Video games as artistic medium
Game art subverts the codes of video games to produce experiences that aim for neither score, nor competition, nor addiction. Gameplay becomes a language — like painting, video, or installation. Interaction isn’t entertainment: it’s the core of the work.
DERB.EXE belongs to this tradition: a physical arcade cabinet, two cooperative players, and a result that isn’t a high score — but a unique algorithmic Berber carpet.
The concept
“Derb” means a narrow lane in a Moroccan medina — intimate, shared, communal. The “.EXE” extension refers to an executable program. DERB.EXE: a program that executes heritage.
The two players don’t compete. They cooperate to compose a textile pattern using Amazigh geometric forms: lozenges, chevrons, crosses, zigzags. Each game produces a unique carpet, faithful to the traditional geometric rules.
No game over. The experience is generative: you don’t win — you create.
Why a physical arcade cabinet
The arcade cabinet is a culturally loaded object. It evokes the game rooms of the 80s-90s, a social space for collective play. Choosing this format over a mobile app or touchscreen is a deliberate act:
Physical presence. The player stands, bodily engaged. Physical controls (joystick, buttons) create a tactile relationship with the work.
Social space. The cabinet attracts a crowd around it. Spectators watch, comment, wait their turn. The experience extends beyond the two active players.
Self-contained object. No need for the visitor’s smartphone. No WiFi, no account, no download. The cabinet exists independently.
The patterns: an ancestral algorithm
Berber carpet patterns aren’t decorative — they encode narratives, territories, identities. Each form carries meaning: the lozenge (femininity, protection), the chevron (water, movement), the cross (orientation, cardinal directions), the zigzag (serpent, danger, boundary).
DERB.EXE respects these composition rules. The algorithmic generator doesn’t produce random combinations: it follows traditional constraints of adjacency, symmetry, and signification. The result is always “correct” in the heritage sense — but always unique.
Part of the ZELLIGE ARTCADE universe
DERB.EXE belongs to the ZELLIGE ARTCADE ecosystem — a platform of playable heritage experiences around Moroccan and Mediterranean patrimony. Where ZELLIGE ARTCADE works on smartphones (WebSocket, QR code, remote multiplayer), DERB.EXE anchors the experience in a dedicated physical object.
The two approaches are complementary: mobile for accessibility and broad distribution, the cabinet for presence and spatial anchoring.
For programmers and institutions
- Video game & indie game festivals: game art, art games, alternative experiences
- Cultural and heritage events: mediation through play
- Youth centers and libraries: autonomous device, all audiences from age 6
- Digital art exhibitions: high-interaction installation
- Corporate events: creative team building
- Academic conferences: game studies, digital heritage, interaction design
Fully autonomous operation. No WiFi needed. Mounting: 2-3 hours.
Pricing: project-based quote.
→ Looking for a playable device for your event? [email protected]