Ranking 30 LitRPG Series: My Ultimate Tier List!

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

Not being a LitRPG reader, I can say with complete confidence that you will be the first person I ask for advice if I ever decide to try the genre. Dungeon Crawler Carl sounds like a nice place to start. Regardless of that, BellTube gets its traditional like, comment, and full view from yours truly!

[@BrianBell7]

Makes my day when you do!

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

Great list love unedited belltube

[@TomOrange]

Love a good tier list! Im going to be honest I kind of want to read The Magicians now. Also always love seeing you push back on the love for the Wandering Inn. It needs some voices on the other side of the aisle

[@BrianBell7]

thanks, tom! lol, i'm nothing if not consistent :)

[@patriciamorrison7671]

Not being a gamer and an old lady, I just started Dungeon Crawler Carl last night per your review and am enjoying it. Laughing out loud which really helped me physically and emotionally! My first litrpg. Thanks for your Channel. It always brightens my day.

[@BrianBell7]

It makes me really joyful to know the channel is meaningful to others. Thank you so much.

[@AFantastical_Journey]

Loving videos like this! This channel helped me get into LitRPG beyond DCC. I just finished the good guys book 1 and 2. It was a bit jarring that they just ended and picked up right away in the next one. Feels very serialized!

[@NerdLevelRising]

The Magicians trolling is amazing lol

[@BrianBell7]

ha, I like the running joke.

[@slay.187]

Unedited BellTube is something we desperately need more of. You dunking on The Magicians never gets old. 😂

[@BrianBell7]

hahaha, thanks, Slay! We'll talk about some kinds of episodes it might be fun to do this way.

[@stevenstewart782]

I love how he created that tier and then put nothing in it😃

[@slay.187]

@ Classic Brian 😂🥰

[@asfaloth12]

I've been looking to get into LitRPG, so you just helped add a bunch of books to my TBR. Thanks for sharing!

[@BrianBell7]

Awesome! Enjoy those!

[@esmayrosalyne]

Okay I love that your production value is always so high, but I think unedited belltube might be my favourite thing I have watched in a while hahah. Even as someone who has only dabbled in LitRPG, I loved this tier ranking. And the 'Magicians tier' sent me wheezing 🤣🤣🤣

[@BrianBell7]

awesome, Esmay! Let me know if there are some particular videos or video-types, you'd like to see more unedited of! It does make my life easier!

[@esmayrosalyne]

@@BrianBell7 I think just a little more unedited in general could be good, feels so authentic!! But when it's with videos where you have to make tough decisions, it's even more fun.

[@RLDesrochers]

Love this! I’m new to litRPG so this will be super helpful. Thank you!

[@BrianBell7]

My pleasure. Hopefully you'll love some of the ones I do!

[@RLDesrochers]

@ I’m two books into Dungeon Crawler Carl. Not sure if it gets better than this, but you gave me plenty of ammo 😅

[@ToriTalks2]

Let's go! I'm excited to add some goodies to my TBR. The stack was looking a little bit short, you know?

[@stevenstewart782]

😂

[@michaelbodell7740]

I see people already debating/gatekeeping about what counts as LitRPG, but I also like to think of things that are sort of proto-litrpg or proto-progression fantasy before there was really the term or sub-genre and two I think about maybe being close are maybe Simon R Green's Nightside series (I started liking it but the power creep ended up too much for me, but it is sort of vibes of Dresden file but with faster progression in power/skills than Harry has) which would be in my "common" ranking. But the better example for me would be the "Caine" series (Hero's Die is first book) by Matthew Stover which has lots of tropes that feel like DCC in terms of an alternate world with magic done for entertainment. It is a little different in that the characters are already fairly established by the start of the series (although they still learn and grow some), but the way the alternate world is melded in with the character roles that people act in the alternate world feels proto-litRPG to me.

[@erfanashkan5925]

I’m not sure why, but I find a certain charm in Cradle. It’s not a complicated story-it has some nice little twists-but I think its simplicity, combined with a strong cast, makes it a really endearing series.I think it also helps that im a big fan of wuxia and xinxia cultivation stories.

[@BrianBell7]

for sure. for people who are into cultivation, it's right up there. I'm just not much of a cultivation reader. I'm super glad you like it though. I always want people to find books they love!

