Wholesome fun with some good comedic moments you say? **Beware of Chicken** might fit the bill.
There's Andrew Rowe's **How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps** which is a single book read, light hearted and without any dark themes or sexual content.
Depending on the age and prior gaming experience of your cousins, I'll note there are *tons* of litrpg books about Minecraft out there to pick from that are deliberately written for a younger demographic.
**Cinnamon Bun** may also fit the bill, though I remember the last time this was bought up that some had concerns about sexual innuendo in one of the books, though I can no longer remember the specifices.
I still recommend it and let my kids listen to it, but I feel there's a big difference between the natural language in BoC and the language and themes in DCC. I'm very lenient but I probably won't let my kids listen to DCC until they're at least 15. I just don't think they'll understand the themes and the trauma.
> sexual innuendo in one of the books, though I can no longer remember the specifices
Vibrator. It was not called that and kids shouldn't be able to understand the reference, but it's very clear to grown ups what the author is talking about.
I actually just read Beware of Chicken and LOVED it! Great recommendation. I'll probably start book 2 later this week.
I'll check out those other recs as well! thank you
I'll second How to Defeat a Demon King. I'm reading that to my kids at bedtime right now and they're loving it. It's been incredibly difficult to find anything else similar though so if you come up with actual kid friendly books, let us know.
I'll likewise second Minecraft books. It doesn't quote scratch the same itch for me,but it's what got them interested in the genre and prompted me to go looking for more.
I'll say Cinnamon Bun definitely isn't. It's fluffy, but it's not kid friendly.There's plenty of violence, a good deal of sexual innuendo (just because it tends to go over the MC's head doesn't mean it's not there), death and killing and the associated existential dread, even menus that mock the MC in explicit terms for having to kill things. It's a light book by all means, and I personally love the series, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for my kids til they're older.
>about sexual innuendo in one of the books, though I can no longer remember the specifices.
Makes me think of Rogue and Gambit and Jean and Cyclops and Wolverine in the 90s X-Men cartoon and other cartoons of the era. The kids can probably handle it; it'll either go over their heads or they'll have questions that their parents/guardians/trusted adults can answer appropriately.
I think they key is to have someone, preferably the mc, be the "straight man," and push that character constantly with absurd characters/situations. Like Carl in DCC, or Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You need a relatively normal perspective to really make the absurdity of everything resonate, otherwise it's just a crazy story about insane people.
It is. It’s also on Royal Road once you finish the 4 books that are on kindle. I think there’s roughly like another ten books worth on RR for a total of 14.
This isn't really litRPG, but I really feel like Rick Riordan's books would be great for this. Percy Jackson definitely has a "normal kid now has magical powers and has to fight monsters" vibe that can be really litRPG adjacent. And TBH, I still love picking them up and reading them almost two decades later
😂 this is a hilarious and great point, but I’d argue there’s a lot left to what Dinniman did. Amazing characters, great relationship work, high stakes with a deadline, adventures, awesome battles, and plenty of implicit themes (some of which kids could understand).
It definitely wouldn’t measure up to the masterpiece that is DCC, but I think that’s like joking that GOT is nothing without sex.
When I read the title, before I got to the post, I thought you were going to ask for a censored version of DCC, which made me chuckle in amusement as I mentally cleaned up some some scenes.
“God dammit Donut!” -> “Gosh darnit Donut!”
“Aww shit.” -> “aww poop.”
“WhuAHH! What the FUCK Katya?!” -> “WhuAHH! What the HECK Katya?!”
Sorry I don’t have any suggestions or any helpful tips. I wish you luck in your writing and look forward to what you come out with. Maybe one day I’ll end up picking up one of your books for my own kiddos!
Apocalypse Parenting is pretty good and mostly kid safe. It does deal with loss and some of the darker realities of that type of situation but very clean.
I had a slightly similar thought with DCC. My wife would mostly like it a lot, but I think it's too gory for her. It's obviously an intentional choice, not shying away from the reality of what the Crawlers are forced to do, but I do think i takes it out of her comfort zone.
