Book picks similar to
Press Start by Thomas Whipple


litrpg
urban-fantasy
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urban

Microbrewer Alchemist


Jon Svenson - 2021
    After his parents died in a horrific car crash, he uses the inheritance money to start a brewery and gets married.Happiness doesn't last very long. The brewery is struggling, and his marriage is rocky. Still, he has his team at work supporting him. Until he doesn't.Microbrewer Alchemist is the story of a man who stumbles upon a secret that he is still trying to understand while turning his life around at the same time. There are no intimate scenes or harems, but there is a bit of swearing.

Challenges of a Scribe: A LitRPG Duology: Book Two


Michael Deyhim - 2021
    On their travels, Edward works to overcome the challenge of reintegrating with his siblings and parents. They try to work together in search of a brighter future, all feel the strain of losing their home and livelihood. Edward is not the same boy as when he left home and must balance his hard-fought independence with his role as brother and son.Despite optimism for the future and escaping the destruction of Azalon, a dark threat looms over the family’s hope of rebuilding. Edward’s skills continue to progress, but will it be enough to protect the family’s fragile beginnings? Overcoming his own fears and personal demons is the biggest challenge Edward must face as he chooses a future with his family, or one of an adventurer.

Heroes of Last Resort


JK Galioto - 2021
    

Hatchling


Lupine King - 2018
    Wealthy, talented and gifted with prodigious abilities, there is is little doubt that he is blessed. However, recent events appear to suggest otherwise. Verre is a vast place with daemons and cultivators aplenty. Their schemes and secrets are legion. Valerian finds himself skirting the fringes of some of the greatest his land has to offer and unfortunately for him, he is being inexorably drawn in. There is only one way to keep afloat; grow, train, survive!

Noble Farmer (Noressia #1)


A.W. Sheffield - 2019
     The Advanced Learning Online World (ALOW), have been running strongly for over a decade. Curing genetic and acquired diseases, restoring anatomy and organs. All the while the patient mentally plays within the fantasy world under a medically induced coma. James C. Corwell assumes his treatment as the left side of his body under goings restoration, due to a military accident. Just in time for CAMPAIGN! Where dungeon, raid, invasion and scenario all merge into three months of conquest, mayhem, and debauchery. Never an avid gamer, this loner must navigate his way through a world set upon role-play and politics. Can he do what has eluded him since birth, and make something of himself? To further add insult to injury, his brother purchases the Nobleman Package as a practical joke. James, aka Hedge Lord Jaeger Persik, turns to the past twenty eight years of life experience, and an unfamiliar creatures for help. Will this black sheep finally become part of a flock, with his uncommon way of thinking and his ability to adapt? Or will frustration and ignorance reign? Warning: This book contains scenes of graphic adult situations, language, and non-traditional relationship structures.

Endless Fantasy Online: The Phoenix Kingdom


Devin Auspland - 2019
    His summer job is to test a new virtual reality game using the Vortex Capsule, a machine capable of fully immersing you into virtual reality. His first session is life changing, and he quickly becomes engrossed in a new fantasy world. Things are going great until a rogue hacking group attacks the servers that host the game, trapping all the players inside. Things get even worse when a dark force gains power and has sinister plans for Endless Fantasy Online. Can Luke and his new friends survive the dark forces that are on the rise? Will he, and the other players, be able to cope with the fact that they can't return to Earth? Will Vortex Industries find the hacking group responsible and save the players? Find answers to all of this and more in Endless Fantasy Online: The Phoenix Kingdom!

Oliver's Wishes


Cory Gaffner - 2018
     Last week I had an IQ so low that I sometimes forgot how to get home, and could barely stumble through sentences. This week I am the owner of the most advanced space station in the known universe and I wield powers that can alter reality itself. If I have the energy that my power is dependent upon... You see I get more energy every day, it's a set amount. I can stockpile it or burn it all up on one giant "upgrade" as I like to call it. This power comes from one of the wishes I made, yes, on a magical genie's lamp. I know that sounds crazy. So what do a Viking woman from 800AD, a U.S. Army combat veteran, and a fat gaming nerd have in common? Well, they're my team, and if I can save up enough energy I can use my new power to give them superpowers of their own. That's the plan at least. The problem with my plan is that I have some shadow organization looking for me. They'll kill me, my family, my friends, and everyone I have ever loved to get the lamp. What do they want? As far as I can tell they want to rewrite our universe into some kind of communist paradise where freewill comes second to safety and the government. I have to find some way to keep the lamp from the organization going after it that involves more than just hiding up in my space station. I refuse to be a hermit coward. I also have an ingrained need to help people, and now I have the power to do that. I have more resources at my disposal than any law enforcement agency on earth, and a team of people willing to help me. I want to be a hero, but I have no idea what I'm doing. Did I mention I was a barely functioning idiot last week? Content Warning: This book contains foul language, mild gore, and fictional politics.

