team leader

guest service agent

adventure guide

team member

guest environment expert

The Escape Game

This was at one time probably the best place to work in Pigeon Forge. Management was great, the culture was great and everyone was happy. We all loved our jobs. The best part of the job was that we all were good friends and we felt truly cared about by ownership. They periodically visited the store and I personally met two of our owners and they seemed incredibly nice. We were told that we the employees were THE MOST IMPORTANT GUEST. We believed it, and at the time it may have actually been true. In late 2017, early 2018 the owners chose to allow an investing company North Castle Partners to invest a significant amount of money in the company. As far as I know, it was an investment in the company; however, I did hear rumors that it was an actual sale of the The Escape Game to the investment company, but I am unsure whether that is true or not. In any case, we didn't feel an immediate difference. We were all given Christmas bonuses that year to celebrate. Slowly overtime we began to feel the invisible hand of the investors. More and more policy change was implemented to our store which added stress after stress to our team. Slowly but surely, decisions began being made that were clearly for money and not at all about the guests or our team. As leaders we were told to be aggressive with cutting people on shift which in turn put us understaffed when at the drop of a hat we became busy. It lead to an unstable work environment because hours could be cut without much notice so our team struggled to hit their full time hours. Still they preached that we were the most important guests and that we came first. However, it didn't seem like that the case. Then there were instances in which we were understaffed during the busy season. We didn't have enough employees to run a shift very often. One of the things you can control is what games are available to the public. So we would ask if it was okay to block a game to get breaks done. Rather than explain each specific instance let me just say there were plenty of occasions where I personally did not receive a 30 minute break during an 8 to 10 our shift. Which in the state of Tennessee is against the law. Still we trucked on. During the recent COVID-19 pandemic HQ really showed their true colors. They really dropped the ball here. They kept us open until almost the last possible second. In fact the only reason they ended up closing was that an email was sent to HQ and the Owners by leadership here saying we would not work because there were no safety precautions put in place. They were not going to pay us anything when we were laid off until once again leadership sent a letter to them about how they preached they cared about us. They sent maybe 1/3rd of the company a 500 dollar check. When it came time to reopen, albeit too early to truly be safe yet, they reassured us by saying that they were going to put tons of safety measures in place. They said that everyone would be required to wear a mask, hand washing stations, some fancy piece of equipment to bomb the building to make the building sterile, they also said they would provide masks for everyone but when they reopened it didn't happen. The only thing that happened was employees were required to wear face coverings. Face coverings would not be provided. I was astonished. They lied to us. They had been lying the entire time about how they really cared about us. When one of our employees asked how reopening the store early and under these conditions aligned with the companies 6 values, they fired him. Almost immediately. The truth is, when you become an employee at the escape game, they give you this 'field guide' with all these policy's and values to uphold, but they don't uphold the same values. The values are creativity, Excellence, Integrity, Passion, Teamwork, Growth. Well The escape game broke Integrity and Passion. They showed 0 passion for the employees that keep their pockets full and they lied to them. They break the excellence value every single shift also. Nowadays the TL is forced to run two games at once in order to complete staff breaks. But how is anyone supposed to give a guest an epic experience when he or she cant give each game his or her undivided attention?  Anyways, more and more employees at the Pigeon Forge store are quitting which is causing and already awful culture to grow even worse. Hey, I will say this though, they're hiring so if you are desperate enough here is a job.  With that said, I would not recommend this employer for anyone. The culture is awful, the stress is even higher than usual, and the pay is poor at best. 

I worked at The Escape Game for about three years. Now, it was a good first job for me, I learned a lot and met some great people. BUT, if you value your mental health, you’ll stay far far away. This company does not care about its employees in the slightest. The manager of the location i worked at was particularly manipulative and would constantly gaslight his employees. Most of the leaders here were extremely unhappy.  I started as a game guide and worked my way up to a Team Lead. 