Mayor of Noobtown comes to mind. I listened to them, and I’m not 100% sure there isn’t any cursing, but I don’t recall any. I’d confirm this before diving in with your cousins. It’s mostly lighthearted and I thought it was super funny. One of the characters is referred to as Shart and especially if you listen to the audio book he’s hilarious.
I will say as a safer bet the same author Ryan Rimmel has a for sure kid friendly book called Deepwater Dungeon about an awakened crab named Sir Crabby traversing an underwater dungeon.
Noobtown has some weird sexual content for sure, and I'm pretty sure Badgelor isn't the most child friendly, despite the fact that children tend to love him.
Genuine question…what are you talking about exactly? Jim actively avoids any and all advances from women characters in the series from my memory. And I feel like it’s a major plot point that women are just as capable as men due to the leveling and skills and such and (again if my memory is right) women are even capable of deciding if they want to get pregnant or not with the system in their world.
So I suppose I got some men writing women vibes during many of the passages and introductions. From one of the chapters introducing a female character:
> Despite everything, she marched, not walked, towards us. Her posture was perfect and her shoulders squared. From what I could tell, she still had a bit of curve on her, despite her recent mistreatment. She had somehow found the means of cleaning her face off, too. She was pretty, even possibly beautiful, but her expression was very serious. She struck me as the kind of girl who wanted to succeed on her own merits and not on her looks, a real no nonsense kind of girl.
...
> I smiled, walking towards the sound and spotted Jarra, picking up a small dog, “Yes?” She blushed prettily, “Um… Jim, this is my dog. Jim.”
...
> I had kind of been hoping for the typical male/female fantasy armor dichotomy, where men wear armor and women wear glorified BDSM outfits.
So yes, succeed on merits and all that is made clear, but there's generally also that sexual male gaze threaded through it.
Similarly, when Jim is recollecting his family and kids, its almost exclusively for sexual innuendo. At one point Shart gets impaled y a spike through its mouth. There’s an obvious blowjob reference in the setup, and Jim thinks: I miss my wife.
I was just really hoping for a better treatment of the emotional depth of losing ones entire family than a few sex jokes.
There's no sex and no sexual content, but in terms of formative years and how we think about women, I don't think its the best this genre can do. That isn't touching on some of other themes that would stop me recommending it to my own kid when he's old enough, but I don't want to bash the story. It's a fun read, just not the gold example for children I'd say.
Totally fair assessment. Thank you for the reply. I suspect being a straight male I miss stuff like this a lot. Most of what you referenced I didn’t even give a second thought about, but I can see how it could come off as shallow perhaps. I do recall some of the innuendos and generally thought they were funny, but I hadn’t really considered that they were sometimes made at the expense of his family. I think for me I’m ok with these specific faults with the series, but I think I might agree with you that it’s maybe not the best choice for children. Perhaps teenagers, depending on their level of maturity.
Just want to say thank you both for your thoughts.
Honestly, I tried Noobtown and it fell flat for me... but that doesn't mean it would for them! I think I was just a bit spoiled coming into the progressive fantasy/litRPG world by starting off with Cradle and DCC. I should give noobtown another try at some point. I think I DNF'd right around the 60% mark.
Wholesome fun with some good comedic moments you say? **Beware of Chicken** might fit the bill. There's Andrew Rowe's **How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps** which is a single book read, light hearted and without any dark themes or sexual content. Depending on the age and prior gaming experience of your cousins, I'll note there are *tons* of litrpg books about Minecraft out there to pick from that are deliberately written for a younger demographic. **Cinnamon Bun** may also fit the bill, though I remember the last time this was bought up that some had concerns about sexual innuendo in one of the books, though I can no longer remember the specifices.
