Dungeon Crawler Carl

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.

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.

Includes part one of the exclusive bonus story “Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.”

Matt Dinniman is a writer, artist, and musician (well, he's a bass player) from Gig Harbor, WA. He is the author of several books, including the bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

Dungeon Crawler Carl begins on an ordinary day that is instantly shattered when the entire surface of the Earth is destroyed without warning. Cities, landscapes, and almost all human life are wiped away as if the planet were scraped clean, leaving only buildings and structures that sit on well-defined foundations. These remaining bits of civilization are pulled into a vast, multi-layered underground complex: a colossal, alien-created game-like dungeon. Humanity has not just been invaded; it has been turned into entertainment. The survivors find themselves suddenly trapped in a brutal reality show broadcast across the galaxy, where their struggle to live is a source of amusement and profit for distant alien viewers. The basic rule is simple and horrifying: crawl the dungeon or die.

Carl, the main character, is a fairly regular guy with a crummy job and a messy personal life, not a soldier or hero. He survives the initial catastrophe almost by accident and quickly realizes that everything he knew is gone. The only constant from his old life is his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut—a pampered, diva-like house cat who becomes his unexpected partner. In the rules of this new world, humans and animals alike can gain levels, skills, and abilities in true RPG style. Princess Donut is given speech and intelligence, transforming her into a talking, overdramatic, but surprisingly capable companion. Together, Carl and Donut become “crawlers,” forced to descend through deadly dungeon floors, fighting monsters, solving puzzles, and dealing with traps in order to survive.

The dungeon itself is laid out like a game, complete with system messages, item drops, experience points, and a shop where crawlers can buy gear and upgrades. But it is no harmless simulation; the violence, pain, and death are very real. Each floor has its own ecosystem of monsters, challenges, and quests that feel like twisted versions of familiar game mechanics. Aliens and advanced AIs run the show, setting up rules and scenarios while commentary streams out for their interstellar audience. Crawlers are given rankings and stats, their progress monitored and judged. Those who do well may attract sponsors and gain advantages, but everything comes at a cost. Around Carl and Donut, other humans scramble to adapt: some form parties and alliances, some prey on others, and many die quickly, unable to adjust to this new, merciless environment.

Carl is not a natural-born leader, but the dungeon forces him to grow. He learns to think strategically about combat, resource management, and when to trust others. His relationship with Princess Donut becomes one of the emotional centers of the story. Donut is bossy, vain, and hilarious, but she’s also brave and surprisingly loyal. Their banter provides much of the humor, contrasting sharply with the horror of their situation. As they fight goblins, spiders, weird hybrid creatures, and dungeon bosses, they begin to understand how the system works: different classes, skill trees, and stat distributions can make the difference between life and death. Carl’s ordinary, grounded personality and Donut’s dramatic flair make them memorable and oddly well-balanced partners.

As they descend and gain experience, Carl starts to notice that the dungeon is not only a challenge but also a cage designed with layers of cruelty built in. The aliens watching the show care more about ratings and drama than about fairness. Traps are often designed not just to kill but to humiliate. Some monsters are clearly engineered to provoke strong reactions from viewers, and special events are triggered to create chaos and spectacle. Carl and Donut meet other recurring characters, some of whom may be allies, others potential enemies. A few survivors show hints of hidden agendas or secret knowledge about how the dungeon and the wider galaxy really work. Carl’s growing suspicion that things are rigged only pushes him harder to survive and find cracks in the system.

Throughout the book, there is a constant balance between comedy and darkness. On one hand, there is Princess Donut’s over-the-top attitude, the absurdity of game menus and loot drops, and Carl’s dry, self-aware humor. On the other, there is the genuine grief of losing the world, the terror of people being eaten alive or torn apart, and the despair of realizing that humans are now essentially property in an alien entertainment complex. The story doesn’t shy away from violence or from showing how some people quickly turn ruthless in order to gain advantage. Yet it also highlights courage, friendship, and the stubborn human refusal to give up even when the odds are impossible.

As the story progresses, Carl is pushed into tougher fights and more complicated moral choices. He has to decide whom to help, whom to leave behind, and when to risk everything for a chance at a better outcome. The dungeon floors aren’t just random levels; they start to reveal hints of a greater structure and purpose. There are clues that the dungeon system has been used on other species before, that this is not the first time a planet has been turned into a game. Carl becomes determined not just to stay alive but to understand the system and look for any path that might lead to real freedom, not simply deeper levels and temporary rewards.

The novel also plays with the idea of how people perform when they know they are being watched. Crawlers know that they are on camera all the time, their every action potentially judged by alien viewers. Some play up personas, trying to appear heroic, villainous, or dramatic to gain attention and sponsorship. Carl, however, mostly stays himself—awkward, honest, and quietly angry. This authenticity, combined with his growing skill and his unusual partnership with Princess Donut, gradually puts him in the spotlight whether he wants it or not. Carl’s internal struggle between just surviving and actively resisting what has been done to humanity adds depth beneath the action and humor.

By the end of the first book, Carl and Donut have made it through several brutal floors, leveled up, and learned a great deal about how the dungeon operates, but they are still only at the beginning of a long, dangerous journey. They have formed fragile relationships with other crawlers, discovered some of the system’s hidden rules, and begun to suspect that larger forces may be working behind the scenes. The Earth as they knew it is gone, but Carl refuses to let humans be reduced to disposable characters in a cosmic game. “Dungeon Crawler Carl” leaves them alive, battered, and still descending, with Carl’s stubborn determination and Donut’s indignant bravado carrying them forward into deeper levels, greater threats, and the faint but vital hope that there might one day be a way to beat the dungeon itself rather than just play along.