Where Do Dead Malls Go? is a narrative exploration game set in the Daylight Mall, a shopping center currently being abandoned. Inspired by PlayStation 1 aesthetics, Where Do Dead Malls Go? offers players the transgressive experience of urban exploration mixed with the responsibility of considering the future of these spaces. Blending fascination and repulsion, the mall's mega-structure still houses a few users who refuse to leave, subtly outlining our various approaches to the decline of late-stage capitalism.
The version presented at the ZERØ1 Festival is a partial demo of the game, focusing on just one of the characters who will inhabit the future Daylight Mall.
Where Do Dead Malls Go? is a narrative exploration game set in the Daylight Mall, a shopping centre on the verge of abandonment. Inspired by PlayStation 1 aesthetics, Where Do Dead Malls Go? offers players a transgressive urbex-like experience, intertwined with the responsibility of imagining what might become of these spaces. Balancing fascination and repulsion, the mall’s mega-structure still shelters a handful of users who refuse to leave—tracing, in filigree, our different ways of confronting the decline of late capitalism.
The version presented at the ZERØ1 Festival is a partial demo of the game centered around just one of the characters who will inhabit the future Daylight Mall.
Stella Jacob is a multimedia artist and game designer based in Paris. Her work explores community dynamics and the porous boundaries between online and offline worlds, questioning the fragile architecture of our relationships. A graduate of Gobelins and former collaborator at Diversion, her practice spans video games, film, and interactive installations, at the intersection of digital art and gaming culture. She teaches game design at ENSAD and lectures on technology ethics and digital culture (Sciences Po, La Sorbonne, La Villette, etc.). She is a member of the Distraction collective and co-founder of the Medulla studio.
Stella Jacob is a multimedia artist and game designer based in Paris. Her work explores community dynamics and the porous boundaries between online and offline worlds, questioning the fragile architecture of our relationships. A graduate of Gobelins and former collaborator at Diversion, her practice spans video games, film, and interactive installations, at the intersection of digital art and gaming cultures. She teaches video game design at ENSAD and gives lectures on technology ethics and digital cultures (Sciences Po, La Sorbonne, La Villette, etc.). She is a member of the Distraction collective and co-founder of the Medulla studio.
