Room Escape Artist

Make sense of the madness

Location:  Denver, CO, Santa Fe, NM, and Las Vegas, NV

Date Played:  Between 2021 and 2024

Team Size: any

Duration: we recommend 1-3 hours at any Meow Wolf

Price: $40-60 per visitor

Ticketing: Public

Accessibility Consideration:  location-specific; generally compliant but mobility restrictions will prevent access to certain areas in each location, check meowwolf.com for details

REA Reaction

Visiting a Meow Wolf installation was an opportunity for a psychedelic fever dream experience without having to ingest mind-altering pharmaceuticals. It was a fantastic place for interactive exploration. A story unfolded that brought a loose coherence to the exhibit, but the creations were best appreciated simply as artworks that existed in the space.

A goal-oriented visitor, like myself, also had the ability to direct their experience by pursuing the achievement structure built into the space, but unfortunately it was not well communicated and overlooked by many others who would have enjoyed it.

Ultimately, whether engaging with the story or gameplay, each Meow Wolf was a visual spectacle orders of magnitude more interesting than today’s increasingly popular selfie museum offerings.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Story seekers
• Scenery snobs
• Newbies
• Any experience level

Why play?

• Immersive and interactive art
• Fun selfies

Background

Meow Wolf began in 2008 as a collective of artists in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and today has grown to numerous locations all around the United States. The first of their installations that I visited was Omega Mart (OM), in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was in 2021, soon after it opened. In April 2024, I visited Convergence Station (CS) in Denver, Colorado, followed by their original installation, House of Eternal Return (HOER) in Santa Fe, in June 2024. I haven’t yet visited their newest location The Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas.

Setting

All three locations shared a similar structure. The visitor was introduced to the installation as a fairly innocuous location: OM as a large supermarket, CS as a busy city street, and HOER as a quiet family house. The surroundings were richly detailed and highly stimulating. I could have spent a long time just exploring the initial space. Everything appeared normal at first glance, but the OM products, for example, revealed a wickedly satirical sense of humor.

Visually​​ warped shelving in OM, or a bizarrely buckling bathroom floor in HOER, gave subtle indications of what was to come. I would turn a corner, or open a door, and suddenly, be transported into an alternate reality. Spaces became cavernous. A visual and aural spectacle unfolded and it was hard to decide where to wander next.

I loved the large-scale (albeit brief) interactions that visitors could trigger for everyone in the vicinity to experience. In OM, upon reaching a certain challenge goal, a message was played over the public address system that everyone in the supermarket area heard. In CS, while watching the backstory videos, I recognized the element that the character was interacting with, and repeated their actions on the real-world object with satisfying results. HOER had the most delightful secret activity, however, it required the combined strength of about half a dozen people to operate. If you should find yourself in a large toroidal space with neon spokes in the ceiling and padded seats around the center, be aware that the center core may be pushed to spin and turned into a mad merry-go-round for a few moments of psychedelic delight.

The Story

Despite the apparent chaos, there was an underlying story, which revealed itself gradually as I explored and interacted with the space. OM and CS accomplished this with RFID cards that I tapped at various terminals. In HOER, visitors could install the Meow Wolf app on their phone, which then used Bluetooth technology in each new area visited to unlock an achievement in the app.

When I visited OM in 2021, I was given a “Boop card” upon entry, though visitors now need to request one specifically. At CS, while purchasing my ticket on the website, there was a cryptic option to purchase an optional QPass. There was a single small sign near the entrance to HOER that recommended visitors to install the Meow Wolf app. Each of these opportunities to participate in the storyline of the Meow Wolf installation was easily missed, poorly described, and for me, the only entry point into the story experience that I found. As a goal-oriented player, it enhanced my visit greatly for little or no additional cost.

The story was revealed through videos, and playing them on the terminals in OM and CS can test one’s patience a little. (In HOER, they are unlocked in the phone app for convenient future viewing.) Some clips are up to 3 minutes long, and if there are a lot of other guests, there might be a wait for a terminal to be freed up. Additionally, when I am in quest mode, I do not place a high premium on the coherence or pacing of a storyline; your mileage may vary.

Analysis

➕ Meow Wolfs provide visual and aural spectacle, combined with a sense of whimsy.

➖ Meow Wolf exhibits can be overstimulating in large doses.

➖The lack of map or coherent layout tests the directionally challenged.

➕ There is so much story content to discover, along with a sprinkling of small puzzle-y elements, for those who are interested to find it.

➖Occasionally, elements that seemed like they should be interactive were non-functional.

➕ The large-scale interactions were lots of fun.

My Experience

Of the three locations, I think my favorite remains OM. I found the story more accessible, and it appealed to the puzzle solver in me more. It helped that I visited right after it opened, and the electronics also worked better. There were ambitious interactive elements in CS, but a handful were no longer functioning when I visited. These exhibits wear over time.

How to Enjoy Your Visit

Without the benefit of the story experience, a visit to a Meow Wolf installation is still spectacular. One can wander through the surreal lightscape, experience disquiet at off-kilter art, poke at interactive exhibits, and generally luxuriate in the sensations inspired by an alien realm. It is a gigantic, adult version of playground equipment, after the imaginations of a phalanx of artists have had their way with it. It is a place to rediscover that childlike experience where not everything is completely understood or explained, and to become slightly unmoored again, similarly to before you grew up and everything became pedestrian.

For the selfie-inclined, delightfully photogenic backgrounds abound.

However, if one makes the effort to participate in uncovering the backstory, the visit becomes much more purposeful. Some people, like myself, prefer a more achievement-driven experience, which gives purpose to my exploration. Despite my poor natural sense of direction hampered by insanity of the pathways and the lack of a map, I was compelled to locate every terminal and unlock every achievement. The system tracks the visitor’s progress, and reveals an overarching story in a coherent, engaging manner.

If you have visited Meow Wolf before and want more of the same style, but new content, the other locations will deliver. (Of note, I’ve heard The Real Unreal, which I have not visited, is almost identical to HOER.) Each of the Meow Wolf installations shares the same magical, surrealist spirit, and will deliver an otherworldly escape no matter how you choose to engage with it.

Tips For Visiting

• There is ample parking at all locations. At Convergence Station parking requires separate payment.
• Omega Mart did not sell food when I visited, but is located in the Area 15 entertainment complex that has food outlets. Convergence Station and House of Eternal Return both feature on-site cafes that sell snacks and drinks. No outside food or drinks are allowed.
• Visit at an off-peak time when crowds are lower.