I didn’t grow up thinking about genres like LitRPG or GameLit. I just knew I liked books where choices mattered, rules existed, and progress felt earned.
As a kid, I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books.
They felt different from normal novels.
The story talked to me.
If you open the door, turn to page 42.
If you run away, turn to page 87.
Sometimes I survived. Most of the time, I didn’t.
But that didn’t matter — because I made the choice.
That was my first exposure to what we now call Interactive Fiction: stories that branch depending on the reader’s decisions.
Later, I discovered something more structured: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebooks, particularly "Nightmare Realm of Baba Yaga."
This was my introduction to gamebooks and solo RPG-style reading. Choices still mattered. But now the rules decide success or failure.
What thrills me the most is that luck and stats could kill you just as fast as bad decisions.
Looking back, these books were the bridge between storytelling and role-playing games.
Discovering Solo RPGs
Years later, I realized there was a name for that feeling of playing alone.
It’s called Solo RPGs.
A Solo RPG isn’t a novel, it’s a game designed to be played by one person. There’s no Game Master.
Instead, you use:
rules
dice or cards
prompts or random tables
The story isn’t prewritten. You create it as you play.
Discovering modern game-inspired fiction
Years later, I discovered and explored newer genres that felt familiar but more polished.
LitRPG
LitRPG books feel like reading a game from the inside.
You see:
stats
levels
skills
achievements
system messages
The character lives inside a world that runs on game mechanics, and the reader sees those mechanics clearly.
If the story shows numbers and rules on the page, it’s probably LitRPG.
GameLit
GameLit feels similar — but quieter.
The world still behaves like a game:
clear progression
challenges
power growth
But the numbers stay hidden.
There are no stat screens or level-up popups. You just feel the character getting stronger.
If LitRPG is reading the HUD,
GameLit is playing with the HUD turned off.
Progression Fantasy
Then there’s progression fantasy, which overlaps with both.
This genre focuses on one core idea: The main character starts weak and becomes stronger through effort, failure, and time.
Progression fantasy doesn’t need game systems. No stats are required. What matters is visible growth.
Many LitRPG and GameLit stories are also progression fantasy — but not all progression fantasy is game-based.
How all these genres connect
Here’s the easiest way I’ve found to think about them:
Interactive Fiction → the reader makes choices
Gamebooks / Solo RPGs → choices + rules + randomness
LitRPG → characters live inside visible game systems
GameLit → game-like worlds without visible stats
Progression Fantasy → growth is the main reward
They aren’t competing genres.
Why this still matters to me
Looking back, it makes sense why I gravitate toward:
systems
hidden rules
false choices
structured worlds
stories where progress has a cost
From flipping pages in Choose Your Own Adventure to tracking hit points in AD&D gamebooks to enjoying modern LitRPG and GameLit novels — I was never just reading stories, I was learning how systems shape the narrative.
And honestly? That’s still the kind of story I want to read — and create.