[@Thaurnol]

if your worst category is The Magicians, i love you even more :) and this is most helpful for someone who knows nothing about LitRPG, like myself and some other people that want to start reading into the... genre? subgenre? thingy? :D

[@BrianBell7]

Cool! Hit me up anytime in pub and we can figure out which would be fun for you to start with.

[@bardsandbooks]

For the ones I’ve listened to, I’d have to agree with your placement. The Good/Bad guys is high on my list, probably the next new series I start

[@BrianBell7]

for sure do audio and let me know what you think!

[@meltil224]

Already had some of these on my TBR, and now I have added even more! Also, love the name of your bottom category- 100% agree! 😄

[@BrianBell7]

haha. thanks!!

[@Yannis-dq6ri]

It’s such a promising genre! Hope more professional writers get into it, as right now they tend to have great ideas and concepts but few actually have good writing and quality tends to drop off after a few books. Fingers crossed people realise there a huge fun base waiting for great stories.

[@BrianBell7]

I really think trad publishing pushing DCC so hard will be the kick it needs.

[@ianthereader]

Thank you for this!! My brothers and I buddy read DCC together this year and have been looking for our next series.

[@BrianBell7]

Hope you find one you love!

[@dougsundseth6904]

I don't think you need to worry about your production values here. It's live and that's part of the charm of tier lists. Do more! Comments on our overlaps below and some other suggestions at the bottom. (Sorry for the length.) The Bad Guys and The Good Guys are both really excellent. Book 1 of The Grim Guys was underwhelming for me. DCC didn't work for me. The humor wasn't humorous and the world wasn't interesting. Everybody else seems to like it, though, so there's that. I agree with your assessment of Cradle. It wasn't horrific, but it got rapidly worse as the series continued. Divine Dungeon was pretty good for the first (maybe) three books, then it went downhill for me and completely jumped the shark by the time I stopped. Viridian Gate is solid. Liked it quite a bit as well. I just read the first book of Awaken Online and liked it. We'll see how well it hits after a few more books. Eden's Gate was very good, but I'm caught up and there hasn't been another book in the last three years. Chaos Seeds started out really well. But the last two books were kind of dreadful. And he seems to have abandoned the series, too. Arcane Ascension is pinnacle stuff. One of my favorite series. I haven't read System Apocalypse, but an omnibus volume of books 1-3 is on sale right now on Audible, so I'm picking it up. (I like A Thousand Li by the same author, so I'll give it a whack.) I just picked up book three of New Era Online because I liked the first couple of books. Definitely solid. I've read seven books from The Completionist Chronicles and really liked the start of the series. The last book was a bit of a disappointment, though, and it's delayed my start into book 8. Wandering Inn is fine. But I haven't read beyond book 2 yet. I will eventually, because I liked it, but I didn't love it. He Who Fights with Monsters started out _really_ well, but it seems to be on a slow decline. The first book of The Primal Hunter was fine. The second book was ... not fine. I'm probably done with the series. I haven't tried Play to Live/AlterWorld. After your review I might not. I'm caught up on Delvers LLC and especially liked the first three books. The last two were weaker. Suggestions (I've liked all of these and there would be more on this list, but I tried to limit it ... a bit: Guardians of the Flame, Joel Rosenberg - OG litRPG. The first book came out in 1983 and Rosenberg was an excellent writer. Isekai before that was a term (at least around me.) Player Manager, Ted Steele - Surprisingly good Soccer-based LitRPG. I don't care about soccer, but the character work here was really good. Battle Mage Farmer, Seth Ring - Cozy-ish and still being actively updated. Warlords of the Circle Sea, Ember Lane - Empire building, finished. The Ten Realms, Michael Chatfield - Empire building, finished. The last couple of books are quite short and I haven't read them, but the first 10 are excellent. Hedge Wizard, Maher, Alex - Unique world, excellent characters Bushido Online, Nikita Thorn - Japanese themed. This might be dead, since there hasn't been an update in quite a while, but the four books we have are brilliant. Spells, Swords & Stealth, Drew Hayes - LitRPG from the NPCs' side. Strong characters and solid worldbuilding. All the Skills, Honour Rae - Dragon rider fantasy with a card collecting mechanic. Codename: Freedom, Apollos Thorne - SF LitRPG. Alien invasion is coming and the game is a training tool. Archemi Online, James Osiris Baldwin - Excellent dragon rider LitRPG Skyrealms Online, Troy Osgood - Completed series that I bought one book at a time and it's now available in a single Audible purchase. Battle Mage Farmer, Seth Ring - Starts out looking like a bit like a cozy, but rapidly turns into fighting against an existential threat. Beware of Chicken, Casualfarmer - Best cozy LitRPG I've read. The human characters are great, but the animal characters are brilliant. Divine Apostasy, A.F. Kay - Tightly plotted with excellent characters. A Thousand Li, Tao Wong - Cultivation fantasy with an Asian theme. I've only read four books, but I've really liked this one.

