Rogue artificial intelligence traps a group of unsuspecting humans in downtown Nashville for testing. Nearby, a spaceship launches into Earth's orbit, and a potential nuclear power plant catastrophe must be navigated.
Those scenarios aren't plots from a science fiction movie. They are just a few of the challenges players will face once Florida entertainment company TM Operations opens its largest "real life video game" venue yet in Nashville this December.
Time Mission, a quickly growing social gaming company, will debut its first Tennessee location in a 12,000 square-feet venue at Cummins Station where groups can compete in a variety of narrative-driven missions including physical speed, memory, puzzle-solving and other obstacles. Hiring begins
in October, and the space will open to the public by the end of 2026.
"We'll have 28 different rooms, and the experience in each room lasts three to five minutes with a different type of challenge, all set in a different place and time," TM Operations Managing Partner David Larson said. "The closest thing that people understand is an escape room, but Time Mission is quite different from that."
While patrons of an escape room are trapped in a space for roughly 60 minutes with a singular goal of getting out, Larson said Time Mission offers dozens of competitive games that customers can spend up to two hours playing.
TM Operations partners have backgrounds in hospitality and family entertainment. The company is the second to open and operate Time Mission locations, which Larson said is allowing them to skip the testing phase and jump straight into expansion.
"We're hoping that by the end of 2028 there will be 25 Time Mission locations across the United States," Larson said.
The plan is to open four more next year, including in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia. For now, though, all of the company's focus is on Nashville, and from Larson's perch in Florida, he said it's where everyone wants to be.
"As soon as you say Nashville, everybody perks up and gets excited," he said. "Nashville is known for entertainment. There seems to be a void that we're going to be able to fill there because it doesn't seem like there's many options for year-round activities for all ages."
Over the last two years, several companies have opened venues in Nashville focused around games and entertainment, from Hooky's bowling alley and games in Nashville Yards to Play Playground's interactive gaming bar on Lower Broadway and Tiger Woods' mini golf course in Antioch.
Still, the partners at TM Operations are confident there's enough demand for Time Mission to fill.
“Cummins Station unlocked exactly what we were looking for in establishing an exciting and accessible destination in Nashville,” Chief Finance Officer Michael Greene said in a statement. “The size and scale of Time Mission Nashville is a testament to our confidence in the location and our belief that Music City will embrace the concept.”
Hadley Hitson covers business news for The Tennessean. She can be reached at hhitson@tennessean.com. To support her work,subscribe to The Tennessean.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Time Mission bringing 'real-life video game' experience to Nashville