Here is a small list of awful things that this company would do when I still worked there: 

1) Call people off of their shift while they’re already on their way/in the building. I’ve been called off countless times while already sitting in the parking lot ready to work. This leaves the shift being understaffed and the leaders being overworked.  Most of the shifts i worked were understaffed due to management calling employees off last minute to save money. 

2) Either give you no hours or work you until you can’t think straight. I remember one summer i worked 13 days straight! I’ve been scheduled closing shifts, with a double the next day. They do not care if you drop dead. 

3) Schedule you to close (shift will end around 1am-2am) and then have you come back for a mandatory 8am meeting, and then you’ll work the shift after. (9am-5pm) (Pretty sure that’s illegal) 

4) The pay is abysmal for the work you do. The environment is unbelievably stressful, you are constantly on the go. I’ve worked 10 hours shifts without a break. This job will make you develop an eating disorder. If you complain about not getting a break management will tell you “breaks are given as the schedule permits” 

5) We lie to customers so much! The Escape Game has goals and metrics, and one of those metrics are getting certain teams to win. Some people just don’t get escape rooms! so instead of letting people play naturally, the escape game will force a team to win to ensure an “epic” experience.  They’ve taken game pieces and props out of the room to make sure you win. Or they’ll add time back when you aren’t looking. 

6) The culture here is super toxic. They refer to good employees as “cookies” and bad employees as “skunks”. Management went through this period of pulling every single employee into the office to ask them “which employees are skunks and which are cookies.” this literally pitted team members against each other. 

7) There are no sick days or a call out policy, which is ridiculous because people get sick! i’ve had literal shifts where I’ve had to come in with the flu instead of getting written up. (but don’t worry, the general manager there will give himself the day off if he ever feels under the weather) 

8) They have no loyalty to their employees. They’ll fire someone the second they try and speak up. Any criticisms will just be seen as a bad attitude, or a “skunk”. 

9) there’s no room for real growth because this entire company as a whole has no idea what they are doing. they are a young company.  management and the organization as a whole have a lot of growing to do. They’ll offer you poorly thought out excuses of a promotion too. 

10) this company is LITERALLY a cult. they have their values that they constantly hit you over the head with. if you don’t fit into their mold, they’ll push you out. this company does not actually believe in any of their values either. they’ll also take a strange interest into your personal life and try to really control and manage the workplace friendships that take place. this place breeds paranoia.  if you become a leader here, they want you to EMBODY everything TEG related. 

11) and so many more reasons ...

Bonus points! 

- They don’t sanitize these rooms properly, two employees have broken out with COVID-19 at the Orlando location 

- company forces religion down people’s throats as they are an ultra christian company. (and that’s coming from me who is also a christian) 

- the manager of the orlando location is extremely intense, divisive, and talks poorly to women. also he’s married to the sister of one of the co-founders, so, nepotism. 

TL:DR; working here is like being stuck in a really bad episode of the office, only nothing is funny and you’re really miserable. seriously. don’t work here if you value enjoying your life. leaving was the best thing that could have happened to me. 

