In this study I will suggest a theory of the avatar in singleplayer computer games1, and discuss how avatar-based games are different from other kinds of computer games as well as from other kinds of media. I believe that a closer study of the role of the avatar will cast light on some of the central aesthetic parameters that structure both how we play and why we play computer games. This knowledge will also have potential implications for our understanding of other formats and genres in the wider domain of digital media and culture.

The aim of this study has been to describe what the avatar is, how it structures our play and our participation with a fictional world, and how avatar-based singleplayer computer games are different from other kinds of singleplayer games; the avatar exploits the concretising realism of the computer as a simulating machine, and situates us in a gameworld via prosthetic and fictional embodiment.