[@BrianBell7]

I'm adding a ton of these to 2025 LitRPG TBR. I have the all the Joel Rosenberg books! I know I read them when they published, but remember 0%. Maybe a reread. Madison has loved the Seth Ring books too. Thanks, Doug!

[@lizzybug196]

I just finished book 2 of The Good Guys and am really enjoying it so far. It is funny and the characters are all great. I also agree that Neil Hellegers is absolutely fantastic! His voice is soothing and so smooth. His delivery is flawless as well. When would you recommend going to The Bad Guys? Should I finish this first? Anyway, loving the content!

[@BrianBell7]

Best way to do those series is in publication / release date order. So you'll be bopping back and forth. Not 100% required, but makes the story better IMO.

[@lizzybug196]

@ Thank you! I’m off to make a list now haha

[@BrianBell7]

@@lizzybug196 yep, just look them up on audible for release dates and that seemed to work great for me.

[@wbbartlett]

I don't need to read it to know any book about wizarding schools is going to be trash. Dungeon Crawler Carl is the only book of this genre I've read (I'm on 4th book currently) and they have all been great so far. Edit: Just went to check on Awaken following its placement and apparently, according to Amazon, I read book 1 back in 2017. Now I've been reminded I do recall enjoying that one too.

[@BrianBell7]

It's super easy to forget what I ate for lunch let alone what we read in 2017! Keep on with AO if you like it!

[@thelasthandbook6704]

Brent Roth's books are no longer available legally anywhere. The only place to get them is on pirate sites. I'm guessing after he passed away his tax ID was shut off and since Amazon could no longer send 1099 forms they removed the books. Either that or his estate had them taken down. The fact that the Wandering Inn is now at least three times longer than the Wheel of Time and still going makes me both curious about it and terrifies the heck out of me.

[@BrianBell7]

wow, I'm glad I have actual files from my ipad saved of the Roth books, I think. I hope.. Yeah, give Wandering Inn a try and you'll know by the end if it's a series for you. Personally, I'd rather read WoT.

[@ronridley8684]

For the full murderhobo series, it picked up a bit after the first book since I feel it had a big lift to explain Luke’s (?) situation. I agree it’s not top tier, but I found that it would be Common or Rare, just for some of the unique ideas.

[@BrianBell7]

I'll get back around to it at some point!

[@theclassy4]

Great video and list! Outside of DCC and Magic 2.0 I haven’t read much LitRPG, so I will be using this to help pick future reads. On the topic of Magic 2.0. I’ve only listened to the first 3 books and I did so back in 2017 when I wasn’t much of a “reader” but I enjoyed them quite a bit. I’ve picked up reading as a hobby in the last couple of years and this year I read the first 3 DCC books. I went back and listened to some of Magic 2.0 book 1 and the quality was so much lower than DCC. Not a bad book but my rank of it now compared to when I first read it has fallen significantly.

[@BrianBell7]

Completely. There wasn't very much humorous content in the genre then, so little to compare it to.

[@Gutlard]

I've blown through The Good Guys, and ready to start The Bad Guys today also. All on audiobook. I really liked this series. And I see they're tying them together also in the later books, which is a nice bonus. I've seen online the proposed reading order of these books, but just stuck to finishing one then moving to the other....

[@BrianBell7]

It definitely IMO makes sense to read them back and forth in publication order, but whatever works for you rocks! Isn't Neil Hellegers awesome to listen to?!?!?!

[@Gutlard]

@@BrianBell7 He definitely adds a lot more humor to the words than my brain ever could just reading it normally! Finding a great story paired with a great narrator is just the best!

[@N.A.Summur]

Haven’t read any LitRPG yet, but still had fun watching this video!

[@BrianBell7]

you'll get there!

[@N.A.Summur]

@ I will at least give it a try at some point, for sure!