Dragon Shift: The Quest Giver's Guild: A Harem Gamelit Adventure


Victor Briggs - 2021
    But when I devoured a demon core and gained access to a forbidden quest system, my life changed forever.Sintar was like Earth in many ways. It had a blue sky, green grass, and air that I could breath. The demon attacks and shifter magic, however, were new. Every man and woman in Sintar had the ability to change their form.And now, that included me. And the gorgeous, silver-haired wolf girl I saved on my first day.My future is dark and full of danger, and someone in Sintar wants me dead. I'm to be the only person who can transform into a dragon, but when I learn to master my power and the strange new quest system, I know I'll find the answers I need.If I fight hard enough, I can protect the people who have come to count on me.(This book includes harem content)

My Roommate is a Reaper


Andrew Peed - 2020
    On the advice of a wise elder that works at his favorite restaurant, Waylon decided to get a roommate. Everything turned upside down, and he found out more about himself and the rest of the world than he thought he ever wanted to know.Kaylie needed somewhere to live, and the spirit she was chasing led her straight to a perfect place, then she found out there was a Warlock living there that had no clue what he could do. With her past making things complicated, she tries her best to stay on the right side of things.

Tusk and Blade (Exodus Online) Book One: A LitRPG Novel


Lavelle Jackson - 2020
     Charge your core. Bash some skulls. Logan Sharpe’s life has been a disaster, but that’s finally going to change. As soon as Incessant Technologies heard about his situation, they knew he would be the perfect fit for their new game. Only catch? Once he goes in, there’s no coming back. Without hesitation, he signs the paper and enters the new VRMMORPG world of Exodus Online as a Star Child. As an extra incentive, Logan is given a chance to become what he’s never been before. Something unique, something powerful. Abandoning his old name to go with one that suits his new body, Necro is ready to start over. To face his new reality, Necro must learn to survive in a dangerous, unforgiving world. Even with the help of two daring women at his side, how will he fare while exploring deadly dungeons, facing power-hungry leaders, and leveling his new body? The only certainty is this: Logan is dead, but Necro has risen.

Destiny's Champions


D. Levesque - 2020
    Special Race? Why not. Unknown Questlines? A staff that he thinks is so overpowered that he doesn’t even want to chance casting it? Sure. Multiple women, who aren’t even human? Yes please!Jason just wanted to build a cabin in the woods in the newest VRMMORPG. But apparently, the “Gods” of this game had other plans for him. Adventure awaits for no one, especially when it’s coming to look for you.Follow Jason as he explores this new World called Destiny, and see if it’s namesake is what he has been waiting for all his life. But what the real Gods have in store for him isn’t what he expectedJason Morgan hates his life.Three years ago, a car accident landed him in a wheelchair. After two experimental surgeries, he still can’t walk. Now, broke, and living as a ward of the State, Jason wants nothing more than to walk again and to get out of this hellhole of a hospital.Enter Games For Life, a gaming company that runs a massive VRMMORPG system. They invite Jason to test their groundbreaking pod technology. In their gaming World Destiny, time and reality are not what they seem. There, Jason can even walk again! What could possibly go wrong?Maybe Jason should have read the fine print on the contract a little more closely…

Gentleman's Wars 2: A Tower Defense LitRPG Series (The Great Game)


Andrew Karevik - 2021
    Who’s behind the murder of his family? Who has been after his territories, and why?One promising lead comes from Lady Efera, the very same who had taken a liking to his lands and whom he defeated in an all-out battle. But that information won’t come free. If Richard wants that piece of the puzzle, he will need to help Efera take back the lands she lost to a fierce Baron. Easier said than done, especially when said Baron and his coalition show up at Richard’s door with an ultimatum. He has two weeks to hand over the woman’s Starmetal Signet, or he’ll be the one to suffer the consequences. But Juliet is not a stranger to Richard anymore; now that she’s married to the Frankinsons, she has become his blood too. His responsibility.Once again, it’s a race for survival. Facing imminent invasion by a force far superior to his own, Richard will need to scramble like never before. He will have to secure new alliances and find new ways to improve his defenses. There’s no other way around it, he needs to quickly move up the ranks so as to unlock new units and be able to hire the advisors who will help him master this complex game.The first step to this impossible plan is to reach out to the Kintelis, an elven clan living in isolation in the west. But Richard definitely can’t seem to catch a break; he has barely come in contact with the elves that his carriage is attacked by a group of bandits…

The Gift of Magic


P.J. Sobol - 2014
    His un-extraordinary life is turned upside down as rival factions of magicians seek to gain control over his new-found gift. Escaping from life-threatening dangers, Alex quickly realises there is more to being a magician than he thought. With the help of the Order, a small group dedicated to upholding the Laws of Light, Alex learns to control his power and fights to prevent an ancient darkness from returning and destroying our world.

Veil Online - Book 1 A LitRPG MMORPG Adventure Series (Veil Online #1)


John Elijah Cressman - 2020
    By day he works on the most popular VR game in the world and by night, he slay dragons and saves damsels.Not any more.Today he woke up inside the game and there’s no way out. Worse, he’s not even his high level avatar. He’s a monster. And every time he dies, he jumps into another monster body.Something is wrong. Seriously wrong.Join Jace on a mind-blowing adventure as he desperately tries to unravel the mystery of what has happened to him and most importantly, is he even alive any more?Readers of Fantasy, GameLit and LitRPG like The Land and Hacked will enjoy this series by author John Cressman. And watch for Book 2 in October 2020!

The Houndsman 2: A Base-Building LitRPG Adventure


J Pal - 2022