What Does An Escape Room Games Master Actually Do?

When you’re out with a group of friends having drinks one night and a stranger asks what you do for a living, they probably won’t be surprised when you say “Games Master.” Sure, people know about Kung-Fu Masters or Chef Master. But most of them would be wondering what exactly did you say right now. Obviously, if you say that you hide in small, dark rooms and watch people fight, some people will wonder about your mental health and take two steps back from you while looking for the nearest door. 

Keep in mind that the first team’s experience starts as soon as they walk into the reception area of the escape room business. Everyone who works for the company needs to know that first impressions really do matter. For the Games Master, this is where he will ask how much experience they have, where they are, and how much interaction they want. Then the rules are explained, with a special focus on safety. Since so many escape rooms are in the basements of buildings, safety should always be a concern, and the Games Master should talk about this in detail during the briefing. Still, it’s important to explain these rules in a way that keeps the mood light and easy. Check out the official rules at: foxinaboxchicago.com. 

What Game Master Actually Does?

Almost all escape room games have a story that sets the mood and makes it possible to be fully immersed in the game. A lot of these stories will stick to a set plan. The way the Games Master tells the story is very important because it makes a big difference in whether the players think the game is worth playing seriously or not. So the Games Master has to make up a story that is both interesting enough to keep the players listening and interested and not too heavy, or it will quickly get boring.

Almost all modern escape room games will have a control room for the Games Master somewhere in the building, usually near each escape room. When the group of players goes into the first room, the Games Master will go to his sanctuary and sit there. From here, he can keep an eye on how the team is doing and see how they are finding and solving puzzles. The game master doesn’t have time to play Sudoku on his phone or read a book while the game is going on. He needs to give his full attention to every player on the team. As part of his job, he has to make sure that everyone is doing their best. Teams sometimes can’t figure out how to solve a puzzle, and if nothing is done quickly, they could quickly lose interest in the whole game.

To do this, the games master must be very good at reading people’s body language. You’ll often find that players don’t want to show how angry or scared they are about losing. The Game Master needs to know when to step in and give a hint or some encouragement. Also, he needs to keep an eye on the team to make sure they don’t get too excited, or they might start breaking things by accident. As the game is going on, the Games Master needs to keep an eye on a million and one things. In some ways, he is like the oil that keeps the whole game running smoothly and without problems. So you could say that he is a game master and a psychologist at the same time.

If you ask many games masters what they like best about their job, they will say that every day and every hour of every day, something new and different is happening. It’s not a job where you learn something and then do the same thing over and over. There are different ways to handle each team. You can only learn that no two teams are the same through experience and good sense. Some teams will be very happy if the Games Master talks to them a lot. Some teams like the quiet and peace of working almost alone. They’d rather have time to give every puzzle their full attention. As a result, it is the Game Master’s job to figure out exactly what the players need and give it to them as quickly and easily as possible.

You won’t get very far as a game master if you don’t know everything about the game being played. Not only will you need to know how each puzzle works on its own level, but you will also need to know the room’s quirks, how to get around them, and how to fix things when they go wrong. In some ways, you could compare an escape room game to a live performance. The actors in your production are the ones who are paying to be there. So, if something fails or goes wrong, the Games Master will need to be quick on his feet and think on his feet, just like the house manager of a theatre. You want to make sure everything goes well without getting in the way of the actors. In the same way, when people are really into an escape room game, you don’t want to pull them out of their fantasy world.

Conclusion

Whether the team finishes the game or runs out of time, everyone takes part in a debriefing at the end. All teams will end their games on a high note, with their adrenaline pumping. So it’s just as important that the game master doesn’t put a damper on how they feel. After an hour of pure fun and excitement, having a games master give you the lowdown with a frown is going to take all the fun out of the first hour. The debriefing serves several purposes. For one thing, it gives the team a chance to relax. They will ask the Games Master a lot of questions about puzzles they couldn’t solve or things they might have missed. But keep in mind that even in these situations, the games master can’t tell anyone about the games.

The second reason for the debrief is that it helps the business make a sale. By giving players a chance to celebrate when their 60 minutes are up, you make it more likely that they will say good things about the game on social media or in person. The business is mostly a service business. And the day isn’t over until the last customer leaves, happy and satisfied. For example, foxinaboxseattle.com has the most positive reviews thanks to the games master there.

Now that one team has left, you need to hurry down to the room and set up all the puzzles and clues again. There may be a time when no game sessions are scheduled, in which case the game master will have to take care of all sorts of other tasks. In other words, Games Mastering is more than just playing games and helping customer teams. There will be blog posts to write; props to re-paint; puzzles to make; and probably a lot of cleaning to do. It should be said that a games master makes a surprising amount of money.