Had this job for about a year. When I first started I absolutely loved it. The culture was great, everyone cared about each other and it was an awesome job that I learned to love going to every day. Over time, I noticed that some shady stuff was going on such as managers getting demoted with little to no reason or explanation; as well as a few other issues. However when COVID-19 hit, that is when the company showed its true colors. Letters were sent out to all employees about how during troubling times they were doing everything they could to plan what their next move would be and how they were working on a COVID-19 relief fund. A few months later, $500 checks were sent out to MAYBE 25% of The Escape Game employees. Many employees who worked there for YEARS and definitely were eligible did not get a check. When opening back up, they asked our manager (at the time) to open up the store on May 1. He did not feel comfortable leading his team into something that he was that scared of himself so he ended up losing his job. I couldn't believe it at first, mainly because the manger cared so much about our store but also the brand. I know he did everything that he could, and was one of the best managers I've ever had with a job. The assistant manager had to step up and open the store with very few employees who had agreed to come back. After a few weeks they found someone from a different store location to replace our manager. Once that manager took over, it wasn't the same environment but they did a fairly good job at being a manager of the store. When we first opened up again we were given extra time to sanitize and setup games. We had about 40 minutes between games (compared to our usual 20 minutes before COVID, where we were struggling to get games setup in time to begin with). After a month or so we went back to 20 minutes between games and they still expected us to sanitize and setup in that amount of time. During my time there I know there were employees who did not sanitize the rooms due to not having enough time. Management did not care and was also part of this issue. Setting up and sanitizing the games in under 20 minutes is definitely the hardest part of the job. This company is all about making money and not about keeping people (employees and guests) safe. While the numbers of positive cases kept going up they decided to open the lobby within a few weeks after opening. Even though their employees were expressing that they did not feel comfortable with that. There were also instances where one person would have to guide two different games at once, which never happened before we shut down. It is nearly impossible and is not the way to ensure that every single guest has an epic experience (one of their policies). The pay is not worth it and even though they will promise that there are opportunities to grow/advance, I don't believe that anymore. I truly believe that The Escape Game is going downhill fast. If they keep treating employees, that care and do their best, like they are nothing then they are going to lose the reason that The Escape Game is where it is today. 

It's a short term job, for sure.  I do not suggest it for older folks as there are a variety of better paying and less-effort jobs. Sales is likely better than this. 

At first, I enjoyed the job. Who would not enjoy sitting back, watching guests partake in puzzles and seeing their reactions? The people were friendly, yet it felt off putting. Immediately, a work culture was established, almost cult-like. They created the rules, and a clear "Bad guy" vs "Good guy," or better known as "Skunks" vs "Cookies." It is such a rudimentary and black-and-white view of everything. 

Cookies, people who take it another notch, how they manage it? I have no idea. I have worked but I never got a values card or seen as a valuable asset, no matter how many people pleased or smiles earned on guests faces.

Skunks, people who are moody, unable to consistently keep up a smiling mask of forever job- compliancy. 

Memorise their culture, their rules, be passionate, be friendly, be everything that a good little bee-worker is needed for their soulless factory.  People get along well with each other, but there is an undercurrent of dislike with non-fitting in types or a little like a "skunk." 

Work hard to make guests happy, but in return, a minimum low-paying wage.  For the amount of social interaction, kissing up to guests, I would expect a higher pay. If you love people, this job will feel great at first, but it can wear on your nerves.  There are no noted bonuses to being a good worker, except rising to Team Leader or front desk, but the pay barely differs by a few dollars. With rising inflation, the difference is barely noticeable. 

In a brighter note, my management were not terrible people, nor were the "teammates" (coworkers). It is simply the enforced environment of "professionalism" boarding on cult-feeling-like tactics. 

I can see plenty of people feeling at place, at home in this environment. They feel wanted and connected with the other Game Guides because they're a little more extroverted and/or strange. Sometimes, this professionalism balances on a line of non-professionalism, where they want to get close to know you, but not.   Nonetheless the strict appliance of the culture makes it feel odd and unsettling.  

It's unsettling because the coworkers I interact with slowly loose their personality to cater the ideals outside of work. That's terrifying.

Yet I do not believe my opinion may be as valuable as I have not had a variety of jobs yet.


The day to day was okay; the job itself was never hard. What made it hard was the constant pressure from management and making you compete with your fellow coworkers for bonus incentives. The constant pressures made it not a great environment to work in.

All physical stores had different booking practices, meaning that we had to keep up with what was okay, or acceptable, by that specific store practice. Otherwise, you got in trouble. Management would tell you that they want you to help with solutions (like discounts), but that rarely happened. They have no faith in their employees. 

Scheduling was always an issue for everyone. They would have these ridiculous "black out" dates where you cannot request of, even if it was for sick leave or a family emergency situation. In order for you to have time off accepted, you had to request it 2-3 months in advance, but they never had the schedule out in a timely manner. 

