Book picks similar to
Mind Games by Marc Whipple
litrpg
dnf
gamelit
rpg
The Last Physicist
Dominic Stal - 2021
Especially when you’ve witnessed the end of the world and the demise of all you’ve ever loved.As a particle physicist, William Jenkins is as unsuited to survival on an alien world as any normal thirty-something post-doc could be. Thankfully, he’s not alone. With an A.I., magic, scientific curiosity and most improbably, a deity on his side, Will must come to terms with his new reality before otherworldly terrors forever extinguish the light of hope on this new world.Meanwhile, as the forces of darkness amass to invade her home, Effni Naridia, Qaseri Ranger and Guardian of her peoples, must face her own demons. By undertaking a trial, Effni could determine not only the fate of her city, but unravel a mystery aeons in the making.The Last Physicist features elements of progression fantasy and Gamelit, and is perfect for those who enjoy stories by Andrew Rowe, Will Wight and Andy Weir.Warning. This novel contains questionable quantum mechanics, general relativity and magic.Note: this book also features profanity, vivid depictions of violence, pain and gore, along with depictions of mental health issues (including PTSD, generalised anxiety and depression) some readers may find distressing.
AlterWorld
D. Rus - 2013
Whenever you play your favorite online game, beware: your mind might merge with the virtual world and dump its comatose host. Woe be to those stuck forever in Tetris! And still they're the lucky ones compared to those burning alive eternally within the scorched hulls of tank simulators. But some unfortunates - the handicapped and the terminally ill, shell-shocked army vets, wronged crime victims and other society misfits - choose to flee real life willingly, escaping to the limitless world of online sword and sorcery MMORPGs. Once a seasoned gamer and now a terminal cancer patient, Max grasps at this final chance to preserve his life and identity. So he goes for it - goes for the promise of immortality shared with a few trusty friends and the woman he loves. Together they roam the roads of AlterWorld and sample its agony and ecstasy born of absolute freedom.
Power
Aaron Oster - 2019
Without the power to channel the Essence of the world, he is weak and defenseless. Adopted into the Shah clan after his parents' deaths, he is forced to do menial labor day after day, all while enduring the ridicule and physical abuse of his supposed family. Weakness is punishable by death in Buryoku and in the Shah clan, there is no one weaker than Roy. But even the weak can rise up, when pushed to the brink…
Forger of Worlds
Simon Archer - 2019
Trade with neighboring Empires. Become a God. Garrett thought Terra Forma was just a game, but in reality, it was a test created by a devastatingly beautiful ancient goddess to find the most creative man in the universe. Now, in order to help her defeat an ancient primordial deity, Garrett will have to take a dirt rock and transform it into the heart of the most powerful empire the universe has ever seen. And to do that, he'll have to unlock portals to other worlds, harvest their resources, and bring back settlers to his world. Sure, it's a nearly impossible task, but at the same time, how often do you get the chance to play god? Warning: This book contains adult elements and sheer incredibleness.
Initialization
From Hell - 2021
Every person without exception.But this new world with all its opportunities and gifts of wondrous abilities, was a stadium. A deadly arena of an unimaginable scale. And Humanity were to be its latest gladiators. Every man, woman and child was given a weapon and ordered to fight. Stuck in this dimension without a way out, only two options existed for the would be hunters: Fight with monsters to complete the many trials ahead, or perish.Faced with hordes of powerful monsters, thrown into battle with complete strangers at random, the unfair game of survival began. And from the very beginning, billions of lives were extinguished in mere moments. But even within this abyss of despair was a small ray of hope: If even one person were to complete every raid, then humanity would be redeemed and restored back to its former glory.No save points, no revives, no retries. Everyone had just one life to make their way through the gauntlet of raids prepared to test their mettle. Within this marathon of death, one man becomes aware of an exception to the rules of the game.
The Curse
Phoenix Grey - 2018
Will refused to admit to the HR lady at Radical Interactive that he’d never played their debut virtual reality MMORPG The Realm. From what he’d seen in videos and heard from reviewers, the game sucked. With the company’s failed attempt at entering the gaming industry, they switched their sights to focus on smaller scale educational programs. Being a beta tester for Radical Interactive was not the dream job that Will had envisioned, but he had hoped it would get his foot in the door to one day becoming a graphic designer for the company. As he filled out his new hire paperwork, he never realized that he was literally signing his life away. Now a phenomenally successful company, Radical Interactive was secretly working on something behind closed doors that would change both the medical and gaming industries forever. The Realm was reborn. The only problem was that it wasn’t a game—at least not to those trapped inside. Dumped into a fantasy world filled with nightmarish monsters, awe-inspiring magic, and way more walking than Will thought he was physically capable of as a nerdy desk jockey, he has to navigate the perils of The Realm and unravel the mystery of how he came to be here and how to get out. Fantasy meets real-life consequences in a game that could mean the difference between life and death. But first, Will must get over being a noob…
Reborn: Apocalypse Volume 1
L.M. Kerr - 2019
Micheal's answer to that question would be quite simple. Yes. A million times yes. Humanity has fallen, killed by stronger races of beings after being warped away to a new reality, the mystical 7 Layers. Humanity's goal had been simple. Make it through all 7 Layers and reach Heaven. Humanity failed. Humanity died. Micheal Care's memories have been transported back into his past self thanks to a magical Artifact he found by chance. He is no chosen savior. He is no divinely picked hero. Can he change the future? Can he catch up to the mightiest warriors of humanity and surpass them? Read on and find out. -
Bone Dungeon
Jonathan Smidt - 2019
Only that he had a bit of a disagreement with the church -- something to do with a beheading?Now reborn, Ryan begins to arm his darkness dungeon with devious traps, bestial zombies and ill-named skeletal creations, without doing anything too evil. Well, mostly. Some adventurers just deserve a stalactite to the head.But Ryan quickly learns being a darkness dungeon isn't all loot and bone puns. With a necromancer on the rise and the Adventurer's Guild watching his every move, he must prove that not all darkness dungeons are malevolent... even if they do have a few skeletons in their caverns.Sadly, all of these issues keep distracting him from his own guilty pleasure, skeletal fight club. But don't tell his fairy about that.
