6 Games To Play If You Like Dungeon Crawler Carl

Published Sep 13, 2026, 1:00 PM EDT Carrie is a Senior Writer at ScreenRant who previously managed Geek to Geek Media and wrote for SwitchRPG. She is particularly knowledgeable when it comes to WoW, Diablo, and cozy games. She has a passion for supporting the indies and always enjoys sharing her passions with others through her writing. The ridiculous chaos and worldbuilding of the popular book series, Dungeon Crawler Carl, is truly a masterpiece that has won over the hearts of many readers. The series follows Carl and his now-talking feline companion, Princess Donut, trying to survive an alien apocalypse that has turned earth into a dangerous intergalactic reality show. Dungeon Crawler Carl is a literal dungeon crawler video game brought to life for its unfortunate characters. Complete with stats and classes, the life Carl and Donut find themselves suddenly trapped in is full of rules, achievements, and much more going on behind the scenes. When you aren't reading this book series, you may just be looking for a video game experience that you can immerse yourself in that will carry the same type of feeling and humor. While there are physical TTRPG and board games being created for Dungeon Crawler Carl, so far there is no video game adaptation. Yet, here are a few games that just might scratch that itch for you. Baldur's Gate 3 Available On PC, Mac, PS5, And Xbox Series X/S If you're looking for more of the dark humor that the Dungeon Crawler Carl series is filled with, Baldur's Gate 3 may just be the perfect option for you. The game is primarily a story-rich role-playing game that's built off many of the mechanics from Dungeons & Dragons. But its blend of chaotic dark humor, loot gathering, and high-stakes challenge of the game holds many similarities to the book series. Throughout the interactions and choices that you have in Baldur's Gate 3, there are plenty of bizarre scenarios that would fit right in with Dungeon Crawler Carl's world, including things like finding a little man pretending to be a sheep. You can even cast Speak with Animals and talk to the cats around town if you'd like, and they are often pretty entertaining little creatures. Even with the dark humor, both BG3 and DCC share deeply traumatic, world-ending catastrophes that the characters are trying to survive and overcome. Along the way, you can get plenty of loot and work to min-max your stats to make your character as strong as possible for the deep tactical combat that you face. While not an exact match, the tone of BG3 is a good fit for the general vibe of Dungeon Crawler Carl. Torchlight 2 Available On PC, PS4, Xbox One, And Nintendo Switch The RPG Torchlight 2 features a similar style of having to face a relentless dungeon crawl experience full of corruption. Chasing down an Alchemist who destroys the town of Torchlight while searching for a cure to his illness that is driving him insane, our protagonist heads off on an epic quest. You can choose between four classes for your character, each with different skills and abilities, and spend points you get for leveling up on active skill trees. Along the way, you can also improve your character with the loot you gather from defeating hordes of monsters. You even get to have an animal sidekick, although they aren't talking to you the way Princess Donut does, and they can fight by your side and learn spells. The Torchlight series does have more modern entries, but Torchlight 2 is still widely considered the best experience. Deep Rock Galactic Available On PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, And Xbox Series X/S The first-person shooter game, Deep Rock Galactic, is set on the alien planet of Hoxxes IV, where there are caves filled with both precious minerals and hostile wildlife. Playing as a dwarf miner of the Deep Rock Galactic intergalactic mining corporation, you are tasked with mining resources with heavy machinery and trying not to die. Like with the Borant Corporation in Dungeon Crawler Carl, your protagonist here is treated as completely disposable by the heartless mega-corporation that is only after the money. As you dig deeper into the subterranean dungeons looking for new minerals, more aggressive mutated alien monsters are found, who, of course, want to kill anyone who enters their lair. There's plenty of absurd, dark humor in this life-or-death situation, and clever tactics and strategy are required to get out of some impossible situations. Diablo 4 Available On PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Blizzard Entertainment Clearly, Dungeon Crawler Carl features quite a lot of dungeon crawling as Carl heads down each floor to face new challenges. The Diablo franchise is one of the most infamous dungeon-crawling experiences you can find, although it doesn't have the same level of humor that the books include. In Diablo 4, you're facing a world that has already seen more than its fair share of apocalyptic events, and the humans of Sanctuary are simply trying to survive. Meanwhile, your protagonist is key in stopping the overarching goals that the Lord of Hell and other demons have planned. The grim setting is balanced out as players get flooded with loot from the hordes of monsters attacking them. Meanwhile, there are the traditional RPG skill points, classes, and more that help you build your character. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands Available On PC, PS5, And Xbox Series X/S Really, just about any of the games in the Borderlands franchise could fit on this list. Generally, those games are all about defeating over-the-top bosses and often include a ridiculously dark commentary in some way. However, the spin-off entry, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, takes this a step further. In Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, you're still in a world full of dark comedy, extreme explosive violence, and endless loot progression. Here, you are playing as characters playing a strange game of D&D, with Tiny Tina acting as a rule-bending narrator and Dungeon Master who loves to expound on your failures and successes. She alters the game world, spawning enemies or changing the rules as she thinks of things, which feels a lot like what the System AI does to poor Carl. The way the characters are constantly breaking the fourth wall to complain about rules or mock the enemies feels much like Carl's inner monologue too. CrossCode Available On PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, And Nintendo Switch The video game that shares the most commonalities with Dungeon Crawler Carl is easily the 2015 Action RPG, CrossCode. Both these worlds include a look at what happens when the lines between video games and real life become blurred. In CrossCode, players control Lea, a player who wakes up with no memory, is unable to speak, and is trapped inside a fictional MMORPG called CrossWorlds. Everything is governed by the video game mechanics and features a dark narrative involving evil corporations who experiment on humans. Plus, there is a strong AI consciousness that seems to have a lot of control. While other players can log out and go to sleep, Lea is trapped there with a malfunctioning speech module that prevents her from communicating with others. Although still very different from Dungeon Crawler Carl, the idea of a human trapped in an orchestrated RPG world certainly captures the same feeling. Dungeon Crawler Carl Publisher(s) Penguin Random House Publication Date September 21, 2020 Number of Pages 444 ISBN# 979-8688591507 Author(s) Matt Dinniman