The Wonderful Weirdness of Otherworld Philadelphia
Few would suspect that, 20 minutes North of Philadelphia’s city center in a rather unassuming building off a back road to an Amazon fulfillment center, an entire world of strange and beautiful creatures and contraptions awaits the curious and the curiouser. Otherworld Philadelphia, an immersive art installation not unlike the popular Meow Wolf installations across the country, promises 40,000 square feet of more than 500,000 LED’s and 130 projectors across 55 rooms. Each room offers a different experience - or, if you prefer, a different theme - featuring the work of one or more of the 200+ contributing artists, and the entire experience takes approximately two to two and a half hours to complete at an average walking pace.
On a beautiful summer weekend in June of this year, we drove the (approximately) two hours from Baltimore to Philadelphia to explore Otherworld Philadelphia with our own eyes, ears, hands and feet. After clearing security, being welcomed into the lobby and having our timed entry tickets scanned, we were given the rundown on how the experience was meant to progress. Everything at Otherworld is interactive, from the walls to the floors to every handle, lever and cog within the exhibits. As a general rule, if you can reach it, you can touch it! We were also told that our adventure would begin after walking through one of two doors, and were then given our preference of which door struck our fancy. As one door was simple and the other was a huge ‘shark bite’, we felt compelled to begin our journey with the latter.
Otherworld Philadelphia is the second Otherworld installation nationwide, a sister to the better-known Otherworld Columbus in central Ohio. Photos and videos are permitted and even encouraged, with the caveat that flash and tripods/selfie sticks are prohibited…so, as long as you’re not in any other patron’s way, you can capture as many memories of this psychedelic phenomenon as you like! In addition to the standard walkthrough experience, Otherworld also offers patrons…
An Expansive Gift Shop
Gender-Neutral Restrooms
Dozens of Interactive Puzzles
Chromadepth Glasses (+$3.00 Each)
FREE Scavenger Hunt (+2 hours, Est.)
…and coming in 2025, an all-new cafe with food and drink!
Above: The magnificent centerpiece of Otherworld Philadelphia can only be this metallic tree with luminescent branches, which changes color by gradient roughly every fifteen seconds.
As we moved from room to room, we were met with increasingly weirder and wilder exhibits; from what we lovingly referred to as “the Borg cube” to an infinity room with a never-ending hall of mirrors to a massive open-concept play area with interactive projection mapping and a larger-than-life alien with a handful of watchful eyes. In each room, there were a number of textures, sounds and sights to absorb; but there was often some sort of room-specific objective or goal, as well. As we quickly learned, Otherworld is more than just a collective of fantastic art - it’s also an engaging scavenger hunt, compelling you to check every nook and cranny and complete every puzzle in order to locate its mysterious symbols and bring a conclusion to the story of Atam. Although we didn’t budget quite enough time to really dig into this extra layer of the experience, we believe that therein lies the real draw of Otherworld…the day is what you make of it, and the only limit is your imagination.
Day tickets to Otherworld Philadelphia range from $29.99 per person (children’s ticket) to $54.99 per person for an adult’s “premium flex pack” which includes Chromadepth glasses and additional goodies such as lanyards, keychains and pins. The premium flex pack also allows you to enter at any time on the day that it is purchased, as opposed to being limited by timed entry - hence the “flex”. Don’t worry, though, if you’re interested in picking up any of these goodies separately, you can find just about any kind of merch you’d ever want or need in the Otherworld gift shop, which can be accessed on your way in or out of the facility. Arguably the best value, though, comes from the purchase of an annual pass ($64.99 per person) which includes unlimited flexible entry on any operating day of the year, as well as a 15% discount on all merchandise in the gift shop, 15% off companions’ day tickets and additional discounts as available for special events. If you’re planning on visiting Otherworld more than once, or simply just wish to enter more than once during the same day…it’s well worth the investment!
Above: One of the magnificent creatures that can be found at Otherworld Philadelphia, an immersive and interactive art experience just North of Philly.
So, what was our final take? I think it goes without saying that Otherworld Philadelphia was well worth our drive - so much so that we went all-in on annual passes, and have been back twice since! But, you don’t have to take us at our word…you can also see our first visit for yourselves in our complete walkthrough and experience vlog below. Otherworld is typically open 6 days each week and hours may vary. Check https://otherworldphila.com/ for details!
