Following on from our announcement yesterday that Tegan will be taking on a new full-time role as Experience Manager, Tegan reflects on her first six months with us.
July marks six months of me working here at TimeTrap Escape Rooms. Not long after the New Year I stepped into the role of time travel engineer to run missions along our time line and stabilise time warps. Over my time here I have learnt so much about not only escape rooms in general but also how they are put together. This job has reignited my love for history and has allowed me to learn so much more about the specific time periods in which our games are set.
Having come into this job with a background in theatre tech it has been amazing to use my experience to help create immersive spaces that will be used time and time again. I was attracted to this job because it allowed me to continue along a theatrical path but also have creative input in the games. Combining set design with building and making puzzles has made, for me, a dream job. All my life I have loved solving puzzles so to combine that with my passion for theatre is incredible and every day I can’t believe this is my job.
As part of working here I have been able to research and learn about various points in time. It has been amazing to engage with these parts of history that I otherwise might not have. This is especially great as what we learn is able to be translated into the games that are created. The longest running game, Rebellion, has obviously been open longer than I have worked here but it has still been interesting to learn about the year 1136. This game was especially exciting to learn about as it is themed around King Stephen, and Empress Matilda who have strong connections to Reading and Reading Abbey. Part of learning about this game was embracing Reading’s history and as this is a town I have lived and worked in for 4 years I was eager to learn more about it. For me, these games have highlighted intriguing parts of history that have driven me to learn as much as I can. Spending each day surrounded by history in such a fun form has reminded me of how much I love learning and researching.
What makes each day here at TimeTrap interesting is that no day is the same. Having a job that involves time travel means that on any given day I could be hopping between multiple places on the time line. Before lunch I could have been in three different centuries. What makes each day different is the teams that come to play the games. We see and meet such a wide range of people coming for all different reasons; from family fun to workplace team building to school trips. Not only do we get to interact with so many people but we have such fun and exciting things to talk to them about as we prepare them for their missions. It is hard not to be excited by a job that excites others.
One unexpected aspect of the job, and also one of my favourite aspects, is that we get to be a part of so many important and exciting moments in people’s lives. We have been able to help people celebrate, and surprise others. It always makes for a happy day when a team has a surprise planned with us. By hiding people, birthday cakes, and even one engagement ring in our games we get to help with and witness the happiest part of someone’s day or even year.
To end on a rather cliche note, it doesn’t really feel like work when you love what you do. I look forward to coming here everyday, to running games, creating rooms, and seeing all the wonderful people I get to work with. It is a real pinch me moment to think I am lucky enough to spend my days in the medieval period, the victorian era, and soon the 1940s. I wasn’t too familiar with escape rooms before I found this job but I am so grateful that I did. I now have a fantastic job, amazing colleagues/friends and a new found addiction to escape rooms.
Does what Tegan described excite you? Fancy joining this good/slightly average looking bunch? Head to our ‘Join our Team’ page to find out more and apply.
