Time Travel, New Adventures: ACE PLAY Arcade World Arrives in Shenzhen

ESAC--20+ years of deep Amusement industry experience more than 5,000 domestic and international cases. Each project is a trust entrusted to us.

 

Elephant Sculpture Art Co., Ltd (ESAC) as a top comprehensive cultural tourism and themed commercial space professional design institution in China,has maintained its leading position in the industry. ESAC is dedicated to providing a one-stop platform service for indoor theme parks, commercial spaces, cultural tourism industries, themed wax museums, and more, both domestically and internationally. These services range from planning, design, construction, delivery, to operations, offering comprehensive solutions for cultural tourism and themed commercial spaces.

 

Themed we can do(we have both design team and construction team):	Family Entertaiment Center,Kids playground,Ice Snow House,Wax Museum,Science Museum,Arena Park,Arcade Entertainment Center,Visual Identity Design,Cultural Tourism Entertainment Projects,Leisure & Vacation Resorts
Size:	Customer decide it
Deepen Design Time:	25 days to 45 days  (depends on space size).
Construction Drawings Time:	7 days to 15 days  (depends on space size).
Decoration Materials Lead Time:	45 days to 60 days  (depends on space size).
Construction Team:	We have construction Team can be sent to overseas.
Construction Finish Time:	30 days to 90 days (depends on space size).
Warranty:	1 year for decoration materials.
Maintenance	Long-life maintenance support.
Packing:	Plywood case and wooden frame.
Customization:	Customized available

PROJECT DETAILS

ESAC DESIGN

Project Name:  ACE PLAY Arcade World 

As commercial arcades increasingly share similar equipment packages, adding more machines alone is rarely enough to create a memorable brand experience. For an arcade inside a shopping mall, the design needs to address several practical questions:

• How can the store be recognised quickly by people passing through the mall?
• How can different player types find a suitable activity within one venue?
• How can a prize area become part of the experience rather than a single-purpose redemption counter?
• How can a themed interior be delivered within a compressed construction schedule?

ACE PLAY responds by moving beyond the conventional “equipment stacking” model. The project uses immersive “time travel” as its central theme, then connects games, social interaction, prizes and snack consumption into a space designed as an adventure world inside the mall.

The source project information provides the area, location, service scope and construction schedule, but does not provide footfall, revenue, sales per square metre, repeat-visit rate or return-on-investment data. This article therefore presents the documented design and construction approach without making unsupported performance claims.

The overall concept: turning an arcade into a Time Hub

Time is the narrative thread and space is the experience canvas. ACE PLAY is conceived as a “hyper-dimensional game hub” connecting the past, present and future.

The visitor journey begins at the entrance. The Time Hub establishes the story, the arcade zone delivers competitive play, the dance machine zone creates a rhythm-led peak, the claw machine zone offers a lighter interactive moment, and Snack Planet provides refreshments and a multi-format prize and retail experience.

The value of this approach is not in decorating each area separately. Each zone has a defined role within the larger narrative:

Entrance design: making the doorway the start of the adventure

The entrance is the first commercial touchpoint between an arcade and its audience. ACE PLAY combines retro gears and clock references with cyber-style light effects, creating a visual collision between mechanical history and a futuristic atmosphere.

The service desk is designed as the Time Hub, handling reception and orientation while warming up the visitor emotionally before play begins. The arched entrance creates a clear visual threshold, while clock floor graphics and gear-inspired art installations extend the theme from the facade into the floor and circulation path.

This entrance strategy serves three practical purposes:

1. Stronger recognition: the store has a clear thematic identity within the wider mall environment.

2. A story before play: visitors enter the “time travel adventure” before operating a machine.

3. A readable first route: the facade, service desk and floor elements work together as the first orientation layer.

Rhythm Singularity: creating a visual and interactive focus

For arcade design, a rhythm-led zone must balance visibility, interaction and circulation. ACE PLAY combines a thematic installation, equipment positioning and lighting rhythm so that the area becomes one of the visual anchors of the venue.

Gravity Capture Station: bringing claw machines into the story

Following the themed route, visitors reach the claw machine zone — the Gravity Capture Station. Rows of claw machines are interpreted as “time-capture pods” floating through the universe, translating a familiar game format into part of the spatial narrative.

Players adjust the joystick, calculate the angle and attempt to capture a target item. Once the equipment is wrapped in a consistent theme, its repeated arrangement becomes a more coherent visual system rather than a generic row of machines.

This zone provides a lighter, immediate and shareable interaction. It also creates a useful pace change alongside the higher-energy racing and dance experiences.