Core category terms

AI game companion
An AI system that supports a player through guidance, interaction, action, social presence, memory, or continuity related to video games.
AI gaming companion
A near-synonym that more naturally emphasizes the wider activity and continuity of gaming.
Game companion
Any person, character, guide, tool, or system that accompanies play; AI is not required.
Gaming assistant
A system primarily framed around completing informational, configuration, or performance-related tasks for a player.
AI companion
A broad AI system designed for an ongoing supporting or social role; gaming may or may not be part of its purpose.

The five companion types

Coaching companion
Interprets current play and provides guidance, analysis, strategy, or commentary.
In-game companion
Exists inside a game world as an adaptive NPC, party member, teammate, or character.
Agentic companion
Has permission to perform game actions, follow commands, or control an entity.
Social companion
Creates personality or social presence around gaming.
Continuity companion
Preserves meaningful gaming context and restores the correct thread across time.

Memory and continuity terms

Gaming continuity
The preservation of the useful thread connecting a player’s past, present, and intended future play.
Game state
The current mechanical condition of a game, such as location, inventory, quests, statistics, and world variables.
Save state
A stored representation intended to support later continuation. It may be a native game save or a separate continuity record.
Restore point
An intentional, addressable record selected to re-establish a previous thread or state.
Conversation save state
A structured record of the useful context from a gaming conversation, scoped for later restoration.
Cross-chat gaming memory
Gaming context that remains available across separate AI conversations.
Cross-game continuity
A system’s ability to distinguish and preserve context for more than one game.
Run
A distinct character, campaign, save, profile, season, or playthrough that should not be mixed with another.

Companion Play

Companion Play is a continuity-companion implementation created by Raynor Eissens. It preserves useful gaming conversation state so a player can restore a specific game and run in a later chat. It is a product and behavior model, not a synonym for the complete AI game companion category.

Usage notes

  • Use type for the companion’s primary role.
  • Use interface for chat, voice, avatar, overlay, or screen vision.
  • Use context source for screen images, telemetry, APIs, conversation, or saved records.
  • Use authority for what the system is allowed to do.
  • Use time horizon for whether value appears now, in-world, or across sessions.

Frequently asked questions

Why distinguish type from interface?

Because the same interface can serve several roles. A chatbot can coach, socialize, or restore continuity.

Is restore point the same as native game save?

Not necessarily. A conversational restore point can preserve meaning and intent without changing the game’s own save file.

Why define “run”?

Because reliable memory must separate multiple characters, campaigns, profiles, or playthroughs in the same game.