Our Intrepid Reporter: Can you tell me what led you to the maintenance role?
Rio: I’ve always been very interested in DIY. My dad is a carpenter by trade, so he has a huge workshop in my childhood home, and he brought me and my sister into his obsession with tools and building things. There was many an hour spent in his workshop, building little boats to sail in the local lake and helping him fix up his bike.
I also grew up in a very small town, so we didn’t have any financial support when it came to the local drama club - we had to do everything basically by hand! Even when I went to performing arts high school the course I was on had practically no funding, meaning when I wanted props and set design, I had to get really creative on very short notice! So I’ve got experience in creative problem solving with interesting and few tools.
OIR: What does a day in the life of the clueQuest maintenance assistant look like?
Rio: Let’s walk it through! The first half hour of a shift is spent in the back office prepping through the day. I figure out which order tasks should be done in, including which escape rooms are being used for missions by agents so I know where is free. Then I move onto fixing things that have gone wrong, like REDACTED in Revenge of the Sheep, or opening up the REDACTED in cQ:Origenes. Then there are days where there isn’t that much to do, and so my work is focused on improving the items that are already in the rooms so that everything runs as smoothly as possible for gamesmakers and agents.
I also spend a lot of time organising, coming up with systems that will make sure that the rest of the workshop team and eventually gamesmakers have an easier time location tools, figuring out what screws to use, et cetra - and that’s a huge job!
(Rio is not pictured in this image!)
OIR: What’s been your favourite aspect of the job so far?
Rio: I really enjoy working independently - I love being responsible for my own time!
OIR: What’s been your most challenging fix so far?
Rio: I managed under guidance one night to rewire a section of cQ:Origenes. A light had gone out because the LED wires weren’t connected to the correct circuit board, so I had to bring in all of the soldering iron equipment into the room at eight pm - it all worked out in the end!
OIR: You used to be a gamesmaker, and still run games occasionally! What have you carried over from your time as a gamesmaker to this new role?
Rio: Being a gamesmaker involves being organised. I definitely have systems when I reset rooms! I think the discipline of cleaning and maintaining workstations as well is something I’ve definitely brought over. And you need to be organised to be in this position because if you put your tool down somewhere and need it three days later, you need to know exactly where it is, if you’re going to avoid time looking around for it!
OIR: Do you have any tips for future teams who are coming to clueQuest to partake in a mission?
Rio: I recommend as a general rule that if something is moving on its own, you should let it finish before you interact with it - don’t let the stress and excitement and adrenaline get the best of your brain and start fiddling with the motors!
If you'd like to come to see the fruit's of Rio's labour, why not book your experience at cluequest now!