Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“The training levels have concluded. Now the games may truly begin.”

The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can’t get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive. 

They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose. 

Carl still has no pants. 

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it’s anything but a game.

Magic Bubbles & Monster Trouble

The following ratings are out of 5:
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 😋😀😎😁🫣
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Solo Narration but totally worth the price

🎧 Audiobook Review: Carls Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2)

Author: Matt Dinniman
Genre: LitRPG Adventure
Narrator(s): Jeff Hays

🎬 Character Background & Plot Dynamics

Carl and Donut begin this installment on the third floor of the dungeon, and their dynamic is as chaotic, endearing, and laugh‑out‑loud funny as ever. Donut remains a self‑appointed princess in every sense—impulsive, dramatic, and utterly convinced that her instincts are flawless. She blurts out decisions before anyone can stop her, leaving Carl to manage the consequences with his usual mix of exasperation and reluctant affection. Her self‑declared “Mommy” role to Mongo the baby velociraptor adds another layer of delightful absurdity, especially when her maternal instincts collide with her diva tendencies.

Mordecai continues to be a standout presence, especially in how he reacts to Donut’s antics. His frustration—expertly conveyed through his voice—adds a perfect counterbalance to the chaos Carl and Donut generate. This book gives him more involvement thanks to a new perk: Carl and Donut can summon him from any safe location. It’s a huge advantage for them, though Mordecai is hilariously unenthused about being yanked away from his personal time at any moment.

Both Carl and Donut face major decisions about their race and class, with hundreds of options narrowed down by the AI to the top three. Donut, naturally, chooses her race without reading a single detail, but she surprises everyone by actually listening to the class descriptions and weighing the pros and cons. Carl, on the other hand, approaches his choices with methodical care. He’s aware that his popularity with viewers is tied to being human, and that tension—between strategic optimization and maintaining his identity—adds a thoughtful layer to his character arc.

🌟 What Worked for Me

• A fresh wave of monsters and allies — The creativity in creature design continues to shine. Every new enemy or acquaintance is described with such vivid detail that it’s easy to picture them, quirks and all.
• Carl’s moment of vulnerability — When Carl wakes up alone in the dark, separated from Donut and Mongo, the fear and loneliness hit hard. His realization that they’ve become his family is one of the most emotionally resonant moments in the series so far.
• Inventive magic and world mechanics — The privacy bubbles at the nightclub were a standout. They’re clever, practical, and exactly the kind of immersive detail that makes this world feel lived‑in and endlessly surprising.
• A richly imagined third floor — This floor feels like a bustling town, complete with nightclubs, casinos, and even a circus. The pacing is more relaxed than the first two books, allowing Carl and Donut to pursue achievements, side quests, and exploration rather than constantly stumbling into danger.
• Engaging quests and moral clarity — The mysteries and side quests are fun, varied, and often surprisingly heartfelt. Carl and Donut consistently choose empathy over convenience, even in a world designed to strip humanity away.

⤵️ What Didn’t Work as Well

• Truly nothing. This installment fires on all cylinders—characters, action, humor, world‑building, pacing. Everything feels polished, engaging, and wildly entertaining.

🎙️ Narration

Jeff Hays continues to deliver a masterclass in audiobook performance. His range is so extensive that the narration often feels like a full cast production. Carl’s voice—eerily reminiscent of Patrick Warburton—remains a highlight, and Hays’s portrayals of Princess Donut, Mordecai, and the various computerized announcers are pitch‑perfect. His ability to shift tone, personality, and emotional nuance elevates every scene. This series feels made for audio, and Hays’s performance is a huge part of why.

💬 Final Thoughts & Assessment

This book is an absolute blast—funny, heartfelt, imaginative, and endlessly surprising. The third floor expands the world in ways that feel fresh and rewarding, giving Carl and Donut room to grow while still delivering the high‑stakes action and humor that define the series. Between the inventive world‑building, the emotional beats, the clever quests, and Jeff Hays’s phenomenal narration, this installment is everything I want in a LitRPG audiobook. A fantastic continuation of the series and easily one of my favorites so far.

💭 Quotes

“I need pants. I really f*ckin need pants.”

Carl: “I think I’m being charmed by an NPC with horns. What do I do?”
Mordecai: “It’s not a real Charm spell because if it was, you wouldn’t be asking me about it. Is it happening to Donut, too?”
Donut: “HE HAS AN ERECTION, MORDECAI. IT’S VERY INAPPROPRIATE. MONGO IS APPALLED.”

“Cats don’t drink cocktails,” I said.
“Cats don’t shoot lasers from their eyes either, Carl, but here we are. Mama needs a night off.”

“We are guest stars, Carl. It’s too dangerous for a show to have guest stars that are more interesting than the main characters. That’s why they killed Barb on Stranger Things.”

“The Freeballing Benefit The benefit’s description was: Freeballing and I’m freeeeee! Freeee Ballling!”

“But the sight of myself up on the screen, running full tilt through the Over City with nothing but a one-armed leather jacket and my nuts dangling free filled me with a strange, almost primal sense of vulnerability.”

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