The role of a Games Master (GM) is one that few people know. Even though you lock individuals in rooms and watch them try to escape, you are not a weirdo and have a completely legitimate job (which you have to explain regularly). A lot is going on behind the scenes that you may not be aware of, even if you’ve played an escape game previously. Now is your chance to find out all you’ve ever wanted to know about this job for one of our very own Games Masters from our Eeek escape room in Glasgow.
A Day in the Life of an
eeek! Escape Rooms Games Master
Prepping
As the day begins, we must ensure that our teams have everything they need set up and ready to go. Making sure that all of our padlocks are in working order and turning on any electronic devices required by the game is an important part of this step.
Explaining the Escape Room Game
The moment the gang knocks on the door, the adventure begins. First impressions are crucial, and this is true for both parties. This is the time when we start to acquire a sense of our team’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the types of players they are and the amount of involvement they require. One of the most challenging aspects of being a game master is presenting tedious but critical safety standards pleasantly and engagingly to keep our customers excited and engaged!
Recap Time
It’s now time to give them a recap on what they’ll be doing. When a Game Master does this, they make sure to be in character, it enhances the immersion and entertainment value for our gamers. It’s also a lot of fun for us! No two game masters are the same, so it’s okay if we inject our own flavour into the character and the briefing.
Game Time!
The eeek! Geek GM Station is our haven once our team enters the escape game room. The magic happens here! We keep tabs on the teams’ progress, monitor their movements through the challenges, and keep an eye out for anything that might indicate a problem. To be a good manager you must ensure that every person is engaged, give relevant clues at the correct time, trigger particular events at the right time, and encourage your staff as needed. When one or more players or team members become dissatisfied, they may quit cooperating. What are they trying to communicate to you with their body language? Is there anything I can do to help? Is their excitement so great that they end up damaging things unintentionally? These are all things to consider and, if necessary, take action on. When you think about it, we’re a lot like psychologists!
The escape room experience must be tailored to each group because no two teams are alike. Some will like interacting with you and laughing, while others prefer alone to solve the escape room puzzles. The most significant component of this job is to comprehend the players’ wants and desires. It’s also important to know the game inside and out, not only the puzzles but also the room’s oddities, workarounds, and fixes. Because escape rooms are live performances with players solving riddles, we need to think and move quickly in case something goes wrong or breaks (which can happen!).
After the teams solve the last puzzle or run out of time, we talk to them about what happened to know whether they enjoyed the escape room adventure. In most games, the teams finish with a real adrenaline rush, so it’s important for us to be pumped up as well. Can you imagine coming out of an hour of fun to a dead-pan person telling you about it? Then it’s time to set the room back up and start over again.
Explore more eeek! Escape Rooms
When GMs are on shift, you may find yourself with an unbooked game session; you must be prepared to be productive and complete other responsibilities. This can be general venue cleaning, writing, repainting props, or even puzzle design; we encourage innovation at eeek! and want to hear your ideas! It’s terrific but challenging work: you must be alert, be innovative, and engage with customers – and seeing your teams have those all-important “a-ha!” moments make it all worthwhile!
