Omega Quest seems like an innocuous series of tasks on the surface, a scavenger hunt tailored for the multi-universe realms of Omega Mart inside AREA15: Find and document 10 items or locations with a written solution to a clue or a photo as proof. Several quests, such as one involving the search for “Sop,” look easy enough for smart shoppers who have been to Omega Mart before. But where are these eyeballs? What is “Rose Beef,” and who is “Shelby”?
The best thing to do once arriving for the 1 p.m. check-in is to take a casual stroll around Omega Mart and check out the products. There will be a quest object somewhere among shelves lined with Lil Meow Pigeon Mousse cat food and Healthy Wolf Lonely Hiker Protein Feast, Plausible Deniability laundry detergent and best-selling bendable, squeezable “and totally rad-ish” Daikon plush pals.
Of course, this is Omega Mart, owned and operated by the enigmatic Dram Corporation, so there’s more here than immediately meets the eye. Turn the right corner, climb the right stairs or open the right door and suddenly a surreal world contrasting with the store’s bright lights is available to discover.
The menagerie of scenic design, installations, set pieces and psychedelic playgrounds is divided between the more artistic presentations below and the operations center fantasyland above. Several Omega Quest missions will be in this center, which may be a good place to exchange with an attendant the solitary Omega Quest clue pass that comes with the pen, checklist and mini-clipboard.
Better yet, scope the place out for the first half-hour, and don’t worry about finding anything. Get oriented. Sit down at the desks in the operations center, pink up a phone, play with a computer and regard wall décor. Check out the interactive contraptions and the sound-generating station. Walk downstairs and find a river of lights in the floor, a hallway of sense-stimulating rooms, themed side nooks and wall projections, and tunnels that provide shortcuts between immaculate installations and also enable games of hide-and-seek.
Parties can make up their own games that can last until closing, but there is a time limit on Omega Quest, so a group effort may be less challenging and a lot more fun. One quest that is not on the checklist is artist Karla Lagunas’ work-in-progress, Meta-Telos III, which is in the sensory-room hallway. Lagunas is on-site Fridays after 4 p.m., continuing her creation of magenta hues, soft lights, moving curtains and text imagery, but it’s always available for immersive investigation.
Omega Mart offers a look at its entire collection of visual installations and exhibited works via an art tour, but Omega Quest is designed more for the explorers and amateur detectives. Save the clue pass until near the end of the 2:45 p.m. deadline, then find an attendant. They are all remarkably well-briefed on Omega Quest and expertly offer advice without spoiling the surprises. They can help you find “Shelby” or point you in the general direction of the foreman’s desk. The real fun is in the hunt.
AREA15, 3215 S. Rancho Drive. meow.wf/lvm
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