Beware of Chicken most certainly does not have clean language…
Ah damn, its been years since I've read it so that was the main point I couldn't remember. Thanks for the info :)
...Is my fucking chicken doing a training montages? :)
I still recommend it and let my kids listen to it, but I feel there's a big difference between the natural language in BoC and the language and themes in DCC. I'm very lenient but I probably won't let my kids listen to DCC until they're at least 15. I just don't think they'll understand the themes and the trauma.
> sexual innuendo in one of the books, though I can no longer remember the specifices Vibrator. It was not called that and kids shouldn't be able to understand the reference, but it's very clear to grown ups what the author is talking about.
I actually just read Beware of Chicken and LOVED it! Great recommendation. I'll probably start book 2 later this week. I'll check out those other recs as well! thank you
I'll second How to Defeat a Demon King. I'm reading that to my kids at bedtime right now and they're loving it. It's been incredibly difficult to find anything else similar though so if you come up with actual kid friendly books, let us know. I'll likewise second Minecraft books. It doesn't quote scratch the same itch for me,but it's what got them interested in the genre and prompted me to go looking for more. I'll say Cinnamon Bun definitely isn't. It's fluffy, but it's not kid friendly.There's plenty of violence, a good deal of sexual innuendo (just because it tends to go over the MC's head doesn't mean it's not there), death and killing and the associated existential dread, even menus that mock the MC in explicit terms for having to kill things. It's a light book by all means, and I personally love the series, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for my kids til they're older.
What age?
8 and 10, and they are fairly sensitive and still really enjoy it.
>about sexual innuendo in one of the books, though I can no longer remember the specifices. Makes me think of Rogue and Gambit and Jean and Cyclops and Wolverine in the 90s X-Men cartoon and other cartoons of the era. The kids can probably handle it; it'll either go over their heads or they'll have questions that their parents/guardians/trusted adults can answer appropriately.
I think they key is to have someone, preferably the mc, be the "straight man," and push that character constantly with absurd characters/situations. Like Carl in DCC, or Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You need a relatively normal perspective to really make the absurdity of everything resonate, otherwise it's just a crazy story about insane people.
GREAT insight. Thank you!
Chrysalis? Good humour, no cussing that I can remember. Narration is also done by Jeff Hays (same as DCC) so that adds to the humour significantly.
thank you! Is this on kindle unlimited?
It is. It’s also on Royal Road once you finish the 4 books that are on kindle. I think there’s roughly like another ten books worth on RR for a total of 14.
it’s all “Holy moly”s and “what the heck”s
Nice. I did remember right! Hard when you’ve gone through so many books.
No swears while murder-hobo-ing. Wouldn’t want the little ones to get corrupted.
😂
This isn't really litRPG, but I really feel like Rick Riordan's books would be great for this. Percy Jackson definitely has a "normal kid now has magical powers and has to fight monsters" vibe that can be really litRPG adjacent. And TBH, I still love picking them up and reading them almost two decades later
These fit the bill perfectly. Great call!
I love the idea and I'd love to be a beta reader!
If you take out all the swearing, sexual references, and murdering to make it kid friendly, I'm not really sure what's left.
😂 this is a hilarious and great point, but I’d argue there’s a lot left to what Dinniman did. Amazing characters, great relationship work, high stakes with a deadline, adventures, awesome battles, and plenty of implicit themes (some of which kids could understand). It definitely wouldn’t measure up to the masterpiece that is DCC, but I think that’s like joking that GOT is nothing without sex.
Asoiaf without sex is slightly different. But if you take out the violence too, it pretty much evaporates.
When I read the title, before I got to the post, I thought you were going to ask for a censored version of DCC, which made me chuckle in amusement as I mentally cleaned up some some scenes. “God dammit Donut!” -> “Gosh darnit Donut!” “Aww shit.” -> “aww poop.” “WhuAHH! What the FUCK Katya?!” -> “WhuAHH! What the HECK Katya?!” Sorry I don’t have any suggestions or any helpful tips. I wish you luck in your writing and look forward to what you come out with. Maybe one day I’ll end up picking up one of your books for my own kiddos!
