Dungeon Crawler Carl

First question: Under what circumstances (if any) would you go down the stairs? If you did go down, what would you take with you? What do you think your first achievements would be? How far do you think you would get in the dungeon?

Carl starts as an "everyman" thrust into unimaginable circumstances. How does his character grow and evolve from the beginning to the end of the book?

Do you consider yourself a cat person? Follow up: Are you a Princess Donut fan? How does her perspective and personality shape the story?

Discuss the dynamic between Carl and Donut versus other crawler partnerships we see. What makes their partnership effective?

Have you ever read a book in the LitRPG (Literary Role-Playing Game) before? Do you have any experience playing RPGs? How do you think those experiences (or lack thereof) affected your enjoyment of this novel?

The LitRPG elements (stats, skills, levels) are central to the story. Did the game mechanics enhance or distract from the narrative? How did they affect the pacing of the book?

There appears to be little rhyme or reason in terms of the levels, how experience points are handed out and more. Do you think this is strategic on the aliens' part in some way? Did it bother you?

Did the humor in the book work for you? Did you feel that the author effectively balances the humor with the dark subject matter (Earth's destruction, constant death)? Did you consider the book to be a dark comedy, a horror novel, or both?

Which floor or challenge was most memorable to you, and why?

Talk about free will in the context of "Dungeon Crawler Carl." How does the story explore themes of exploitation, oppression, and powerlessness?

Carl kills a lot of people. Are the lives he takes morallly justified? Evil? Somewhere gray and in between? Consider the intelligent mobs, particularly the room of babies.

What parallels did you draw between the alien society and our own? What does "Dungeon Crawler Carl" say about our own relationship with reality TV, social media, or other entertainment culture? About a capitalistic system?

Think about other media you have consumed that features "death games" (for example, books like "Hunger Games" or "Chain-Gang All-Stars" or tv shows like "Squid Game"). What do they have in common with "Dungeon Crawler Carl"? In what ways are they different? What does each say about entertainment and morality?

Was there anything you felt wasn't answered in the book? What do you hope to see happen in the next books in the series (and will you read them)?