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Meet the Team | Agent Alex

by Louis Cammell

published on

Is it by pure coincidence that Alex came to us around Christmas-time? We think not! He’s exactly who we’d been asking for, so staying on the nice list must have paid off. Alex was President of the Adventure Gaming Society at the University of Kent, where he also completed his Mathematics degree before joining us in a front-of-house role. So when the clueQuest Assessment Programme (CAP) required a head for numbers and a heart for adventure, we were lucky enough to need look no further than right under our noses...

Hi Alex. For how long have you worked at clueQuest?

Hi! I started just before Christmas last year, so coming up on nine months.

 

We understand you’ve recently moved in to a new role at clueQuest. What can you tell us about it? 

Over the last six years we’ve collected a lot of data about our missions, and the way agents complete them, and it’s up to me to sort draw insights from it regarding how decisions are made in the rooms, on both a team and individual level. This will help inform our clueQuest Assessment Program (CAP) going forward. CAP is a great way for teams of colleagues to find out just how well they really work together, and find new ways they can improve their collaborative skills, all while having a great time (and saving the world).

 

Tell us a little about your background. What could have prepared you for such a new and unique job?

Before starting at clueQuest, I studied Mathematics at the University of Kent, giving me a good head for numbers. I’m also a very analytical person, so I look forward to getting in amongst all of that data, and making some sweet, sweet pie charts.*

 

*clueQuest is not responsible for the savoriness of any potential pie charts which may result from this work.

 

As a GamesMaker, what’s your favourite memory from running a game?

I remember a father and son playing our newest mission (cQ:Origenes) a couple of months ago. You could tell as soon as the door opened that they were absolutely in love with the game. There was a moment about a quarter of the way through (no spoilers, but I’m sure you know when if you’ve played the game), when they just couldn’t stop laughing. The two of them just ran around the room, pointing out all of the best bits to one another for a good two minutes. I love all our rooms, but cQ:Origenes definitely has the best set design, and in all my time escaping from rooms, I’ve not seen anything quite like it.

 

Your colleagues have often described you as passionate about the company. If Professor Blacksheep blew up the place tomorrow, what would you miss most about it?

Bah! It’d never happen. I’m confident a team of 2-6 talented agents would swoop in with less than sixty minutes to spare to save all of our skins. Though of course, if we were all blown up, I’d have no excuse to stock up on cheap Pringles from the corner shop across the road. £1.50 for a whole tube! On second thoughts, maybe it would be better for my health if I didn’t have access to vast quantities of cheap salty snacks...

 

What have you learnt from your time here, that you’ll take with you for the rest of your life?

Since working here I’ve come to have a much better appreciation for puzzle design. There’s a surprising amount going on behind the scenes to make things just obscure enough that teams don’t solve things immediately, but logical enough that they get there in the end. I now spot good puzzle design everywhere, in escape rooms, board games and video games.

 

Find out more about the clueQuest Assessment Programme (CAP) by visiting cluequest.co.uk/cap

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