The Solo Scale:
Before we get too deep into the experience, it will probably help to understand: “What’s an ARG?”. Omega Mart is one of the most well-known ARGs, sprawling multiple locations. Las Vegas’ Omega Mart is in Area 15, worth a visit on its own. The Omega Mart installation is the attraction that can take your whole day.
An alternate reality game or ARG is an online game genre where a fictional storyline is written and presented as if it were really happening in Real Life, as opposed to existing only in the reality of the story.
When you arrive at Area 15, you’ll need to purchase your tickets! Omega Mart is actually a fully separate ticketed experience, which you can buy online. You won’t need to purchase it with the other Area 15 items. Another word of warning is to be mindful that you may not get to go in immediately. You’ll be purchasing an entry window. If it’s a busy day, you might get a return time later than expected. Plan ahead for your tickets if you want a specific time.
Once you’ve got your tickets in hand and it’s your time slot, begin your Omega Mart experience in the store. You’ll see price tags on strange items, which is one of the best features. You really can purchase items from Omega Mart to take home! True, you might not be getting what you expect, but then again, it’s difficult to know what Orange Awakenings or Omnipotence are. If you do purchase items, wait until you finish your exploration and grab them on the way out. It’s a lot to carry around and your journey can take hours. You won’t want to be holding them since there’s a lot of wriggling and moving around.
Early in your store visit, there’ll be slight oddities and a few video screens that will introduce you to the Dram family. This gives you the beginnings of the world you’re going to be exploring. These video loops are long, but definitely fascinating and really give you a sense of the storytelling narrative that you’ll be thrust into.
Explore the Omega Mart store a little more. When you’re ready, you can take one of the entrances into the “back”. There are a few options here, whether it’s a normal hallway, or whether it’s crawling through a much smaller entrance hole.
SAFETY TIP: I say this one from experience — watch where you’re walking. It’s dark in some areas and they have very low benches. That means that you might end up with a nasty bruise on your shin.
Once you’re in the back, it becomes something of a psychedelic experience as you begin to learn a little more about the Dramcorp story beyond the store. Don’t be afraid to interact while you’re back here. Everything is built for a dedicated purpose. You should pick up phones, listen to messages, and rifle through papers. While you’re mostly learning and not solving, there’s still a true pleasure of unwinding the connections and the story.
One disappointment we had was that at one point, we thought we might be solving something to gain access to another area. Unfortunately, it looks like that might be an extension to the Vegas Omega Mart concept down the line. It’s also disappointing that they had to close the slide, but from a safety perspective, it makes sense.
Overall, you’ll spend more time in Omega Mart than you planned. We spent nearly four hours exploring the area and could have spent more. There wasn’t too much crowding thanks to the restricted time entry tickets, so it was rare to ever have to wait to gain access to an area or an item that we wanted to explore. It’s great value for the experience and a truly fun side mission you can do while in Vegas that isn’t gambling or perusing celebrity chef restaurants.
Get your tickets and begin exploring the store and what’s beyond, with a visit to Area 15 in Las Vegas.
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[…] that most people go to Area 15 is for the entertainment. Whether that’s venturing deep into Omega Mart, playing one of the interactive games (like AR Dodgeball, Axe Throwing, Brainteasers, Golf, and […]