Management has their favorites, and they make sure you know it. They give special treatment to the employees who have “proven” themselves “worthy” and don’t consider promoting if you’re not in that clique.

The chat communication used to be a fun environment to be part of, with GC members enjoying talking to each other and making jokes. Once management positions changed, it became a game of favoritism again to their select employees. Their favorites were allowed to say what they want with no repercussions, and the rest of the employees get in trouble for trying to continue the conversation.

The recording system is flawed and management knows it is recording longer than it should be. Instead of listening to concerns from their employees, they use the “extra time” on the recordings that happen after the call has disconnected to further discipline you.

If there is any take away you get from reading this, know that this company has a lot of fixing up to do. Management will make or break departments and this one is crumbling with the current members.

Going into this job I thought it would be a fun, chill summer job. I love escape rooms and always thought it would be fun to guide them and watch people try to get through them right? WRONG! This place is a nightmare. For starters management is horrific, genuinely some of the worst I have EVER seen. This company seemingly has a habit of promoting people to management positions that are worse than unqualified, but outright detrimental to store and company success. The incompetence from management is quite frankly stunning. They don't know how to do basic entry level jobs, let alone manage a store. Management is rude and quite condescending most of the time all while "coaching" you for simply being a human being. If you want to be on a manager's "good side" you must be a shell of a human being, a husk that serves only the company. 

Furthermore, the way this company operates is beyond Orwellian, it is an extremely uncomfortable experience every time you clock in. You are on camera 24/7, which I understand for company security reasons, preventing theft, etc., but this is not what these cameras are used for. You are constantly watched, monitored, and coached (disciplined) for benign and irrelevant things that have no impact on guest experience and are most of the time just byproducts of coworkers being friends. Usually teambuilding and peer to peer friendships are beneficial for company culture, but those things are actively frowned upon here. The managers also stalk these cameras to find and retaliate against people that they dislike.

The only redeeming factor about this job was my coworkers. I met some really incredible, funny, interesting, and genuinely kind people working here. The best thing about this job is the relationships I left it with.

All of that to say, stay away from this company, specifically this store. The management is at best woefully incompetent and at worst outright malicious. Upper management and HQ operations are useless and largely ignore any and all reports from store employees regarding management issues. There is ZERO work life balance as well. This will not be an enjoyable experience, this job will steal your soul, destroy your sense of self-worth, and leave you with significant emotional damage.

While I did meet a few students while working as a game guide here, I don't believe that this is a good job for students who need time to study and want time to socialize as well. I was told that night shifts would only happen if coverage was needed, but I ended up working more night shifts than day shifts (only worked about 4 day shifts in my 2 months I spent there). Day shifts end around 5-5:30 PM. Night shifts start around 4 or 5 and will last to 1:30 AM. If you get let off early, that will be 10-11 PM for a night shift. 
If you're sensitive to a busy environment, have anxiety, or problems with dissociating like I do, I wouldn't recommend this job as the nature of the job itself was triggering for me and caused a panic attack (which is why my time there was so short).
Still, the management and employees are all very nice and considerate. I never had a rude experience with them (seriously, not even an experience that could be perceived as backhanded), even when I made mistakes or asked a dumb question. When I had my panic attack, someone covered for me and everyone allowed me as much time as I needed to calm down on my own without any judgement after the fact. They make a point out of giving customers a good experience, and that extends to the workplace. Coworkers don't gossip about each other and there's no weird drama in the workplace as a result. Management makes sure you know what resources are available to you and that you know how to navigate the workplace, they are also very friendly. They will speak to you like an equal, and are calm and professional, even when being assertive about things.
You'll need to have some social skills and be able to keep up a conversation. Being good with kids is a plus. You'll be required to retain a lot of information but everyone is cool with answering questions as you learn. Overall the most welcoming and friendly workplace I've been in. It was very fast-paced and asks for long hours.

