Dungeon Crawler Carl set a high bar: dark comedy, visible game stats, and a hero whose bond with his cat Donut carries half the emotional weight of the series. If you have caught up on Matt Dinniman's books and need something to fill the gap before the next one drops, here are five that scratch a similar itch.
He Who Fights with Monsters by Shirtaloon gets you the closest match in tone: crude humor, a reluctant hero, and progression that actually changes how fights play out rather than just padding a stat sheet.
Cat Core by Dean Henegar is the pick if Carl and Donut's relationship is what hooked you. A soldier bonds with an AI construct shaped like a cat, and the bickering-with-real-affection dynamic is the closest thing to Donut you will find anywhere.
Mage Tank by Dakota Krout leans into the same potty-mouthed, fast-paced comedy, following a character who dies in a bike accident and respawns with a deliberately weird build.
Beware of Chicken by Casualfarmer takes the found-family instinct from Dungeon Crawler Carl and turns the danger down, following a man who tries to become a humble farmer in a world full of world-ending threats and fails spectacularly at staying low-key.
Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is the closest premise match of all: ordinary people trapped in a sudden, deadly game-like apocalypse, watched and judged by an audience, just with a more epic and melodramatic tone than Dinniman's profanity-laced narration.
I put together a longer breakdown with 14 picks, a comparison table, and notes on which ones match Carl and Donut's bond specifically versus the dark comedy versus the game mechanics, over at Skriuwer's full list of books similar to Dungeon Crawler Carl if you want the complete rundown.
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