LitRPG is a genre that wears many masks. At its heart, it’s always the same idea—a story told through the lens of game mechanics—but within that frame are dozens of different flavors, each scratching a slightly different reader itch. Some readers crave dungeon claustrophobia and loot drops. Others want sprawling empire sims. Others still want survival horror with system pop-ups.
To really understand the genre, you need to explore its subgenres. This guide will walk through the five pillars most readers recognize as the core LitRPG subgenres—Dungeon Crawlers, Tower Climbers, Empire & Town Builders, Cultivation LitRPG, and Apocalypse & Survival LitRPG. Along the way, we’ll unpack what makes them tick, the tropes you’ll always see, how they differ, and which books define them.
1) Dungeon Crawlers
What It Is
Dungeon crawlers are LitRPG at its most classic and primal: stories about venturing into the dark, dangerous unknown, clearing room after room, collecting loot, and pushing as deep as possible before retreat or death. The roots go back to early Dungeons & Dragons modules and roguelike computer games like NetHack.
In LitRPG, the dungeon often becomes more than just a place—it’s the core game loop: explore, fight, loot, upgrade, repeat.
Why Fans Love It
- The adrenaline drip — constant fights and constant rewards keep dopamine flowing.
- Tension and scarcity — limited resources (mana, stamina, torches, potions) make choices matter.
- Escalation — every new floor or room ups the stakes; progress feels tangible.
- Survival mindset — readers feel like players: what would I do with only 2 health potions left?
Core Tropes
- Floor progression: each floor harder than the last.
- Bosses and minibosses: big milestones with loot drops.
- Traps and puzzles: tension beyond combat.
- Permadeath risk: characters die, or at least face devastating penalties.
- Limited save points or safe zones.
Pitfalls
- Loot fatigue — endless inventory management with little plot.
- Overpowered builds — heroes steamrolling challenges without tension.
- Repetition — if every floor is “monsters, fight, loot,” readers disengage.
Notable Examples
- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman — the gold standard for modern dungeon crawl LitRPG: part parody, part brutal survival, part heart. Imagine a game show where Earth has been turned into one giant dungeon.
- Delve (Royal Road) by Daniel Prince — highly system-crunchy, focused on mechanics, crafting, and dungeon progress.
- Rogue Dungeon (by James Hunter and Eden Hudson) — blends humor with dungeon delving in a more lighthearted take.
Who It’s For
- Readers who like fast combat loops.
- Fans of roguelike or ARPG games (Diablo, Hades, NetHack).
- People who want constant tension with short downtime.
2) Tower Climbers
What It Is
Tower climbers take dungeon crawlers and flip the perspective. Instead of sprawling labyrinths, the setting is vertical progression: a vast, often infinite tower of floors, each with its own rules, bosses, and ecosystems.
This subgenre draws heavily from Korean web novels like Tower of God and has spread through English LitRPG and progression fantasy communities.
Why Fans Love It
- Visible milestones — you always know where you are: Floor 12 of 100.
- Variety — each floor introduces new biomes, mechanics, or social rules.
- Leaderboard dynamics — climbing speed, rival guilds, and rankings create PvP tension.
- Gamified escalation — the tower never ends; there’s always another level.
Core Tropes
- Floor guardians: bosses or puzzles gating the next stage.
- Timed challenges: survival for 24 hours, kill X enemies, solve puzzle Y.
- Safe zones or hubs: floors with commerce and guild bases.
- Competitive ecosystem: the tower itself is a living ladder of society.
Pitfalls
- Floor bloat: 100 floors = filler arcs if not carefully managed.
- Reset gimmicks: too many retries dilute tension.
- Monotony: if floors don’t feel distinct, the climb feels like grind.
Notable Examples
- The Tutorial Is Too Hard — a survival-focused tower climb with brutal trial floors.
- Tower of God (manhwa/webtoon) — not pure LitRPG, but deeply influential on the tower-climber format.
- Level Up with the Gods (KR web novel) — protagonist re-climbs the tower after regression, bringing meta-knowledge.
Who It’s For
- Readers who love progress markers and visible checkpoints.
- Fans of roguelike progression with narrative arcs.
- Readers who want variety and creativity in settings.
3) Empire & Town Builders
What It Is
Empire builders zoom out from individual battles to macro-scale management. The protagonist isn’t just a fighter—they’re also a mayor, general, or architect. They gain abilities to create settlements, manage populations, trade resources, and defend territory.
These stories feel like a mix of Civilization/SimCity mechanics with RPG stats.
Why Fans Love It
- From humble beginnings to greatness — watching a tent camp evolve into a bustling city.
- Strategic layers — balancing combat with diplomacy, economics, and civic planning.
- Faction building — readers enjoy watching guilds, armies, and empires rise.
- Replay fantasy — like playing a strategy game through words.
Core Tropes
- Blueprints and upgrades (Level 1 barracks → Level 5 fortress).
- Resource management — stone, wood, gold, mana.
- Follower stats — villagers, soldiers, heroes all tracked.
- Sieges and invasions — protecting what you’ve built.
Pitfalls
- Spreadsheet fatigue — readers don’t want literal accounting.
- Slow pacing — too much management, not enough story.
- Author overindulgence — worldbuilding overwhelms narrative.
Notable Examples
- The Land by Aleron Kong — one of the earliest English LitRPGs to mix adventuring with town-building.