From the beginning, they will tell you that YOU are the most important guest, but this is not the case. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they gave their hardest working, longest running employees an ultimatum to risk their health, and come back to work, or their job may not be there when and if they do decide to return. My brother, was the manager of the Pigeon Forge location. He was an incredible boss. He successfully led our team to win store of the year in 2018. He ALWAYS put our needs, and concerns before anything else. He worked 4 doubles in a row one week because people kept calling out sick. He exhausted himself mentally, physically, and emotionally so that he could support our team. He proudly wore his TEG uniform on his off days, because he LOVED to represent HIS store that he worked so hard to perfect. He was given the ultimatum to return to work at the peak of the pandemic, or turn in his resignation. He didn't believe in leading his team into danger, so they let him go. One of the most incredible managers an establishment could have, tossed out like TRASH. 
THIS COMPANY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU! 
We have 6 values that we are to uphold when working for The Escape Game. Teamwork, excellence, passion, growth, integrity, and creativity.  When one of my coworkers asked how our values align with their response to the pandemic, he was told that the conversation was unproductive, and was fired. FIRED, for asking a valid question because they simply had no response. 
The Escape Game was suppose to be my career, as well as many other fellow coworkers who were let go during this chaotic time. We used to joke about being game guides until we were 85 years old. We used to brag to other people about how much our company cares for its employees. Now we're heartbroken. Our goals, and dreams of fulfilling the mission forever were shattered. I hope their precious dollar was worth losing the people who cared about TEG the most.

The culture they constantly promote there is be accountable, report anything and everything, no matter if it's something said in privacy, something written in a personal notebook not meant for anyone else to read, or something said out of context. Managers will report all of it. And heaven forbid you have the slightest wrong opinion about something. I said I don't like something once, and I was pulled into a meeting about it. They tell you not to be negative or be stinky about things, which is fine in general, but if you have any bad thoughts, you're told to just bottle them up, and all complaints must be brought to a manager. And even when done, the most I got out of it was, "Oh that will never happen." "Oh you're just worrying about nothing." And every time my concerns only rose, and I never felt relieved about anything I was concerned of.

 Making friends in the company feels looked down upon, and they veil it behind "We don't want cliques, or particular groups being formed." But they play favorites and have constant mentions of "Manager Group" activities outside of work. 

You HAVE to love the company, if you don't then it just isn't for you. Don't say you don't like something, or that you disagree with something. They will take is you hate them and everyone and will fire you.

What I will take from this is that I will be extremely warry of policies of future companies, I will do better in keeping my thoughts to myself, and just bottle it up. And that I need to be more careful on which managers I can actually trust.

The Galleria location is a very wonderful place to work with busy and slow days. Management has changed recently and in my experience they listen very well when concerns are brought up to them. Things can get a bit overwhelming at times, especially when you have multiple back to back teams, or if you have three separate teams trying to check in at the lobby (which is very small), but overall it’s a great place to work. The vibes in the control room are chill and you can often joke around with your fellow team members while on the job. It’s also one of the few retail level jobs that you will be able to sit down at for most of your shift. Most of the guests who come in are chill and just excited to play the games, but be prepared for all age ranges and people who are high as a kite. That said, if a guest is truly causing you discomfort, such as trying to flirt with you on the job, management will take over the game for you.

In terms of pay, it’s better than a fair amount of entry-level retail jobs, but it could definitely be higher, especially for a guest experience specialist. Benefits such as insurance are only available to full time employees, so if you’re juggling school and work, you won’t receive any of those. If you work the PM shift, you could be working until 2:00AM or until 10:00PM, and you won’t know until the late games either book or don’t.

Overall super solid place to work, just wish the pay was a bit higher.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Team leader 3 salaries reported	$16.67 per hour
Guest service agent 5 salaries reported	$14.80 per hour
Adventure guide 9 salaries reported	$13.83 per hour
Team member 2 salaries reported	$13.50 per hour
Guest environment expert 1 salary reported	$13.25 per hour

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