Dungeon Crawler Carl Officially Replaces Carl Ahead Of Book 9

Published Nov 13, 2026, 12:30 AM EST

Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond. 

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If you're all caught up on Dungeon Crawler Carl and can't wait for Book 9, you're definitely not alone. The series has exploded in popularity in recent months and anticipation for the final two-volume conclusion is through the roof. Author Matt Dinniman has recently released a few teaser chapters on his Patreon page, which is well worth supporting whether you're new to the series or have been around since the beginning.

Aside from the Patreon teasers, there's plenty to keep fans busy ahead of Book 9's release, which is going by the working title The Beautiful Place. Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 1 is actually getting a fancy new Deluxe Edition next week, which includes an "interview" of Matt Dinniman conducted by Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk herself. Further, the RPG and Unstoppable deck-building game are slated to hit retail later this month.

However, you may have missed one new Dungeon Crawler Carl release that's well worth checking out, and it's one that "replaces" Carl as the main character and puts Donut in the spotlight for a hilarious and quirky new experience called Mama's Night Off.

Ace Books

With Dungeon Crawler Carl continuing to expand into new territory, it was probably only a matter of time before Princess Donut got her own video game. Mama's Night Off is a free, browser-based arcade game released in July 2026 by Maeve Chocolate, a Seattle-based chocolate company formerly known as Seattle Chocolate. It's a hilarious little experience that puts Donut front and center, and it's surprisingly addictive.

It's a very simple game, but well worth a look, as players must use Princess Donut's laser eyes to blast falling cherries, earning as many points as possible before the 30-second timer expires. There's no complicated tutorial or elaborate RPG progression, just a frantic challenge that encourages repeat attempts to beat your high score. The game even features a cheeky "New Achievement!" message and lets players challenge their friends.

The game was actually created to celebrate Maeve's official Dungeon Crawler Carl chocolate collaboration, specifically the Virgin Dirty Shirley truffle bar inspired by Donut's favorite drink. (Yes, we know a Virgin Dirty Shirley is just a Shirley Temple, that's the joke.) The bar combines dark chocolate, cherries, white chocolate, and popping candy for a fizzy twist. The partnership has since expanded to include Carl's Sweet Pota-toe Chips, a milk chocolate bar with crunchy sweet potato chips, alongside a Benefactor Bonbon Box and Station Mimic Gift Set.

You can play Mama's Night Off at Maeve's website here.

However, one of the best things about Mama's Night Off is that it features entirely new voice recordings from Jeff Hays, the beloved narrator behind the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks and future voice of the live-action Donut in the upcoming television adaptation. Hays recorded fresh dialogue for both Donut and the Dungeon AI, including some hilarious "pew" sound effects accompanying Donut's attacks. The additional audio gives the otherwise simple game some of the personality that makes the audiobooks so amazing.

Granted, Mama's Night Off isn't the full-fledged Dungeon Crawler Carl video game fans might be dreaming of, but it's a wonderfully silly distraction while waiting for The Beautiful Place. With Book 9 still on the horizon and plenty of other exciting projects in development, it's a great reminder that Carl might be the franchise's namesake, but Princess Donut has always known she's the real star.

Dungeon Crawler Carl