A new mixed-reality playground is opening in Northeast Philly this weekend, and it’s planning to take locals somewhere entirely different.
Otherworld Philly is essentially an imaginative playground packed into a cinematic experience boasting 55 unique rooms and installations, which visitors can explore in a self-guided tour. The concept is the brainchild of 100 artists, modelers, animators, creative technologists, fabricators and more led by founder Jordan Renda.
“The initial concept started bubbling back in 2015 when I was still creating escape rooms. It was going to be a hybrid of a larger-scale escape room and immersive theater: an open world explorable concept called ‘Lucidity’,” explains Renda. “We were developing that out for a while, and then pivoted to what became Otherworld. It was partly inspired by many visits to the City Museum in St. Louis as a kid.”
Renda also notes that this particular experience encourages guests to freely explore and interact at their own pace with each section of the venue, which includes installations from local artists like Big Howl, Adam Crawford, Mz Icar, Evan Lovett, Sue Moerder, Kristin Scholz, Justin Gellar and David Guinn.
The concept’s first location is set in Columbus, Ohio, but for its second iteration, Renda always had his eye on the City of Brotherly Love.
“I was born in Pennsylvania and have family in the area and for a long time thought of opening up an exhibit here. It’s a major East Coast city with tons of great arts and culture, but nothing quite like Otherworld,” he explains. “People tend to drive from up to a couple [of] hours away, so we like to be somewhere centrally located with other museums, art and entertainment experiences nearby so people can make a weekend getaway out of their visit if they’d like.”
As a release states, Otherworld partnered with Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, the producers of world-class live events and location-based entertainment experiences, for its Philadelphia location, tapping into the group’s long-standing expertise in creating cult favorite interactive experiences.
“Otherworld Philadelphia will feature all-new, larger-scale installations and new storylines with enhanced production quality and interactivity. In addition to its year-round exhibits, Otherworld will eventually feature special events including a variety of live music acts,” Renda explains.
The founder also noted that the Philly Otherworld will be totally new and 100% unique from the Columbus one—aka no two rooms will be the same. “But in general, Philly will be a larger-scale experience with ramped-up production value,” he adds.
Otherworld Philly is for all ages, and Renda notes at the brand’s sister location in Ohio, the daytimes tend to see a lot of families, while the evenings shift and the experience can become more of a date night or crowd activity. Sometimes, late on Fridays and Saturdays, the venue will have DJ events, where a stage is set up in the central area of the exhibit.
“The whole concept is left open for interpretation and there are a couple of different paths that you can follow,” Renda finishes. “There is room for people to insert their theories about what’s going on. Generally, you won’t complete the whole experience in one visit…your experience with the gameplay element could be very different from anyone else’s.”
Otherworld Philly is open every day except Tuesdays with tickets beginning at $34.99 and is located at 2500 Grant Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. For more information, operating hours, and to purchase tickets, visit OtherworldPhila.com or follow them on Instagram at @otherworld.philly
