Time to Play by Erin Ampersand

Picture this: You’re home with your three kids, racing to get soccer uniforms washed ahead of practice when the power shuts off. Your cell phone goes dead. And a voice coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once booms:

Congratulations! Your planet has been selected!

And just like that, Earth becomes the newest unwilling participant in a high-stakes intergalactic game show competition. What that means becomes terrifyingly clear as monsters drop onto the front lawn, an interface appears in your field of vision, and you—and your nine- and six-year-old sons and three-year-old daughter—are each offered a choice of supernatural abilities.

Part of you wants to laugh. Your husband’s away on business, coming home late tonight. Well, he was. But you clamp down on your rising panic. It doesn’t matter how much harder it will be. You’re a mom. Your kids need you; it’s up to you to keep them safe. You can do this.

Then, in quick succession, you discover: 1) your toddler has unilaterally decided her supernatural power should be for her beloved turtle stuffie to come alive. 2) every person on Earth will have to fight, no matter their age. You're going to have to teach your kids to stand on their own—and yourself to let them.

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Time to Play — Erin Ampersand

PRE-READING

This is my first venture into LitRPG, and I was a little nervous about what I was getting into. Was I going to need paper and pen? Would I be expected to keep track of statistics and add things up as if I were playing Dungeons & Dragons?

Happily, no! At least, not in this book. Time to Play was a much more straightforward introduction to the genre than I expected, and I was looking forward to seeing how it worked.

POST-READING

The premise is wonderfully bonkers. Earth has been selected to participate in an intergalactic game, and suddenly ordinary people are having to deal with video-game mechanics, supernatural abilities and monsters appearing on a regular schedule. And when I say people, I mean everyone. Children included.

The characters experience the world as though it has become a video game, but they keep track of things themselves rather than expecting the reader to do a pile of calculations. The writing is smooth and easy to follow, and the ideas are clever. I particularly enjoyed the monsters that appear every three days. There are some wonderfully inventive creations here, although I think the badblankets might be my favourites. (I am sure they're much less adorable in practice.)

Megan's situation adds a particularly interesting dimension to the chaos. She's not just trying to survive a bizarre new world; she's trying to keep three young children safe in it. I did think she accepted what was happening remarkably quickly. Within literal minutes of the announcement, she was already deciding which abilities her children should take. On the other hand, perhaps that's the sensible response: act as though it's real until something proves otherwise, especially when your children's safety is at stake.

I also found myself noticing that the children speak quite formally, with very few contractions. That may simply be my own perception, or a difference in how I imagine children of their ages speaking, but it occasionally stood out to me.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this. It's an accessible introduction to a genre I hadn't tried before, with a fun premise, inventive worldbuilding and plenty of potential for the series to develop. I'm interested to see where it goes next.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman — another apocalyptic LitRPG adventure in which an ordinary person's world turns into a deadly game. A good next stop if you enjoy the combination of game mechanics, monsters and dark humour.

TV: The Last Kids on Earth — for the monster-filled apocalypse, young characters having to adapt to an absurd new reality, and the sense that surviving the end of the world might involve rather more improvisation than anyone would like.

MUSIC PAIRING

“The Final Countdown” — Europe. Because when an ominous voice announces that your planet has been selected for an intergalactic competition, you really need music that takes the situation seriously. Even if you aren't quite ready to.

VIBE CHECK

• Colour palette: Interface blue, warning red, monster green and the muddy brown of a world that is rapidly becoming less familiar.

• Soundtrack: The cheerful little notification sound of a video game, followed by something crashing through the front garden.

• Season: Late summer, just before everything goes spectacularly wrong.

• Mood: Curious, chaotic, resourceful.

• Scent: Freshly washed football kit, damp grass and something distinctly unpleasant lurking beyond the garden fence.

• Texture: Smooth touchscreen glass, the reassuring softness of a favourite stuffed toy, and something with far too many legs.

TAROT PULL

The Seven of Wands is the card of persevering no matter what is coming against you or what distractions you have. Keeping Megan's children safe is the most important thing to her, and everything else is a distant second. No matter what comes at her - leafenrats, badblankets or snooty guys in armour who think they know better - she's determined to protect them.

Time to Play publishes on 19 May 2026. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.