LitRPG (Literary Role-Playing Game) is a rapidly growing genre at the intersection of gaming culture and storytelling, which thrives in digital-first communities like Reddit, Discord, and gaming forums, where fans are deeply passionate and engaged. Dungeon Crawler Carl, written by Matt Dinniman and narrated by Jeff Hays on Audible, has been fueling much of this growth—a 7-book, 139-hour dark comedy adventure following Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, through a galactic game show dungeon built on Earth’s ruins. Fans call Jeff Hays’ audiobook performance "the ideal marriage of writing and performance" bringing the stories to life in unparalleled ways.
Our Dungeon Crawler Carl campaign aimed to super-serve the exploding LitRPG fandom while introducing the series to new audiences and positioning the audiobook as best-in-class, genre-defining entertainment. Our goal was to fuel word of mouth through authentic creator partnerships, viral social moments and experiential marketing—leveraging creator voices to connect fans, content and community in digital-first spaces.
Audible’s Dungeon Crawler Carl campaign was a multi-platform cultural moment. We amplified fan culture by putting creators front and center as genuine partners. Through a robust digital strategy, we let creators lead the conversation, engaging with culture through unconventional channels native to digital fandoms and meeting audiences in their spaces with content that felt genuine. Our social media strategy included a viral tattoo video, Reddit AMAs and fan-fueled conversations, live-read performances, influencer partnerships and more. We extended our strategy from online buzz into the real world with a San Diego Comic-Con activation which included OOH, with fully wrapped train trolley cars, and a fan event and panel with Matt Dinniman, the author, and Jeff Hays, the narrator. We also layered in a broad-scale PR campaign centering the creators as an essential facet of the Dungeon Crawler Carl fandom community.
The centerpiece of the Dungeon Crawler Carl campaign featured the series creator, Matt Dinniman, and longtime narrator, Jeff Hays, as they both got tattoos of Princess Donut (the main character, a cat) — with Jeff getting his on his butt, as he’d promised fans. The video appeared first on Reddit as exclusive early access for fans before a wider release on YouTube. While getting tattooed, they interviewed each other about the series, combining unexpected action (a butt tattoo!) with substantive content wrapped in entertainment. The video became a meme-worthy moment that displayed authentic creator commitment to fandom in a format native to digital culture: shareable, quotable, and GIF-able. This viral event made the series absolutely unmissable both for fans and curious newcomers.
Our campaign also included dedicated posts from Audible's social channels, custom static and video creative designed for sharing, and amplification on Matt Dinniman's, Jeff Hays’, and Soundbooth Theater’s channels. Our influencer campaign included recommendations from qualified book lovers to perpetuate word of mouth among target audiences. Jeff Hays also performed live-reads on social media, showcasing his acclaimed vocal performances and narration.
Audible brought Dungeon Crawler Carl to San Diego Comic-Con, featuring a sold-out fan event and a panel with Matt Dinniman and Jeff Hays, moderated by Maude Garrett (audiobook tastemaker, 108K followers). The panel included a behind-the-scenes look at the creative collaboration behind the series, a discussion on the influence of fan feedback on story development, and an exclusive preview of the upcoming Book 8, with Jeff Hays cold-reading a passage live for fans. At the fan event - a barcade experience which replicated the world of Carl and Princess Donut - we offered fans an exclusive opportunity to meet author Matt Dinniman and narrator Jeff Hays, selling out the event with over 500 sign-ups in 10 minutes.
Our campaign reinforced Audible's commitment to fan-driven content, created high-impact opportunities for the community to connect with the creators, emphasized the power of audio in elevating storytelling, and established an environment where fans felt excited and celebrated.
The campaign propelled Book 7 in the series - This Inevitable Ruin - to #2 on the New York Times Audio Best-Seller List (the first time any Dungeon Crawler Carl title reached the list in any format) and to #1 on the Audible Top Listens chart. The series has sold 3M+ copies with an 83% completion rate, over 80 million listening hours, and 4.9 stars from 15,000+ reviews.
The campaign also demonstrated Audible’s role in shaping culture and building communities around the creators and stories fans love. Beyond the Dungeon Crawler Carl campaign itself, Audible initially provided a launchpad for Matt Dinniman's success: in 2020, Dinniman self-published his first audiobook on our Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). We spotted his potential and then brought the series to Audible for global expansion in 6 languages. LitRPG has now grown into a recognized, thriving genre fueled by creators like Dinniman and the passionate, engaged fans of stories like Dungeon Crawler Carl—indicating how Audible is truly driving culture, not just responding to it.
Audible has fueled a passionate, engaged community around Dungeon Crawler Carl and LitRPG, nurturing fandom from the ground up. Most importantly, the campaign successfully positioned Audible as the creative playground where niche genres become cultural phenomena.
