Abstract
Digital gaming's interactive potential is frequently discussed in scientific discourse. Virtual worlds offer transparent and complex possibilities for action within which researchers can observe many different ways players attempt to reach the same goals as they would do in real life.
Despite the escapist features of these artificial spaces, online gaming can serve as an example of the interconnection between reality and fiction. Along similar lines, the authors of this paper are applying the results of previous research on styles of play into the context of various stages of human life development.
In pursuit of this goal comparisons will be made between the concept of playful ritualization of ego-integrating activities from E. H.
Erikson and forms of play inside video game worlds, which metaphorically reflect these social processes.