What is GameLit?

What is GameLit?

So, last month, I talked about LitRPG is, some history and where my writing sits with it. Today, I’ll hit the umbrella genre of writing called GameLit.

GameLit, or Game Literature, are stories which are heavily influenced by a game, be it, Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft, or any other game (board or online) which has character progression. Kind of sounds like LitRPG, right?

Yeah, that’s been a confusing point about both of these genres and there are arguments about it on Reddit and other social media platforms.

I found a great article about the differences by Kenny Kings on LitRPGreads.com. It goes into a lot of detail about both genres and where certain tropes used in stories fit.

GameLit typically does not show the numbers or stats of the characters. I certainly didn’t do that with Canthany Rising and Orders of Canthany has not, so far (but that can change). GameLit also can have things like avatars, boss encounters, game economies and rule-based magic. Other than the avatars (pictures or graphics to represent you or your character in-game), I do have those in Orders. Probably the big thing is does the story feel like you are in a game?

Mr. Kings’s article purports when there is XP (experience) and level-up notifications, or new skills become available or choices about abilities, these count as LitRPG. I have those in Orders of Canthany.

Where does that put my writing?

I’ve done something different with my writing. I don’t go into all the detailed stats of my characters or the ramifications of the choices of equipment, loot or numeric implications of the choice of abilities. However, I believe I’m writing LitRPG. Behind the scenes, I have all the numbers in mind, but not on the page. Something I could probably do is offer up stat sheets as a freebie on my site for those drooling for numbers to see what I had in mind.

Maybe that will happen.

The next part of Mr. Kings’s article is subgenre.

The Subgenres

There are a dozen subgenres listed in the article. The ones that caught my eye are Portal Fantasy, Isekai and Cozy. The other nine, you can read about yourself, but suffice it to say, I’m not writing those.

Portal Fantasy is when the central character is transported to another world with RPG rules. This certainly fits Canthany Rising. The Seven were transported from Earth to Canthany.

Isekai is similar to Portal in that the character is transported or “reborn” in another world but could also be reinvention or maybe it’s fulfilling a wish. This could be either LitRPG or GameLit. I could see Canthany possibly being this, because of the “reborn” term.

Cozy LitRPG is low-stakes leveling with possibly crafting and a sense of community. My writing fits this to a “T”. I don’t have a huge range of levels for my characters. They are more D&D and Pathfinder-like than the MMORPGs like EverQuest or World of Warcraft where you can level up over one-hundred. So, my character progression will be slower, there will be crafting and I hope a sense of community.

And there you have it. After all this, I’m writing Cozy LitRPG.

What else is going on

I’ve added an “In The Media” page to the top menu on my site. This serves a two-fold purpose. One, to show you all the places where I’ve been mentioned on the web. Two, boost my SEO results. More such changes on the way. One slow step at a time.

Writing Progress Report

The Prodigy and the Telepath is set to be released on October 20 on Amazon. Pre-orders are available for the e-book at $0.99! Get it while it’s cheap!

Orders of Canthany is well underway. I finished chapter 9 and it will be sent to the Scribes group shortly.

That’s it for now!

God bless and have a great day!