What Exactly is LitRPG?

So far, all my novels have been LitRPG novels, and some people who aren't familiar with the genre have asked, "What is LitRPG?"

LitRPG is short for "Literary Role Playing Game." It's a literary genre combining the elements of role playing games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft with science-fiction or fantasy novels. In a litRPG, games or game-like challenges form an essential part of the story and usually visible RPG statistics (for example strength, intelligence, damage) are a big part of the world. At least some of the characters in a LitRPG novel (especially the main characters) may understand that they're playing a game or are in a game-like world.

A good example is Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. That book is a straight fantasy novel. However, if you wrote a book about people creating avatars and interacting in a Lord of the Rings MMORPG, that would be a LitRPG novel.

Most LitRPG novels are based on a fantasy universe, which I thought was a little too limiting. I personally am a huge fan of science fiction universes over fantasy, so that's why I created Venus Online.

New to Venus Online? Download Volume One to get started! As always, if you have Kindle Unlimited, the book is free right now!

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