Mastermind
Steven Kelliher - 2019
He dreamed of fighting alongside colorful heroes and taking down dastardly villains. In Titan Online, the most popular VR MMORPG going, he finally got the chance to live out his cape-donning fantasies.That is, right up until he was killed by the game's number one 'hero'. A man who serves only himself in a constant grind for money, fame and adoration. Forced to start from scratch due the harsh game mechanics, Karna finds a new mission; bringing balance back to Titan Online.With a strange new power and some unlikely allies, Karna hatches a plan to save the game, and get a bit of revenge in the process.When the heroes can't be trusted, it's up to the villains to save the (virtual) world.
SpeedRunner
Adam Elliott - 2017
That was what they called it. The day when over four million people vanished in an instant from the island of Manhattan. The day earthquakes ravaged the east coast. The day a one hundred and one kilometre tall tower rose from the wreckage of the now empty city. The day every screen, newspaper, and smart phone displayed a single message from an unknown source: The Great Emperor has issued his challenge. From the ruins of the Old World rise the Tower. Its doors will soon open, and the great game will begin. A hundred floors and a hundred challenges await the worthy. And to the victor? A Wish of Unlimited Power. Cayden Caros yearned to play that game. His only problem? The Terms and Conditions. A strict set of rules that, among other things, prevented anyone under the age of sixteen from entering the tower. Forced to wait for over two years, Cayden did the only thing he could do to pass the time. He researched, he practiced and he prepared. It would take a lot to catch up to players with such an enormous head start. Lucky for him, he was a special type of gamer. A SpeedRunner
I AM GAMER
Gabriel L. Rathweg - 2018
His girlfriend is not only cheating on him but she’s cheating on him with his best friend. He had the added benefit of finding out about it firsthand. To make matters worse a legendary Native American God has sent him back to North America circa 1400 AD. What’s a Gamer to do? From the creator of the hilarious Eryth Online and the action packed Warrior Academy series comes I AM GAMER! This is the first book in a series that will span continents. Join our hero on his journey to unify the Americas and fight back against its foreign invaders. Using skills and knowledge from the future all revealed in a game type format, Lawrence Lawrence Wrath will save the world… or die trying…
Rise of the Grandmaster
Bradford Bates - 2019
After watching the company's employee recruitment video, Big Richie’s words had a whole new meaning. He could spend his life going from a cubicle at work to a one-bedroom apartment and back again. . .Or he could take a leap of faith by entering a virtual world of unlimited possibilities. And get paid.Now he just has to figure out how to get the job of his dreams, help his parents financially, and catch the attention of the girl of his dreams.It was time for him to catch his wave.Tim sure hoped it didn't kill him first.RUNNING TIME ⇒ 20hrs. and 36mins.©2019 Bradford Bates and Michael Anderle (P)2020 Tantor
Rapture
Daniel Schinhofen - 2017
It did not sit well with him. It didn't surprise him that even in death, people were still using him for their own purposes. He had never exactly been a good guy, but everyone had their breaking point, and he had found his.The bastards in charge had uploaded his mind into a virtual death game. The whole world could now pay to see him play it and probably die. Alvin questioned whether he was really a bad guy, if this is how they wanted to treat him. Regardless, he was not about to wait for death to come for him. He would kick open the damn Apocalypse Gates and see about crushing everything that challenged him. It was time to make the world aware that he was done with pretending to be nice.Welcome to Apocalypse Gates!(This audiobook contains adult themes, including gore, death, drug use, and graphic sex.)
The Aussie Mana Apocalypse
Christopher J. Timms - 2020
Then the monsters showed up.Isolated in the Aussie outback with his best mate Nugget, Nugget's sister Mel (who he definitely did not have a thing with), Mel's new latte-sipping boyfriend, and a British backpacker, why isn’t Keat panicked?Because Keat’s a gamer.And every gamer knows, there’s always a way to power level. (also...because he has a giant wombat).You’ll love this LitRPG Western, set in the Australian Outback, because it reminds us how people change on a gap year, and because it takes the piss. Get it now.
Dravincia
Blake Severson - 2019
A Goddess is stirring up trouble, and Arthur happens to be the one caught up in the action. After an unfortunate encounter, Arthur is given a second chance in a new world. To his surprise, this new world has mechanics that remind him of Role-Playing Games from Earth. He has been given a simple directive from the Goddess, to help the people of the world and spread her name. He quickly discovers this will not be an easy task. The world has been overrun with bandits, who work for the lords of the land and cause all the denizens to live in abject ruin. Can Arthur tame Dravincia and push back against these forces or is he destined to fail spectacularly and have to hope for another try?