The apocalypse will be televised! 

You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.

Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try 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. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.

IN A NUTSHELL
Innovative idea executed with flair. Perfectly captures the exploitative nature of gamification. Vividly imagined creatures and game rules. Spectacular fight scenes. All told with gentle humour. Having a cat as Carl’s partner was inspired. I can see why this caused such a sensation and why the series has attracted so many fans,

BUT…

…this wasn’t for me. Part of my problem is that I’ve never enjoyed RPGs. I also hate gamification in any form. I can see that the book is also anti-gamifaction and that the game is positioned as a cruelty-for-profit product that seems like the highest evolution of Imperialistic Captialism. Even so, I found it hard to sustain my interest in repetive slaughter-for-loot scenes, so I set this aside at 66%.

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I listened to nine hours of ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ before reluctantly setting it aside. Below, I’ve shared the notes I made on my experience as I listened to the audiobook.

5%

I hesitated to pick this book up because I’ve never enjoyed RPGs – the tests, the rewards, the noise and the pointless aggression all left me feeling the game was playing me rather than I was playing the game. It turns out that not liking RPGs is an excellent reason for reading this book. In Dungeon World, gamification is a form of torture, a cruel, gratuitous exploitation of ‘players’ for the gratification of others. I imagine working for Meta is a bit like that. 

The idea is great. The execution so far is fast, focused and amusing. I’m not sure that audiobook was the right choice for me. It feels unrelentingly loud. 

25%

I’m impressed by Matt Dinniman’s ability to present huge amounts of information about the setup of the game without having it feel like an infodump.

It’s been amusing so far, but I need to see some progression beyond killing things and collecting rewards, or I’m going to get bored.

32%

I’m not sure I’ll make it through this book. Fundamentally, the situation is horrific, the game is evil, and the violence is graphic and unrelenting. The dissonance between the situation and the lighthearted tone of the storytelling is difficult to take.

52%

This is well done, but I’ve had enough of one gory fight after another. I need something more. I was on the point of setting this aside a couple of times, but each time, there’s a hint that things are going to become more complex.  I’ve just finished Part 1. I’m going to give Part 2 an hour or so to show me that this is more than fist fights and weapon specs.

66%

Part two began with a nicely written TV interview that gave some insight into the larger picture and left me thinking about future plot developments. Then we got back to the fighting, the killing and the relentless, heartless, gamification. 

I can see that this isn’t a trivial book. There is a story arc that rejects everything the game is about, and I’m sure that Carl will have to develop as a person along the way (although there’s been very little evidence of that so far). 

My problem is the ratio of repetitive, gory violence to plot development. The fights and the reward boxes are beginning to feel like annoying adverts interrupting a drama I’d like to concentrate on. I thought about spending four more hours waiting for something to happen and decided that I wasn’t up for it, especially as I know the series continues for another seven books, so I’m not going to reach anything but an interim outcome here, so I’m setting this aside.