Teen reactions to a self-representational avatar: A qualitative exploration

•Four key themes emerged from adolescents’ reactions to an exergame with a self-representational avatar: avatar connection, protection, gameplay, and enjoyment.•Players’ connection with their self-representative avatars motivated them to put in more effort to protect their avatars.•Participants spent 74.9% of the 21.2 ± 0.8 minute gameplay session engaging in vigorous physical activity—our study is one of the first to report this with children playing exergames.•Players reported they focused more on the fun than on the physical activity required to play the game.•Playing an exergame with a self-representational avatar enhances enjoyment, a key factor in behavioral initiation and maintenance.