- God of Gnomes by Demi Harper — dungeon-core adjacent, focused on developing a small civilization under divine guidance.
- Stone Will (Russian LitRPG) — empire-style expansion with heavy management themes.
Who It’s For
- Fans of strategy and sim games (Civilization, RimWorld).
- Readers who like slow-burn growth arcs.
- Those who want more political and managerial flavor.
4) Cultivation LitRPG
What It Is
Cultivation fiction comes from Chinese xianxia/xuanhuan traditions, where characters ascend through realms of strength via cultivation of qi, meditation, and breakthroughs. In LitRPG, this blends with visible systems: realm stages, energy bars, stats, and skill trees.
Why Fans Love It
- Philosophy + Progression — inner journeys quantified as XP and stats.
- Clear milestones — Realm 1 → Realm 10 → Immortal.
- Exotic tropes — pill forging, soul seas, heavenly tribulations.
- Blend of East and West — traditional cultivation with gamer readability.
Core Tropes
- Realms/tiers: mortal → foundation → core → nascent soul → beyond.
- Tribulations: thunder, fire, or cosmic challenges to break through bottlenecks.
- Sects and clans: political drama between cultivation societies.
- Artifacts and techniques: ancient manuals, spiritual treasures.
Pitfalls
- Info-dumping manuals — endless technique descriptions bore readers.
- Power creep — protagonists outscale threats too fast.
- Cultural mismatch — if not handled with care, tropes feel pasted on.
Notable Examples
- Dragon Heart (Kirill Klevanski) — one of the best-known Russian-to-English cultivation crossovers.
- Heavenly Throne — another mix of progression fantasy and LitRPG elements.
- Reborn: Apocalypse (L.M. Kerr) — often straddles cultivation and survival LitRPG.
Who It’s For
- Readers who like spiritual/philosophical journeys but want game-like clarity.
- Fans of xianxia and wuxia blended with stats.
- Readers who enjoy epic power arcs.
5) Apocalypse & Survival LitRPG
What It Is
This subgenre drops systems onto our real world, usually via apocalypse, alien invasion, or cosmic reset. Suddenly, people see blue pop-ups, XP, and class choices—and survival depends on playing the “game.”
Why Fans Love It
- Immediate stakes — survival is personal, visceral, and desperate.
- Wish fulfillment — what class would you pick if the world collapsed?
- Community building under fire — small bands of survivors fighting back.
- Blend of modern world + fantasy mechanics — guns and swords, cars and fireballs.
Core Tropes
- Global system messages — world announcements, leaderboards.
- Class selection moments — choose poorly, and you die.
- Wave events — timed invasions or sieges.
- Settlement arcs — reclaiming cities or creating bases.
Pitfalls
- Bleakness overload — constant death and suffering without balance.
- System over-exposition — too much tutorial text.
- Power fantasy whiplash — heroes becoming too strong, too fast.
Notable Examples
- The System Apocalypse by Tao Wong — a definitive series where the system overlays modern Earth.
- Reborn: Apocalypse (L.M. Kerr) — mix of regression/cultivation and survival.
- Life Reset (Shemer Kuznits) — a darker system survival series.
Who It’s For
- Fans of zombie fiction or survival games (7 Days to Die, DayZ).
- Readers who like gritty, high-stakes drama with RPG systems.
- Those who enjoy mixing modern and fantastical.
Honorable Mentions
- Dungeon Core — Protagonist is the dungeon itself, growing rooms and spawning monsters.
- VR/Trapped-In-Game — Classic “stuck in VRMMO” stories (Sword Art Online style).
- Crafting LitRPG — Focused on skills like blacksmithing, alchemy, cooking.
- Tamer/Summoner — Heroes specialize in raising and commanding monsters.
- Hybrid Experiments — LitRPG blended with horror, romance, or detective plots.
Comparisons Between Subgenres
- Dungeon vs Tower: Dungeon = sprawling, claustrophobic, survival focus. Tower = structured, visible checkpoints, competitive climb.
- Empire vs Dungeon Core: Empire is about managing people; dungeon core is about spawning environments.
- Cultivation vs Progression Fantasy: Cultivation LitRPG uses numbers/stats; progression fantasy doesn’t show the math.
- Apocalypse vs Dungeon Crawl: Apocalypse often overlays the real world; dungeon crawls are separate, contained spaces.
Cultural Flavors
- Russian LitRPG: Crunch-heavy, often more somber.
- Korean LitRPG: Tower climbers, harsh survival tutorials, regression loops.
- Western LitRPG: Humor, genre-mixing, strong audiobook culture.
The five pillars are Dungeon Crawlers, Tower Climbers, Empire/Town Builders, Cultivation LitRPG, and Apocalypse/Survival. Other common variants include Dungeon Core, VR/Trapped, Crafting, and Tamer/Summoner.
Dungeon crawlers emphasize resource management and exploration, while tower climbers are about structured progression and rankings with each floor.
Yes, when mechanics like blueprints, follower stats, and resource trees are explicit in the story.
Royal Road is the largest free hub for LitRPG web-serials.
Most readers start with Dungeon Crawlers (for action) or Apocalypse LitRPG (because of familiar modern settings).
The protagonist is a sentient dungeon who grows rooms, spawns monsters, and defends itself.
Yes, and they’re extremely popular—Dungeon Crawler Carl and System Apocalypse are major audio hits.