Citation: TetraChroma Inc. (2017). Picrew｜The make-and-play image maker. Picrew. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://picrew.me/en
Picrew is basically one of many online repositories for digital paper dolls. It is especially popular in online fandom spaces, where fan will pick out certain avatar designers to share with their peers to see how each person makes the character unique (example), while others try to make self-portraits (example), while others still recreate their favourite characters (example).
Picrew has the advantage of being perceived as a more grown-up version of dress-up games that teens might have enjoyed growing up. It also provides an opportunity for teens to flex their creativity by uploading their own designs for a game or by creating their own characters using someone else’s game.
Because these games are user-generated, many of them can be
limited in options or broken. There is a common criticism that many games have
a lack of darker skin tones. The demographic question may depend on the age
group as well, since some of the games may contain violent or sexualized
imagery.