Play with Death, before Death Plays with you

What if you died today? How would you be remembered? Would your loved ones be able to navigate grief alone?
Most of us avoid thinking about death until it’s too late. That’s why Scéance Labs™ invites you to talk about it now, while there’s still time, through play.
In this Playful Speculative company, we offer a unique product that helps you prepare for death and grief together with your love dones. Through memory, rituals, and silliness, we provide comfort, guidance, and even playful ways to stay connected.
Behind this fictional company is a real design research project that explores Inner Play as a deeply personal and embodied form of play that happens within our minds and bodies. Inner Play helps people approach difficult topics like death with curiosity instead of fear. It provides Playful Distance, just enough space to talk about death without feeling overwhelmed.
Through a Research-through-Design methodology and co-creation workshops, this project developed three key tools you can explore on our website (www.sceancelabs.com): The Best of Memories where you create a shared artefact from your most meaningful memories; The Death Bingos in which you complete experiences together before one of you dies, and leave behind a Secret Death Bingo to help your loved ones grief; and finally, The Afterlife Game that allows you to create your own rituals to communicate in the afterlife through silliness and charms.
Together, these become part of a glowing, embroidered cloth. An heirloom to collect all your memories, and a gentle reminder that death isn’t just an end, but a part of life worth sharing.
This project is about facing death not with dread, but with love, imagination, and playfulness. So go ahead and play with death, before death plays with you.