Hi everyone. I'm looking for recommendations of books where the characters have to go through different "games" or trials in order to survive. I'd prefer if the games are more focused on intellect, like puzzles the characters have to solve, but it's fine if they have to use other skills (like strength, agility, etc.).
Some examples of this would be Alice in Borderland, Zero Escape, Danganronpa, Squid Game, and maybe even Saw?
Looking for recs, I found people suggesting the Hunger Games, The Long Walk and Battle Royale, and although I loved the three, I'm looking for something that's more focused on the solving a puzzle/mystery aspect. Still, if you have recs for books like these I will accept them, I eat up everything that's about survival lol.
Sorry if this is kinda too specific, but it's one of my favorite tropes in media ever, and I struggle to find books with it. Thank you!
by Fun-Tie2972
5 Comments
Red Rising by Pierce Brown? Only the first book has a survival game, and IMO it’s more similar to The Hunger Games than it is to the ones you describe.
The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks? This doesn’t get too into the specifics of the game strategy itself. It focuses more on the society that made the game, and what this game says about their socioeconomic hierarchy from the point of view of an outsider from a utopia.
*Gideon the Ninth* by Tamsyn Muir has this vibe
Court of Fives is sorta Little Women meets American Ninja Warrior. the game in question requires physical strength, flexibility, and stamina, with a fair amount of strategic planning and puzzle solving involved.
The Scholomance series by Naomi Novick has a lot of this- the whole school is a giant death trap you have to fight, plot, strategize, politick, or just get lucky to survive.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is similar to that. It is litRPG, though.
Neverworld Wake might be a good fit, it involves a trippy, absurd, sinister “escape” scenario.
You should also check out The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle– Not quite the trope you’re looking for but I think it would scratch the same itch, as the main character is in an impossible time-loop scenario with rules and a time limit.