levelil

Levelil is a term used in speculative fiction and worldbuilding to describe a system of layered or stacked realities, environments, or social structures. The term is not tied to a single canon and its specifics vary by author.

Etymology and usage: Levelil blends “level” with a suffix that suggests a place or state characterized by multiple tiers. It is a neologism that has emerged in online writing communities, tabletop roleplaying, and indie games rather than as an established scientific or literary term.

In worldbuilding, Levelil is frequently depicted as a city, archipelago, or planet engineered as or naturally organized into vertical levels. Access between levels may be achieved through gates, elevators, or social mechanisms such as permissions or tariffs. The lower levels might house different climates, cultures, or economies than the upper levels, creating a stratified society or ecosystem.

Variants of Levelil emphasize different themes: political governance across levels, layered economies and infrastructure, or metaphysical interpretations where levels correspond to planes of existence or consciousness.

See also: multilevel city, stacked universe, layered society, terraced architecture.