Your guide to Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series

Dungeon Crawler Carl Matt Dinniman

The apocalypse will be televised! Coast Guard veteran Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, are trying to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game-like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy.

Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Dead, drug-dealing llamas. This ain't your ordinary game show. 

Carl's Doomsday Scenario Matt Dinniman

Carl and Princess Donut return in the second Dungeon Crawler Carl adventure, battling deadlier monsters on the dungeon's third floor as their fame skyrockets. 

In the ruined Over City filled with undead horros, bizarre quests and dark magic, they must unravel a deadly mystery before it's too late... and maybe find Carl some pants along the way.

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook Matt Dinniman

Welcome, Crawlers. Welcome to The Iron Tangle, the fourth floor of the dungeon. An impossibly complicated subway system tied together into a knot of trains of all kinds. Carl and Princess Donut have made it to the Top 10 list, but that popularity comes with a price.

They have to work with other crawlers to solve the puzzle, but how can they know who to trust? 

The Gate of the Feral Gods Matt Dinniman

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy's most watched game show has taught Carl and Princess Donut that there's only one thing they can count on: they never know what's coming next. 

The Butcher's Masquerade Matt Dinniman

The gates are down. The hunters are loose. Run.

Carl and Princess Donut think they've seen everything the galaxy's favourite game show can throw at them... until they've reached The Hunting Grounds on the sixth floor. 

For the first time, outside tourists are allowed in to stalk and kill the remaining crawlers. Among them is Vrah, a hunter determined to claim her greatest trophy yet. But this season, the prey is fighting back.

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride Matt Dinniman

Carl and Princess Donut have survived longer than anyone expected in the galaxy's favourite reality show, but now the game is wide open. The task: capture six monsters and turn them into battle cards. But there's always a catch...

Capturing a monster is one thing. Taming it? That's another story entirely.

This Inevitable Ruin Matt Dinniman

They call it Faction Wars. Nine armies led by wealthy alien elites, all battling to seize the central castle. Strategy, alliences, treachery—it’s perfect television.

With the AI collapsing, Carl and his team seize the chaos and join the war as one of the nine factions—just as a tenth army rises: NPCs, who have become fully self-aware and formed a team of their own.

A Parade of Horribles Matt Dinniman

Carl and Princess Donut are forced to compete in a surprisingly normal set of tasks. Races. Get from point A to point B, and don't come in last. Simple, right?

Ignoring the murmurs from the mysterious eleventh floor, something they call A Parade of Horribles. Not even the showrunners know what it means. Just the AI has ominously dubbed it \"a coming-out party for the ages.\". So Carl is planning a party of his own...

Out 19 May 2026