | Eight volumes, 150+ hours, still going |
| The system mechanics | He Who Fights with Monsters | Heath Miller's dry Australian delivery is most of it |
| Clean escalation, finished | Cradle | Twelve books and complete, which is rare here |
| Lighter system fantasy | The Primal Hunter | Travis Baldree narrates; thin outside the lead |
| Comedy with a gentler setting | Beware of Chicken | Cultivation fantasy with farming instead of murder |
| Something enormous to live in | The Wandering Inn | Genuinely glacial early; devoted readership |
| The jokes above all | Good Omens | Not LitRPG at all; the funniest book on this site |
| The production ambition | World War Z | Full cast; print is the lesser edition |
A caution about the genre
Carl is genuinely good and a lot of LitRPG is not. The genre's baseline is lower than most, because much of it is web-serial writing published quickly, and the stat-block convention that works in Carl's production is tedious in weaker ones. The picks above are the ones with real followings and real productions; be more skeptical than usual about anything outside them. LitRPG audiobooks is the fuller guide.
Where to go next
- For the genre, LitRPG audiobooks.
- For traditional fantasy, fantasy audiobooks.
- For the He Who Fights route, books like He Who Fights with Monsters.
- For the long commitments, the really long audiobooks.
Frequently asked questions
What should I read after Dungeon Crawler Carl?
Is anything as well narrated as Dungeon Crawler Carl?
What is the best LitRPG series that is actually finished?
Is He Who Fights with Monsters like Dungeon Crawler Carl?
Is the rest of LitRPG as good as Carl?
Sources
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