A mind-bending interactive museum has opened in downtown Sacramento, bringing the first of its kind to Northern California. Museum of Illusions is now welcoming guests at the Downtown Commons on 405 K Street, Suite 110 next to Yard House.
Tomislav Pamuković and Roko Živković opened the first Museum of Illusions in Zagreb, Croatia, in 2015. Now, in 2026, the museum is located in 28 countries and five continents.
“Our founders had a real strong interest in fragmented science and worked with a designer to create all these different exhibits and illusions,” said Communications Director Stacey Sec. “We built upon that and every museum that we build is better than the next.”
The Sacramento location features about 70 exhibits across 10,000 square feet, including puzzles, holograms, installations, mirrors and light illustrations.You can even pop your head in a kaleidoscope. It’s ideal for photo opportunities, dates, group outings and field trips.
In the U.S. there are 27 locations including Chicago, Boston, Austin, Atlanta and Las Vegas.
“The museum exceeded my expectations,” a visitor at Chicago’s location wrote on Yelp. “It was a cool and whimsical way to spend our afternoon.”
As visitors go throughout the museum there’s continuous activities including a puzzle room for those who want to test their brain.
“It’s not just a photo op,” she said. “It really is a mixture of education that you would get at a normal museum.”
Sacramento will be its 72nd location and the first in Northern California. There are plans to open another location in San Francisco in the following weeks, according Sec.
Museum of Illusions store front at the Downtown Commons is 10,000 square feet and features 70 interactive exhibits.Keyshawn Davis/CapRadio
Interactive experience
Each area and room you step in is a new experience that will make you think how it was done and will make you realize it’s not what it seems. Sec said visitors spend anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours to complete the entire experience.
One experience at the museum is an immersive room called the Ames room, which was named after American ophthalmologist Aldelbert Ames. The room is slanted and can show the illusion of people appearing shorter or taller depending on where you are standing in the room.
“It’s not like a perfectly square room,” Sec said while demonstrating the illusion. “It looks like on camera, looks like we’re in a completely square normal room, and the camera can’t pick up the insane depth and slant of this room like we see with our eyes.”
Stacey Sec in the Titled Room of the Museum of Illusions on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2026.Keyshawn Davis/CapRadio
There’s a Vortex Tunnel where the room spins around you while you stroll through. If you’re someone who feels queasy or gets dizzy easily, you might want to skip this interaction.
The museum is permanent and open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and is open 7 days a week. Admission for kids is $25, but is free if they’re under the age of 5. Visitors ages 13 and up are $30.
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