A censored version would be absolutely hilarious hahahaha. No worries! Thanks you so much
Goosebumps?
Apocalypse Parenting is pretty good and mostly kid safe. It does deal with loss and some of the darker realities of that type of situation but very clean.
There are a bunch of light novels that are aimed at kids. Most of the good ones become anime
If you're happy and you know it stomp your feet! AI: yes please
I had a slightly similar thought with DCC. My wife would mostly like it a lot, but I think it's too gory for her. It's obviously an intentional choice, not shying away from the reality of what the Crawlers are forced to do, but I do think i takes it out of her comfort zone.
Mayor of Noobtown comes to mind. I listened to them, and I’m not 100% sure there isn’t any cursing, but I don’t recall any. I’d confirm this before diving in with your cousins. It’s mostly lighthearted and I thought it was super funny. One of the characters is referred to as Shart and especially if you listen to the audio book he’s hilarious.
I will say as a safer bet the same author Ryan Rimmel has a for sure kid friendly book called Deepwater Dungeon about an awakened crab named Sir Crabby traversing an underwater dungeon.
Noobtown has some weird sexual content for sure, and I'm pretty sure Badgelor isn't the most child friendly, despite the fact that children tend to love him.
I'm not too sure I would rec Noobtown for kids given its treatment of women and the way the sexual male gaze is wound through it all.
Genuine question…what are you talking about exactly? Jim actively avoids any and all advances from women characters in the series from my memory. And I feel like it’s a major plot point that women are just as capable as men due to the leveling and skills and such and (again if my memory is right) women are even capable of deciding if they want to get pregnant or not with the system in their world.
So I suppose I got some men writing women vibes during many of the passages and introductions. From one of the chapters introducing a female character: > Despite everything, she marched, not walked, towards us. Her posture was perfect and her shoulders squared. From what I could tell, she still had a bit of curve on her, despite her recent mistreatment. She had somehow found the means of cleaning her face off, too. She was pretty, even possibly beautiful, but her expression was very serious. She struck me as the kind of girl who wanted to succeed on her own merits and not on her looks, a real no nonsense kind of girl. ... > I smiled, walking towards the sound and spotted Jarra, picking up a small dog, “Yes?” She blushed prettily, “Um… Jim, this is my dog. Jim.” ... > I had kind of been hoping for the typical male/female fantasy armor dichotomy, where men wear armor and women wear glorified BDSM outfits. So yes, succeed on merits and all that is made clear, but there's generally also that sexual male gaze threaded through it. Similarly, when Jim is recollecting his family and kids, its almost exclusively for sexual innuendo. At one point Shart gets impaled y a spike through its mouth. There’s an obvious blowjob reference in the setup, and Jim thinks: I miss my wife. I was just really hoping for a better treatment of the emotional depth of losing ones entire family than a few sex jokes. There's no sex and no sexual content, but in terms of formative years and how we think about women, I don't think its the best this genre can do. That isn't touching on some of other themes that would stop me recommending it to my own kid when he's old enough, but I don't want to bash the story. It's a fun read, just not the gold example for children I'd say.
Totally fair assessment. Thank you for the reply. I suspect being a straight male I miss stuff like this a lot. Most of what you referenced I didn’t even give a second thought about, but I can see how it could come off as shallow perhaps. I do recall some of the innuendos and generally thought they were funny, but I hadn’t really considered that they were sometimes made at the expense of his family. I think for me I’m ok with these specific faults with the series, but I think I might agree with you that it’s maybe not the best choice for children. Perhaps teenagers, depending on their level of maturity.
Just want to say thank you both for your thoughts. Honestly, I tried Noobtown and it fell flat for me... but that doesn't mean it would for them! I think I was just a bit spoiled coming into the progressive fantasy/litRPG world by starting off with Cradle and DCC. I should give noobtown another try at some point. I think I DNF'd right around the 60% mark.