“How was it?” My friends asked more than three hours after I had disappeared to the otherworldly experience that is Omega Mart just off the Las Vegas strip. “Fucking amazing,” I said as I started rattling off what I had seen, experienced, taken part of, and been mindblown over. But my friends had no reference to what I was talking about. They didn’t know about the search for Walter or that Marin had run away or that Sando was just trying to do the right thing. They didn’t know any of that because Omega Mart is just a grocery store. That’s what the grocery clerk told me as I showed him my ticket to enter the bizarre world that Meow Wolf created.

Here’s what you need to know:

• This is a highly interactive place where sights and sounds can completely envelop you.
• You can come to enjoy the visual masterpieces and explore the three-story exhibit.
• You can come to take part in the best escape/puzzle room ever.
• You can come to enjoy the bar.

But you should also know that there is a reason this is $45 per admission. There is so much to do, you are going to spend over 3 hours here. So eat first and wear sneakers so you can go down the slides.

Here’s what you won’t know:

You won’t know what is going on when you come in. The creators of Omega Mart did an amazing job keeping everything under wraps so this is a lot of guesswork, running around touching, opening, and purely being confused for a bit until you get your bearings. I refused to ask for any help and it took me almost an hour to figure out the true objective and even then it was fuzzy. An employee dressed like something out of “A Clockwork Orange” eventually took pity on me despite my stubbornness. I felt like I was on a secret CIA mission but if I had all the time in the world to go through desks, steal documents, find secret doors and help hack the system. There are several missions to go through and each has its own mini-mission. It becomes a bit overwhelming but there are adult-sized slides and amazing interactive exhibits to give you a mental break before you continue taking down the “man” or to be equal opportunity about it, “woman.”

My favorite parts:

The Offices

There is an office area where you can go through the desktops to find files on your mission but like a true office, each desk belongs to a different person and has different information. There are also desk drawers with files you need to go through but the files are clear and can be placed on a glowing light so you can actually read them in the dark exhibit.

Omegamart, Meow Wolf’s new exhibit in Las Vegas, NV

The Experimental Rooms

You walk down a corridor lined with red doors and each one does something different. The infinity room was so beautiful but it’s best enjoyed when you’re alone so if you wait a few minutes, you can have it all to yourself. It’s composed of mirrors and projections of beautiful mandala imagery. Stand in the middle and your image goes on forever. There was a room with lasers that you run your hands over and they emit sounds. Keep your hands on a few lasers and it sounds like you’re DJ-ing your own set. The vibration room was the best and I did it six times. This is a dark room where you hear a tone and then a flash. What appears on the fully lit walls is a black and white photo of you in the room. I started jumping around to make weird poses and the tone and the flashes started speeding up. It was only me and my friend in the room jumping like maniacs for maybe a minute and a half. It felt like the faster we moved the faster the light and tone got. Eventually, the light was flashing so fast and the tone so consistent that the room lit up like a disco party and I swear that was the point. My interpretation was that you needed to keep the vibrations up to get to that disco party level and it was the best surprise as well as very metaphorical. When new people walked in the room, the disco party stopped and it started over. I told those new to the disco that they needed to keep the vibrations up but after 30 seconds everyone just got tired and left. This happened several more times with several new groups but no one kept the vibrations up and I never got back to the disco phase.

Wavy walls

I have no idea what to call this, but in parts of the place, you got to see stunning light shows from the walls. I walked right by it but there were random chairs there. There is a reason for everything at this place so I sat in the chair and looked at the wall that had black outlined triangles and soft lights. Maybe two minutes into it I realized with a soft gaze, the lights made it look like the walls were moving. I’m not talking about if you squint a little maybe you could see it. I mean like, I’m having an acid trip on ‘shrooms and those walls are really bouncing around.

Meow Wolf’s Omegamart, Las Vegas exhibit, worm

How Omega Mart ends:

I won’t ruin it because I actually don’t know how it all ends. After over three hours of missions, stealing files, and jumping around a disco, I got hangry and the bar didn’t have any food so I had to tap out of the mission. Sorry, Ximena. (She’s another character in the plot.) But if the attention on to detail in every piece of this immersive experience is any clue to what was to come, the end was going to be epic. Once you leave you can’t re-enter Omega Mart, however, I would 100% go back and pay again to keep playing.

Why you need to go:

First off, Omega Mart resides in Area 15 which is a ten-minute drive off the strip. This place is beautifully designed and visually impressive. So once you are done with Omega Mart there still are bars, restaurants, a barcade, and a zipline so you have options.

Secondly, Omega Mart can be a very personal experience depending on how each person interacts with each exhibit. The creators made an entire another world for your entertainment and I feel it’s important to be in the right mindset to appreciate the artistry each new corner reveals. We’re getting used to immediate gratification as our attention spans continue to shorten but the fact people are spending hours in this exhibit isn’t shocking. It’s worth the time to explore and immerse yourself in a unique experience where you get to solve a mystery, go down some slides and see some breathtaking work.