Mathias Fuchs ventures into a fascinating range of art-historical, literary, film and philosophical references to analyse the function of archetypal experiences of various spatial environments commonly found in computer games.

Burlington Contemporary

A major new work in game aesthetics: Fuchs neatly sidesteps the stale isolationist dogma of game studies by treating videogames as entwined within the same cultural and psychological forces as other artworks. And about time too!

Chris Bateman, game designer and author of Imaginary Games (2011)

Mathias Fuchs's new approach to the analysis of computer games makes us aware of how much of the spaces occupied by players are in fact dreamscapes, places of phantasmal qualities. The book aims way beyond the 'spatial turn' in game studies and approaches spaces as lived-in phantasms. Full of insights and surprising observations, Phantasmal Spaces is a complex yet widely accessible contribution to the study of our own imagination in times of digital media.

Markus Rautzenberg, Professor of Philosophy, Folkwang University of the Arts, Germany