Case Study: Minecraft – Villager Rescue

Canada Water, London

The Project

We were proud to support Minecraft: Villager Rescue at Canada Water, London, providing staffing throughout the full run of this highly interactive immersive experience. Built around one of the world’s best-loved video games, the exhibition welcomed a large and enthusiastic audience, many of them young Minecraft fans experiencing the game’s world in physical form for the first time. That brought a very different energy to the space compared to a typical exhibition; visitors weren’t just observing; they were exploring, solving puzzles, and taking part in the story as they moved through it.

Delivering that kind of experience well meant the client needed staff who could do more than manage a queue or point people in the right direction. They needed people who could deliver excellent customer service, keep operations running smoothly behind the scenes, and genuinely bring the Minecraft world to life for visitors of every age, from young children to lifelong fans.

With high daily footfall, long operating days, and constant guest interaction built into the experience, the client needed a staffing partner who could provide energetic, confident teams they could rely on day after day, without any dip in enthusiasm as the run wore on. Our role was to supply experienced staff who could integrate seamlessly into the exhibition team and help create a fun, engaging experience for visitors of all ages, whatever the day’s crowd looked like.

Our Approach

Our teams worked across front desk operations, ticket scanning, photo opportunities, gallery spaces, and the on-site retail shop, supporting guests from arrival through to exit. At the front desk and ticket scanning points, staff set the tone for the whole visit, making sure entry was quick and friendly even when queues built up during busy periods. Through the gallery spaces, staff guided visitors through the experience while maintaining high energy levels and a welcoming atmosphere throughout, helping bring the story and world of Minecraft to life rather than simply directing foot traffic.

Retail staff played an important part in delivering friendly, efficient service that supported the overall visitor journey rather than sitting apart from it. For many families, the shop was the natural final stop after an energetic visit, and keeping that experience just as smooth and welcoming as the rest of the exhibition mattered to how visitors remembered the day as a whole.

Interactivity was central to this exhibition, so it shaped how we selected and trained our teams from the outset. Staff were chosen for their enthusiasm and confidence as much as their reliability, with the ability to engage directly with visitors, answer questions about the world and characters, and sustain energy levels throughout long operating days. That combination kept the experience feeling genuinely immersive and enjoyable at every stage, rather than just well-run from an operational standpoint.

Delivery at Scale

Staffing an exhibition of this scale required careful planning, strong communication, and scheduling that the client could depend on completely. Across the full run, we delivered:

* 69,887 staffing hours
* 6,497 shifts completed
* 99.45% attendance rate

Those figures reflect one of the largest and longest-running projects we’ve supported, and the scale brought its own challenges. With thousands of shifts to fill across multiple roles, even a small drop in attendance could quickly translate into a visible gap on the exhibition floor. Maintaining a 99.45% attendance rate across a run of this length meant it never became an issue, and the client could plan with confidence, knowing coverage would be there whatever the day brought.

That level of reliability meant the exhibition ran smoothly every day, including during its busiest periods, without gaps in cover across either the exhibition floor or retail operations. Regular communication with the client throughout the run allowed us to adjust staffing levels in response to real visitor demand, keeping the experience consistently well-staffed without over- or under-resourcing at any point.

Results and Outcomes

The result was a dynamic, memorable visitor experience, delivered by a team that understood the importance of interaction, energy, and genuine customer service throughout a long and demanding run. By providing dependable, high-energy staff across both exhibition and retail operations, we played a key part in the overall success of Minecraft: Villager Rescue, supporting the client’s objectives and the visitor experience in equal measure, from opening day through to close.

For the client, that meant a staffing partner capable of matching the scale and energy the exhibition demanded, without compromise, across nearly 6,500 shifts. For visitors, it meant an experience that felt just as engaging, well-run, and full of energy on any given day of the run, whether that was a quiet weekday morning or the busiest school holiday afternoon.