The Best Games Like Dungeon Crawler Carl
Polygon has published a guide matching video games to the floors of Matt Dinniman's "Dungeon Crawler Carl" book series, offering readers ways to experience the sci-fi/fantasy setting interactively. The article pairs each of the first several books with a game that captures the tone or mechanics of that particular dungeon floor, aimed at fans wanting a playable equivalent of the story's escalating, deadly challenges.
Recommendations include "Lethal Company" for the tutorial floors' bleak corporate-survival horror, "Baldur's Gate 3" (Act 3) for the chaotic, quest-packed Over City, "Antichamber" for the disorienting, maze-like Iron Tangle, and "Tears of the Kingdom" for the biome-hopping Hump Town section. Each pairing draws on shared themes such as high stakes, dark humour, exploration and strategic combat, with games listed alongside their available platforms.
- Polygon matches video games to Dungeon Crawler Carl book floors/settings.
- Lethal Company suits the tutorial floors' bleak survival tone.
- Baldur's Gate 3 and Antichamber recommended for later chaotic floors.
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Dungeon Crawler Carl is a bestselling series of science fiction and fantasy novels by American author Matt Dinniman, which follows a man and his cat surviving a deadly, game-like dungeon that has swallowed the Earth. Each book covers a different "floor" of the dungeon, with its own dangers, rules and dark comic tone, drawing comparisons to reality TV, video games and dungeon-crawling fiction.
Because the books are structured like levels in a game, some readers have looked for video games that capture a similar feel, whether that's survival horror, chaotic open-world adventure, disorientating mazes, or exploration across varied landscapes. Polygon, a games and entertainment website, has put together a guide suggesting specific titles that echo the mood or mechanics of particular floors from the series.
This kind of pairing matters mainly to fans of the books looking for ways to further engage with the story's world, rather than to the wider publishing or gaming industries. It reflects a broader trend of readers and viewers seeking interactive equivalents to popular book series.