[@TF-lk6co]

Hi Brian, Grev Lossman here. I'm a newbie booktuber and would love to be a guest on For Whom the Bell Tolls. In person if possible.

[@BrianBell7]

Mr. Lossman, please have your people call my people. Failing that, ask for Viewer Membership Manager Thatcher. He's the final word on it.

[@stevenstewart782]

I have to be honest every time you say Roll that intro I think of a bush's baked bean commercial where he says roll that beautiful bean footage😂😂😂

[@BrianBell7]

beans are a good source of fiber which will keep you moving! thank me later!

[@awizardintraining]

so, with The Magicians, I'm just curious, did you ever read the sequels, because IMO, the sequels are awesome

[@BrianBell7]

I have not. My eyes had not recovered from book one :)

[@groofay]

Due respect to Cradle, you have to respect the guts it takes to title the first book in a series with a homophone for "unsold." (Cradle fans, this is but a stupid joke. I haven't read the books.)

[@tyrrtech]

Someone should write a LitRPG series where Brian ends up in the world of Fillory 🤣🤣🤣

[@BrianBell7]

swear to god...

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

Ok I LOVE a thousand Li by Toa Wong and I’ve been so curious to start system apocalypse.

[@BrianBell7]

AND you like Nick Podehl, so there's that too!

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

@@BrianBell7 all very true

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

Ok I never considered Arcane ascension to be lit rog but I can see it. It’s sooooo good

[@BrianBell7]

it's certainly progression. and I feel like there's enough game elements to it as well with all the battles they have.

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

I mean Wandering inn is super long…..😅I’m on book 6 and plan 3 more in 2025 but I can’t give it the time in my TBR to catch up

[@christopherhughes7970]

100% agree on Cradle series, so meh... If i hear the word mantra one more damn time my mind would explode.

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

Primal Hunter 1 was good but I feel 1&2 needed to be combined. I lost steam and can’t push through to continue book 2

[@BrianBell7]

Really... I'll hit book 2 and 3 and let you know.

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

@@BrianBell7 my issue is it didn’t feel like the start of a book 2 it felt like more book 1 and after two months it was a bit discombobulating

[@CD287-]

But i just ordered my end-of-year haul 😭 Guess there'll be a part 2 😅 🐈‍⬛️

[@BrianBell7]

I feel you!

[@CD287-]

@BrianBell7 You spelled "Mwahahahaha" wrong - because I know you don't feel bad at all about causing an extra book haul 🤣

[@GuyReactsChannel]

Just started life reset like it a lot so far

[@BrianBell7]

excellent, and unique series!

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

The only other person I know who read full m hobo DNF after book 3 I think. 😅I was warned off

[@BrianBell7]

yeah, Ron in the comments here has read them.

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

I feel like I dodged a dud by skipping Scott myers

[@BrianBell7]

you did.

[@jeroenadmiraal8714]

Is this romantasy for men?

[@GuyReactsChannel]

More like progression fantasy

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

Ok cradle is not a lit RPG and shouldn’t have even been included. It’s a cultivation progression

[@BrianBell7]

Ok thanks

[@Zivilin]

Fairly sure Brian even said it was cultivation in his review of the series too. So idk why he included it here 😂

[@BrianBell7]

@@Zivilin I don't even know why I do what I do

[@Zivilin]

@@BrianBell7 Fair point, wild card Brian. 🫶

[@dougsundseth6904]

Are we going to get into a discussion about which subgenre of metal various bands belong in next? Because that's where this leads. Just sayin'. 8-)

[@MZ-bd2rr]

Ph that low? Nooo 😅

[@BrianBell7]

only read the one book so far. it'll probably move up as I continue this month.

[@tuuurtles]

the good guys gets worse and worse. I like the bad guys more, it gets better

[@BrianBell7]

are you current in good guys? I really liked the last book - although not having some characters with Montana for the whole book was a let down.

[@tuuurtles]

@@BrianBell7 yes, I pick them up as soon as they come out. They are all good, I was just comparing them to each other overall. Good guys started strong, then really dipped in my opinion (some books did not progress the story at all), it did pick up again though, but the bad guys were consistently good (no pun intended =) I also like Clyde more than Montana, rogue class is my go to in rpg

[@BrianBell7]

@@tuuurtles same here about rogues! Totally my go-to. I think Clyde is a little more relatable of a character than Montana is too.