SUGAR LAND, Texas — Smack dab in the middle of Sugar Land Town Square, a black building stands out from the beige that surrounds it. This is the Department of Wonder.
"It’s such a new and interesting concept that nobody’s ever really tried before," said theatrical manager Kevin Holden.
Our conversation happened inside the Lamp Maker’s Emporium, the first stop on visitors' journey.
"We guide them a little bit. Like when you come into this shop, you’ll get some guidance," Holden said. "Then after that we kind of cut you loose and you’re released into this new realm."
The realm is unlike anything you've seen before.
"For the most part, this is your adventure," Holden said. "You get to pick what you do. You have to decide what your next action is going to be."
Options include solving riddles, crawling through tunnels, going on missions and talking to this realm’s inhabitants.
"It’s part theater. It’s part video game. It’s part movie. It’s part escape room. It’s part choose-your-own-adventure book," Holden said. "It’s all of those things with a lot of other things that only came into existence because this thing came into existence."
The Department of Wonder is the creation of a team of storytellers, animators, designers and producers focused on digital and interactive entertainment.
"There’s a whole lot of making stuff up going on around here," Holden laughed.
This is just the beginning of the experiment, so going forward, you will never know what to expect behind the Department of Wonder's doors.