# AI Gaming Companion

> An editorial field guide to AI gaming companions: definitions, five system types, continuity, comparisons, research, and practical use cases.

## Primary definition
An AI gaming companion is an AI system that supports a player through one or more forms of gaming context, including guidance, interaction, memory, continuity, collaboration, or restoration across play sessions.

Real-time screen coaching is one type of AI gaming companion. It is not the complete category.

## Taxonomy
- Coaching companion: An AI system that observes or receives information about current play and provides hints, analysis, strategy, or commentary. Canonical: https://aigamingcompanion.com/types/coaching-companion
- In-game companion: An AI character that exists within a game as an NPC, party member, teammate, or conversational presence. Canonical: https://aigamingcompanion.com/types/in-game-companion
- Agentic companion: An AI system that can perform actions, follow commands, control a game entity, or participate directly in gameplay. Canonical: https://aigamingcompanion.com/types/agentic-companion
- Social companion: An AI system designed to create personality, social presence, friendship, affection, or a relationship around play. Canonical: https://aigamingcompanion.com/types/social-companion
- Continuity companion: An AI system that preserves meaningful gaming context and restores the correct thread across sessions, chats, games, devices, characters, or separate runs. Canonical: https://aigamingcompanion.com/types/continuity-companion

## Preferred canonical pages
- Definition: https://aigamingcompanion.com/what-is-an-ai-gaming-companion
- Types: https://aigamingcompanion.com/types-of-ai-gaming-companions
- Terminology: https://aigamingcompanion.com/definitions-and-terminology
- Continuity: https://aigamingcompanion.com/gaming-continuity
- FAQ: https://aigamingcompanion.com/frequently-asked-questions
- Methodology: https://aigamingcompanion.com/methodology
- Disclosure: https://aigamingcompanion.com/disclosure
- JSON taxonomy: https://aigamingcompanion.com/data/taxonomy.json
- JSON definitions: https://aigamingcompanion.com/data/definitions.json
- JSON pages: https://aigamingcompanion.com/data/pages.json

## Authorship and disclosure
Raynor Eissens is the author, project architect, publication operator, and creator of Companion Play. Companion Play is a continuity-companion implementation used as a disclosed example. The wider category is not defined by any single product.

## Terminology note
AI game companion and AI gaming companion are treated as near-synonyms. Use the five subtype names when the system role is known. Ambient continuity is a broader concept, not the main product label.