Investigations into the digital literacy practices supported by new forms of play can pose significant challenges insofar as researchers and educators lack theoretical frameworks nuanced or flexible enough to map the terrain being explored. In this paper the author presents a new hybrid model of ludic authorship which reconceptualises the relationship between digital play and literacies and uniquely serves both pedagogical and theoretical purposes; it provides a tool through which educators and policy makers may begin to articulate the value of digital literacies involved in digital play, whilst also allowing them to plan and evaluate such learning opportunities in educational settings. This model emerged from an innovative empirical study into Alternate Reality Game (ARG) design in a primary school classroom which demonstrated that digital play is a literacy practice requiring three dimensions of literacy: operational; critical; and cultural.