Off the Wall in Second Life

There are some new "Destinations" categories in Second Life search, one of which is "Strange" ... well I couldn't resist. I started with Off the Wall which is described as follows:

Beneath the giant lightbulbs is a sensory overload of fun quests to complete for prizes, constructed by equally colorful characters. Don't miss the many crazy references to geek culture, video games, Internet memes, and more.

I would describe it as a combination of cartoon/steampunk/adventure game/acid trip. Oh and totally addictive fun! :)

When I realized at the beginning that this was going to involve "game" and quests I looked to see who was online and invited Dale Innis to join me. I figured (correctly) that this was the one person who should be able to help me solve the puzzles. Very few of the resulting photos actually downloaded successfully so the one of Dale wearing an alien head is unfortunately lost. You'll have to go get your own I guess.

The creators of this marvellous/frustrating/joyous/skillful/surprising build include Rachel Breaker, Delmore Oh and TOASTXOR Stoop. And the build is gorgeous. I met one adventurer who was there primarily just to enjoy the sculpts because the quality is so high (of course he was distracted by the game play as much as the rest of us).

The task you are given is to dig up treasure. Simple enough, until you realize you first have to get a shovel which requires solving an adventure game. You also need to find keys - there are more than 100 of them above and below ground (you don't have to find all of them but you want to find as many as you can). There are also mini quests here and there and you can earn (and lose) currency which only functions on this sim. In other words - you'll wind up, as we did, spending hours finding the most amazing things and doing the craziest stuff and enjoying yourself enormously.

There are also shops around the sim (or as Dale described them "money sinks"). If you like quirky or bizarre this is the place for you!

I don't know how to adequately describe the surprises which await. Just when you think you've got a good handle on what's there you'll enter into a pharaoh's tomb and wind up in an underground maze or find a hidden indoor beach. And throughout you're acquiring keys and adventure items and meeting characters who want to trade those items - oh and the mini quests. Just try collecting enough batteries to recharge that robot!

Do go visit Off the Wall - it's a magical place to spend some time. Take your friends because you'll need all the help you can get!