Otherworld Philadelphia is an immersive futuristic playground

Is that a radioactive cow? Can I walk through that alien’s mouth? Have we joined a cult?

These are all questions I never expected to ask inside of an old Forman Mills store, at least not before the apocalypse anyway.

But then again, Otherworld — a new immersive art experience in Northeast Philly — is a place where a lot of unexpected things happen.

Opening Friday inside of a 40,000-square-foot space that once housed discount retail outlet Forman Mills, Otherworld is a peculiar playground of sensory experiences that transports visitors into a futuristic dystopia where the lines between fantasy and reality have become blurred.

In 55 rooms designed by more than 100 artists, visitors encounter absurd (but generally adorable) aliens and monsters; mind-bending exhibits that mess with depth perception; and secret passageways that lead to unexpected places.

In the warehouse room, I played at a DJ booth in front of three imposing cultlike figures in robes who changed colors with the music I chose. In another space, the entire room — ceiling, floor, and all four walls — was a video game called Space Boopers II that had serious Asteroids vibes. Then there was the hair room, which was covered in wigs of all colors and populated by hairy monsters called “wiglets.”

If Guillermo del Toro fell down the rabbit hole instead of Alice, Otherworld seems like what he might find. It’s visually-captivating and fantastical, with a mildly creepy undertone. No, there aren’t creatures with eyes on their hands here, but there is a tree with hands and faces sprouting from its sides (and an LED weeping willow that weeps).

“It’s a vibe,” said Marlyn Harris, 56, of West Philly, who attended the VIP grand opening Thursday. “It’s something that can take you outside of yourself and place you somewhere different where you can almost be free.”

The first Otherworld opened in 2019 in Columbus, Ohio, and draws a few hundred thousand visitors a year, according to Jordan Renda, founder and CEO. Philly is Otherworld’s second location and it’s larger in scale and more expansive than the first.

Renda, who began his career creating haunted houses and escape rooms, cites the City Museum in St. Louis, an all-ages architectural playground, as his main source of inspiration.

“I thought it would be cool to do something like that but overlay the gamified elements and narrative pieces you’d see in an escape room,” he said.

The team chose the site at 2500 Grant Ave. because it had the square footage and ceiling space needed. The company signed a 10-year lease and partnered with Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group to operate the facility.

Construction began in early 2022 and while Renda declined to say how much the project cost, it exceeded the $2 million required to build the first Otherworld. The Philly exhibit has more than 150 Optoma projectors, dozens of motion-tracking cameras, and more than 10 kilometers of LED lights.

“It’s fully immersive, all around you, it’s 360 degrees of art,” said Hollie Hermes, Otherworld’s art director. “And none of the rooms you just look at, there’s something interactive there in all of them.”

While much of the exhibit was designed internally at Otherworld’s Columbus workshop, about 25% of the experience was made by Philly creators, including Northern Liberties skull artist Sue Moerder, who has an entire room decorated with her skull art.

“We pull in local artists and we give them a rough theme, so it feels cohesive with the larger space,” Renda said.

The theme is the thing I struggled with most at Otherworld. As a writer, I like a clear, compelling narrative, but that’s not what Otherworld provides, nor did its creators intend it to.

“It’s not a super linear story, necessarily. It’s more akin to like each room being its own song on a concept album that’s tied together,” Renda said.

The high-level narrative, according to Renda, is that you’re entering a lifetime subscription to be a part of a futuristic community structured around a HAL-9000-like computer.

Small Easter eggs that hint at the story are peppered throughout, from political posters for a mayor’s race to draft sketches with coffee cup stains that are plastered on the walls. There’s also something to do with a jester that seems pretty important, but I couldn’t figure it out.

In one room, there’s a desk with a computer where you can snoop through emails to try and figure out what’s going on (”Lots of weirdo chatter with these new citizens. Is Wawa a religion?” one reads).

There’s no map to Otherworld, so there’s no right way to move through it and no way to tell if you’ve missed anything. In fact, I was about to leave when I doubled back to check something out and discovered a room I’d missed, where figures in plague doctor masks were holding a funeral (be sure to look in the coffin, to see who’s inside).

“Part of the fun is getting lost and finding your own way through,” Renda said.

Vincent Tchiong, 24, of Upper Darby, who attended the VIP opening, said he enjoyed the open-endedness of it all.

“It feels very mysterious, I think that’s part of the fun,” Tchiong said. “I feel people will get different things from it depending on what you’re looking for.”

Given that staffers encourage visitors to touch everything and nothing appeared to be made of Kevlar, I worry about how some of the more delicate features will hold up over time in Philly (everyone knows what we did to hitchBOT).

Crowds could become an issue too. I went on a Friday during beta testing, and encountered few people but still had to wait for some of the more interactive experiences. Sure, you could bypass a room and promise to come back, but you may not be able to find your way there again.

My best advice, aside from wearing closed-toed shoes and pants, is to go with someone who shares the same curiosity level as you. You can blast through in an hour or spend several hours interacting with the features and trying to find the underlying narrative.

While the experience is kid-friendly, I wouldn’t recommend it for little ones who are easily scared or prone to nightmares.

As with the Otherworld in Ohio, new content will be created and rooms will be rotated out over time. Renda also hopes to host nightlife events in the space one day.

In a city that leans into its weird and loves its art, Otherworld feels like a good fit for Philly. And if you’re having one of those days where you’re fed up with Philly, Otherworld is a good place to escape from it too.

Tickets to Otherworld are $34.99 and can be purchased at otherworldphila.com.