Publishing Derby: Gamelit Edition

Out now!

The Warhog Paladins - GameLit

Mia Lark is running out of options.

Without a neural implant, she'll be shut out of the Corporate jobs on her home planet, but without the cash to pay for it, she's desperate to find a way in. There is one way to score that implant and pay it back later: the game planet Revivium.

It sounds easy enough: enter the game, earn enough Bitz to cash out, and exit before the game finds a way to kill her. Once she's in-game, though, Mia realizes Revivium is anything but simple. A realm-wide quest is a great opportunity to score her Bitz and punch out, but she finds a magical artifact that links back to a forbidden quest line: the Helm of the dead leader of the Warhog Paladins.

The helm's friendly AI, Hex, Leads Mia on an entirely different quest, to find the main guildhall where she can discover what became of the old Warhog Paladins--a quest that could get her killed in Revivium, where Game Over means death...

The Tower Eternal - Fantasy, GameLit

One hundred levels. One hundred enemies. One climber.

Welcome to the Tower.

Nameless, amnesiac, and unarmed, Storm wakes in the Tower with nothing but a name she chose for herself and the weapons the Tower grants her. Determined to reach the top, no matter what's up there, she fights her way through the Tower's floors, knowing that any mistake could mean her death. Along the way, she finds she's not alone - there are other climbers, participants (willing or not) in the Tower's challenge.

As Storm and her newfound allies ascend the Tower, suspicions and tensions grow.

Who created the Tower? Why were they chosen to climb it? And what happens when they reach the top?

Find out in The Tower Eternal.

Ten Levels Down - Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Action, GameLit

When you can be anyone, why be yourself?

Garrit Hale doesn't look like much. In fact, he is often overlooked by everyone. He's just another scrawny nerd, wasting away on the Horizon—a digital world that has quickly become more like home than the real world.

But even digital avatars can catch the attention of those in power and the Protectorate needs Garrit's help. Deep in the bowels of Horizon, in a district where only the highest-leveled players dare to go, there is a challenge arena that boasts a prize worthy of the very best - and the Protectorate wants it.

Many have tried, and many have died, but when presented with an offer he can't refuse, Garrit decides to give it a shot. After all, what is there to lose when you can just respawn?

Mechaneura - Fantasy, GameLit

There are messages to deliver!

Tarn knows what she wants: a job with clear targets, measurable progress, and the chance to develop her skills. She just didn't expect to have to be transported to another world to find it.

Her new role is as a messenger, delivering packages and information between far flung settlements. She flies above the strange world on a mechaneura - part insect, part machine, part companion - crossing desert and archipelagoes, fenland and rocky coastlines.

There's lots for her to learn but one question she isn't sure how to answer: is this her home now, or will she be going back to the world she once knew?

Mechaneura is a cosy, low-stakes gamelit novella, based on finding personal satisfaction and a place in the world.

Have you Come to Bargain? - Sci-Fi, GameLit, Fantasy

Mica Townsend doesn’t like video games, and they like them even less when they somehow get yanked into one that their partner, Helen, was working on. Under the assumption that Helen is also stuck inside the game and has no way of getting back, Mica trudges forward, desperately trying to get any of the NPC’s to go off script and give real useful information. The further they get into the game on their quest for the love of their life. However, the more sinister things become. There are reports of rogue characters, whispers of previous players, and a hint of betrayal that nags at the back of Mica’s thoughts. The landscape goes from frustrating to nightmarish as they wade through the lies to discover the truth behind it all.

Will Mica find Helen? Will they make it out alive? Or are they doomed to be trapped, with no bargaining power to help them?

Dude, I'm Completely Lost - Fantasy, Adventure, GameLit, Comedy

A litRPG/Gamelit Isekai Misadventure.

Jack is in dire need of a vacation. Feeling burnout by his pointless job. Overwhelmed by the news that his girlfriend is pregnant. He desperately wants to escape his current reality. Unfortunately for him, his wish was granted.

After smoking a joint of weed from a mysterious shopkeeper he gets a little more than he bargained for. Suddenly he is transported to a new world and is greeted with the following pop-up window.

Congratulations you have been selected for the Dank Ultra Deranged Extravagant: Limited Outstanding Spectacular Trip ™ (DUDE: LOST ™). You are a level 1 tourist.

All Jack wants to do is go home. Unfortunately for him DUDE: LOST ™ requires a 100% satisfaction rate and a 100% completion rate. The only way for him to return is to level up his tourism and have the most incredible trip ever. Whether or not he wants to.

He quickly discovers the entire DUDE: LOST ™ system is horribly buggy and filled with egregious microtransactions.

Can Jack get enough funds to unlock universal translation? Will he be able to overcome his cynicism to have a genuine travel experience? Will he find his way in more ways than one or is he doomed to being completely lost?

Dude, I'm Completely Lost is a comedic Isekai Litrpg misadventure.

Children of Prometheus - Action, GameLit

When magic is sentient, who will be its savior?

The Children of Prometheus, inhuman demigods of knowledge and power, were enslaved and splintered by the people they came to help.

Given a second chance at a meaningful life after his life on Earth came to its abrupt and untimely end, Karsen Lee arrived on a world scattered by disaster. His job now: collect the broken soul fragments the people of the world wield as weapons against one another and bring them back together.

And maybe he can put himself back together in the process?