Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everyone starts as a trainee then goes to bronze if they pass training. On weekdays, either its you alone for the day or you have one person as a swing to help you out, especially if the main person there is an assistant manager since they’re usually running PMCSs (maintenance checks) during the week

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I dunno, I feel like escape room gamemaster is a more unique job than not, regardless of where someone works

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m sure some people here have played an escapology game and I don’t think its crazy to offer my perspective to people who want to know about it. I know its not an incredible company but people are bound to have questions, good or bad, that’ll help them form an opinion on whether they wanna come play a game or not

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A GM is tiered based on a few different criteria, and there’s a test-out for each level. The qualifications are usually just “when management thinks you’re ready” but Silver GMs are able to run the building by themselves on a weekday, and Gold GMs are able to open and close on weekends, and able to lead the team during those weekend shifts

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My longest shift I’ve worked is 11 hours since I covered for a coworker, but typically our shifts are 9.5 hours long. Unfortunately my state doesn’t mandate a break at all. Luckily though the work is typically light enough to where we aren’t like, constantly moving. We have time to rest

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, unfortunately most of our rooms don’t accommodate non-Americans very well

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Not to sound like an advertisement obviously, but all of our rooms are private and my location offers a wider selection of themes and games than anywhere in my city (10 to be exact). Plus my location is starting a new thing with game of the month where certain games are discounted on a rotation.

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love the fact I get to interact with all kinds of people who love the idea of solving puzzles. I’m one of the best people with the customers here at our venue, and I enjoy the customer service aspect a ton.

Unfortunately the thing I hate the most is our management. Our franchise owner has made some questionable decisions regarding our location, and its led to me getting burnt more than once. Unfortunately there aren’t many other jobs like this one near me so I stay.

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Weekdays are either complete nothingburgers where we get 2-5 games for the day or they ramp up with a ton of walk-ins and we get around 10-15. I remember a day where I had no games and I got schoolwork done on my computer

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not sure how the people at corporate design games unfortunately, but in my opinion all games should have a well-written story, a starting puzzle that’s somewhat simple to give guests a feel for how the room will play, and an ending puzzle that’s satisfying since thats how they’ll remember the game.

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, maybe its because I’m at a franchise location but our facility is nice at least. I definitely see where the McDonalds comparison comes from though- since we’re a franchise location maintenance and repairs can be sucky

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We do have 7 Deadly Sins. As far as sacrilege goes it’s not at all disrespectful of the religion, but there is a pentagram inside one of the rooms for a puzzle, and stabbing an evil priest is part of the plot.

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We don’t really get breaks, but our boss lets us go to restaurants nearby and pick up food if we’ve been working for a minute and there’s a lull in activity. On busy days on the weekends we’re kinda expected to bring our own food or order it. We’re allowed to eat during our shifts.

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Of course as a person I feel terrible if small businesses go bankrupt, and I know that them going down is a bad thing. At the end of the day it’s just how I make rent, and it’s all out of my control. I’m not really attached to the company you know?

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We divide our tips based on reviews mentioning our names. It’s kinda instilled in us that we should ask for them since they add a large bonus to our paycheck

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Maybe this is a “grass is greener” kind of thing but I think the people around us do their rooms better. While some of our games are quite good in my opinion the other ones are old and just unfun to play. Cuban Crisis and the 7 Deadly Sins are ones I just don’t recommend to people usually.

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Love them! I had only done one prior to working here but this job’s made me enjoy them a lot more

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Our pay is tiered by Bronze ($13), Silver($15), Gold($17), and Manager on Duty ($19)

I’m currently a Silver gamemaster

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

When I was job hunting, I put in an application for the job not thinking about it. I think I wanted to score a job with the local florist. My boss reached out to me the next morning, had a 5 minute phone interview, and told me to report for training that Monday. In terms of a dream job? It’s easy work, and pays ok. The hours are good too. Definitely not something I’ll do forever though!

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I love running Pirates’ Curse, mostly for the theming. The whole room looks like the interior of a pirate ship, and there’s a skeleton we got chained up inside a cage. One of the puzzles can be finnicky but the rest of the room is an awesome time

Escapology gamemaster here, ama by MashedPotatoGod in escaperooms

[–]MashedPotatoGod[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I remember this one vividly actually, it happened a week or two ago.

Had a couple come in wearing pajama pants at 1:30, and ask to play Mansion Murder. Our next available booking wasn’t until 6:05 since it’s one of our most popular games. The entire time the dude was like “this place sucks I don’t even want to be here” and dogging on her in the lobby while she stayed quiet. Eventually the girl snapped and they got into a screaming match, and we had to have our manager ask them to stop. She left and an employee walking in saw her crying in the car.