The Customer Can’t Do All the Work: Omega Mart and the Limitations of Decentralized Storytelling

I recently took a trip to Las Vegas with my buddy . . . and I have some thoughts about Omega Mart.

Situated on a former Mercedes-Benz dealership just west of I-15 exists AREA15, a ‘secret’ industrial complex of buildings with food, games, and attractions designed to appeal to visitors of all ages.

My friend and I arrived about an hour before our ticket time and decided to get a bite to eat. Having a small sushi lunch at Kaia, our waitress asked if we had already been to Omega Mart. Saying that we had tickets, she was so excited for us and said that some people take up to six hours to complete it.

Now, I had seen the videos about Omega Mart and read the pretty positive reviews. I wouldn’t have bought tickets otherwise. Still, the idea of walking around a place with 200ish other people to soak in a narrative over many hours seemed a bit daunting. 

Nonetheless, my friend and I went through a metal detector, showed our tickets, and explored what can best be described as an avant-garde, trippy, and interpretive art installation.

Before I levy any criticism, I want to acknowledge the 300+ artists/designers/thinkers who brought Omega Mart to life, along with the countless people who work on site to make the experience memorable for guests.  

The Omega Mart Experience

For those needing an introduction, Omega Mart has two basic components:

1)    A Safeway on acid with fictional products, many of which are for sale.

a.     I later laughed after realizing that Omega Mart is the first art space I’ve come across where visitors both enter and exit through the gift shop.

b.     In this area, visitors are invited to scratch the surface of the underlying story of how Omega Mart came to be and feel disturbed by the experience of exploring a liminal space that no longer makes sense.

2)    The ‘factory’ and ‘administration’ that hide secrets behind the shady R&D company that runs Omega Mart.

a.     These areas include rooms and tunnels that make even the most ardent teetotaler understand what it’s like to be high.

Let’s start with the front. Adventurers with time on their hands can receive an RFID-enabled card (i.e., think a Safeway savings card) from an Omega Mart ‘employee’ and tap informational displays among products that include ‘Gender Fluid Soda,’ ‘Root Beer Flavored Vape Juice,’ and ‘Tattooed Chicken.’ These displays, along with video screens playing trippy videos about Omega Mart’s founder, draw visitors into one of three entrances into the factory floor.  

This is where things, at least from a narrative standpoint, start to unravel.

Centralized and Decentralized Storytelling

Before going any further, let me pause to explain what I mean by ‘centralized’ and ‘decentralized’ storytelling. In traditional stories, narratives have a central structure, much like the structure that holds up a building. In the case of video games, people can have the illusion of choice, but the designers pull all the strings, making them ‘centralized’. I’m using video games as a comparison because the Omega Mart experience most closely resembles a ‘walking simulator,’ such as What Remains of Edith Finch. There’s a mystery, each room/area has a clue, and the narrative gradually reveals itself.

As far as real-life experiences go, Omega Mart most closely resembles the long-running NYC interactive play Sleep No More. Like Sleep No More, Omega Mart offers visitors physical artifacts (e.g., books, letters, photographs, etc.) that bring the story to life. Visitors can also use their Omega Mart card to access computer terminals with countless documents and videos.

Despite these similarities, Sleep No More uses a centralized narrative in the form of an homage to Shakespeare’s Macbeth that unfolds across different rooms throughout the evening. Casual visitors can follow the story, while adventurous ones can spend some time rummaging through the rooms.  

Omega Mart has a ‘decentralized narrative,’ as the events that actually matter in the story have already happened. It’s the difference between witnessing a crime and investigating it afterward. As a result, it’s 100% up to visitors to uncover exactly what’s going on.

And this is where things can — and do — derail the story.   

The Limitations of Decentralized Storytelling

If someone’s goal is to tell a story, they have to pull the strings to provide an intended outcome. Even in video games with the illusion of player control (i.e., think about ‘choose your own adventure novels’ if you’re not into video games), the writer has to get people from Point A to Point B in one way, shape, or form.

In the case of Omega Mart, everything is just . . . there. It’s as if the entire narrative has been vomited — and I use the term in the nicest way possible — onto the event space. Beyond the initial supermarket, the winding passages and surreal rooms provide visitors with no rhyme or reason. The computer terminals and physical documents offer some clues, but it’s a ton of work for a $50 admission fee.

To be fair, many visitors, kids and adults, were all into this form of ‘do it yourself’ storytelling. And, yes, there is value in putting in work to uncover a mystery. Still, the ability to just stumble into the ‘endgame’ well before having all the necessary information can — and probably has — left some visitors feeling disappointed.

In all, my friend and I spent about 90 minutes wandering through the experience, appreciating the hard work that went into creating it while gaining a surface-level overview of the underlying story. And maybe for a first-time visitor, that’s okay. After all, it’s a place you may want to return to with another friend or family member. And I figure, based on the reviews, that 100% the intention of the people who created Omega Mart.

As someone who enjoys reading — and occasionally writing — a good story, I felt a tad deflated after leaving AREA15. I really did want to know what was going on. At dinner that night, I got on Reddit and tried looking up the lore. In one case, a passionate return visitor had attempted to provide a concise description. “So, what’s the short version?” my friend asked between bites of prime rib.

“I’m trying to turn the short version into the short version,” I replied while skimming no fewer than a dozen long paragraphs. I eventually gave up and refocused my attention on the food.   

What Omega Mart Can Teach Authors

Authors don’t owe much to their readers beyond the story they wish to tell. In the case of Omega Mart, that story is hidden behind so many layers of spectacle that it might as well not exist for first-time visitors. And for that reason, Omega Mart fails as an example of interactive storytelling.

So, when you’re writing a story, whether it’s your first or fiftieth, make sure your audience knows that you’re taking them on a journey. Just as importantly, make sure they get to the destination you have in mind. You don’t need to hold their hand every step of the way, but don’t forget about them, either.

Especially if you’re charging them $50 for the experience.