'Dungeon Crawler Carl' Gets a Super Mario Twist in Hilarious New LitRPG Series

Published Oct 10, 2026, 5:57 PM EDT Charlie Ridgely is a writer from Maryland, currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. He may be new to Collider, but he's been writing, editing, conducting interviews, and podcasting around the industry for 10 years. From 2016 to the start of 2026, Charlie was a full time writer and critic at ComicBook.com. A lifelong movie fan, avid reader, and renowned (fictional) dungeon explorer/dragonslayer, Charlie is a jack-of-all-trades throughout the fandom multiverse and has covered everything under the sun. Matt Dinniman's bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series has become one of the most popular book titles in the world of late, growing from an indie sci-fi saga to a record-breaking phenomenon in an incredibly short time. The acclaimed LitRPG series is already entering the world of tabletop gaming and will soon become a live-action TV series on Peacock, quickly introducing the world to a niche book genre that contains more than a few hidden gems. With Dungeon Crawler Carl finding unparalleled success, people are obviously looking for more titles like it, and there have been a couple LitRPG series that have enough in common with DCC to scratch the same itch. James A. Hunter's sci-fi comedy saga Discount Dan's Backroom Bargains is usually the first alternate series mentioned when anyone asks for "a book like Dungeon Crawler Carl," but there's now a new series that is also starting to come up in the same conversation. James Michael Ploof's Last Save Dave has all the comedy and world-saving stakes of Dungeon Crawler Carl, with a hilarious mix of Super Mario thrown in for good measure — and it's just getting started. What Is 'Last Save Dave'? Image Courtesy of Aethon Books Like Dungeon Crawler Carl, Last Save Dave is a LitRPG series of novels that puts an underdog MC (main character) into a fight for the survival of the entire planet. A blue collar, middle-aged plumber living in New York City, Dave is as normal a guy as you can imagine, though he does have an interesting past that includes boxing in the Olympics and winning the 1990 Nintendo World Championship. One night, a child god named Tyme appears to him and explains that she has chosen him to represent her at the Tree of One Thousand Worlds, where he will face off against the champions of the other 11 gods in a game to see who can collect the most Talismans from the different worlds on the tree. While you need the most Talismans to win the game, they can also be used to level a champion up and give them new abilities, which they'll need if they want to last until the end of the game. Dave is informed from the get-go that only one champion can actually win the game, and not only will the other 11 champions die, but their entire home worlds will die along with them. So if Dave fails, Earth will be destroyed. While he doesn't know why he was chosen, Dave does have a special ability that none of the other champions have. They are each given a power that coincides with the god they represent, and Tyme is, of course, the ruler of time. Dave's special ability allows him to "return to last save" when he dies or whenever he chooses, provided he has one Talisman to spare. While all the other champions are playing with a single life, Dave has plenty to spare, and none of them aside from Dave remember the failed timelines. As if the whole plumber angle wasn't enough, it's this "last save" mechanic that makes Last Save Dave feel a lot like a Super Mario 3D platformer. There are a thousand totally different worlds to visit, all of which have things Dave needs to collect, each populated with different types of beings. He can come and go in those worlds as he chooses, always returning to the Tree itself, where more portals to more worlds await. And if Dave dies on a world, he has the ability to do it again, learning from his mistakes and trying to do things differently the next time. Last Save Dave reads more like a video game than other LitRPGs, which may make it more accessible to wider audiences that may not have the same kind of experience in roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. It's also an outright comedy at times, and Ploof nails that element better than most in the LitRPG space. It's a funny adventure that sneakily has a lot more to say than you expect, following in the footsteps of Dungeon Crawler Carl. How Many 'Last Save Dave' Books Are There? While die-hard LitRPG readers online have been able to experience Last Save Dave for a little longer than others, the first book in the series just came to paperback, Kindle, and Audible a few months ago. The second book, Last Save Dave 2, is also available on both paperback and Kindle, but it isn't on Audible just yet. Ploof has already completed work on Last Save Dave 3, which is slated to be released on December 9th. There's no official word just yet as to how many books are planned for the series, but three is more than enough to get any new fan started. With all three existing books being released within the span of six months, it doesn't feel like too much of a stretch to think we could see Last Save Dave 4 sometime in the next year. Network Peacock Writers Chris Yost