What Does It Mean to Play Dungeon Crawler Carl?

I recently finished listening to the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks written by Matt Dinniman and performed by Jeff Hays. I then immediately went back to the beginning of Book 1 and began reading the whole thing over again from the beginning, something which I’ve only done on the rarest of occasions for individual books and which I’ve literally never done for a full series before. The result is astonishing, because with the revelations of the later books in mind, the second time through is often like reading a whole new story. Dinniman’s plotting, character work, and worldbuilding are not only excellent; they’re simultaneously working on multiple, interwoven levels all at once. It’s dizzyingly brilliant. So, in short: The hype is real. This series is insanely good. If you haven’t read it yet, you should seek it out with all haste. This is not, however, a review of Dungeon Crawler Carl. If it were, I would talk about how the series’ themes are a vital response to the current zeitgeist;…