Now Hiring · Athens, GA

Get paid to make someone’s night unforgettable.

We’re hiring Game Hosts at Escape The Space. You’ll open the building, prep and reset the rooms, run the game from a tablet, and be the reason a birthday or first date turns into a story.

No escape-room experience needed. But please read this whole page before you apply, because the job is more hands-on than it looks, and every host runs their own room and their own clients independently.

Apply Now, takes 4 minutes Text us: 706-389-5931

$15/hr

Starting pay

Direct deposit, every 2 weeks.

Flexible

Around your life

Pick weekly shifts. We work around classes.

Free Play

Every new room launch

We launch a new room about four times a year. Play it free with your friends off the clock, or play it with the crew on the clock and get paid for it.

$50

Retention bonus

Stick with us 6 months and earn extra, plus a raise 6 months later.

A shift, start to finish

This is the actual job, not a summary of it. Every shift runs these three stretches.

1 · Before the clients arrive

Open and prep

Unlock the building, power it up, set both thermostats, dock and empty the vacuum
Build the room for that exact group: count the party, set the right number of puzzle sections, lock every box, chalk the ones they won’t use, hide a birthday card if it’s a celebration
Inspect the whole room, sometimes down on your hands and knees, every lock, prop, clue, and corner, for cleanliness and clarity
Clean a restroom, reset the Gaming Lobby, then get outside and handle parking before the first car pulls in

2 · While they play

Run the room

Greet the group, walk them in, explain the rules, play the intro and start the clock
One full hour with the group: usually on a tablet with over-ear headphones on, and once or twice a month on your feet inside the room with them. High energy either way
Check in roughly every 15 minutes. Read the group’s energy and give the hint that helps without stealing the win
Keep the answer key open and follow it. Never guess, never go from memory
Between check-ins, stage the finish: win and lose signs, wristbands, lockers
For that full hour you are 100% responsible for the clients inside a locked room. No social media, no naps, no distractions. They are relying on you to be focused and aware the entire time

3 · After they escape

Photos, reset, close

Be at the door when it opens, walk them out loud and happy, and take the win/lose photos on our camera phone
Print the 2×3, stick it on the photo wall, upload the digital set, provide them their password before they drive off, then post to social
Reset the escape room they just played, putting every clue back exactly where it belongs (plenty of bending and kneeling), then power down that room’s electronics and reset the Gaming Lobby for the next group
Clean the facility, set the exit temps, check all five exterior doors, file the End of Shift Report, lock up

Read this part twice

What the job asks of you

We would rather you rule yourself out here than find out in week two. Every line below is a normal part of a normal shift.

Physically

Up and moving for most of the shift, though not all of it. Hosting is usually done sitting in a comfortable chair watching a tablet. Prep, resets, cleaning and closing are on your feet, and once or twice a month you may run a room from inside it, standing the whole hour.
Bending, kneeling, crouching, and reaching overhead to reset locks, props, and puzzle walls, several times a night.
Lifting, carrying, and moving things: props, furniture, supplies, chairs, and the Gaming Lobby games.
Careful hand work against a clock: small padlocks, combination dials, zip ties, magnets, batteries, chalk, and cables, reset exactly right while the next group is on the way.
Real cleaning, every single shift: a restroom, floors, dust, trash, and the vacuum tray. This is not occasional.
Dim rooms, sound effects, and headphones for an hour at a stretch.
Nights, weekends, and holidays. Our busiest hours are when everyone else is off, including football Saturdays, Halloween, and New Year’s Eve.

Mentally

You have to be strongly independent. Sometimes you are the only person in the building. When someone else is on, they are running their own room and their own clients, so nobody is standing there handing you the next task.
Detail is the whole job. One lock left open or one prop in the wrong spot ruins the game for the group that paid for it. “Close enough” does not exist here.
Learn three rooms’ worth of puzzles and still check the answer key on every reset, every time.
Judgment in the moment: reading a group through a camera and a headset and deciding when to step in.
Steady with people who are frustrated, overwhelmed, running late, loud, or pushing back on the rules. You stay warm anyway.
Comfortable with our tech: tablet, staff app, camera phone, photo printer, smart buttons, thermostats.
On time, every time. A host who is late is a group that cannot start. Reliability is the single thing we cannot coach.

These are the essential functions of the role. If you can do them with a reasonable accommodation, you are welcome here, just tell us what you need and we will talk it through.

Be honest with yourself

This job is probably not for you if:

You are looking for a job where you can do homework or sit on your phone between tasks. Downtime is chore time.
Cleaning bathrooms and floors is a dealbreaker.
You want someone to tell you what to do next.
You mainly need weekday mornings.
Following a written procedure exactly, every time, feels like too much.
Being the only person in the building makes you uneasy. It does happen.

Still here? Then you may be exactly who we are looking for, and we would love to meet you.

Who tends to crush this job

Grad students Camp counselors Motivated college students Theater / improv Criminal justice majors Psychology majors Anyone energized by people

The common thread is not personality, it is self-direction. The people who thrive here walk into an empty building and know what needs doing.