LitRPG series

LitRPG is short for "literary role-playing game". Wikipedia defines it as "a literary genre combining the conventions of computer RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels", and names the part readers feel on every page: "visible RPG statistics (for example strength, intelligence, damage) are a significant part of the reading experience." The hero usually knows the rules too. In the same article's words, the main character "is consciously interacting with the game or game-like world and attempting to progress within it."

It is the biggest label in our database and the easiest to check, because authors and publishers use the word themselves. Royal Road, where many of these series started as free serials, has a LitRPG tag: of the 15 series we opened there on October 11, 2026, ten carried it.

Some famous series in the same scene are not here. Cradle and Mark of the Fool carry progression tags but no LitRPG tag, and Beware of Chicken is sold as xianxia cultivation, "not a LitRPG with stat screens" as our guide puts it. They sit under progression fantasy and cultivation instead, the growth without the game layer.