Analyzing the Implications of Design Choices in Existing Simulation-Games for Critical Infrastructure Resilience

A literature study has identified the major impacts of important design choices in simulation models and simulation-games that model critical infrastructure resilience. The four major groups of design choices discussed in this article are: (1) the chosen learning goal (system understanding or collaboration training), (2) realism and time scale of the scenario, (3) design of player roles and communication rules, (4) number of action alternatives, replay-ability and richness of performance feedback while playing. Researchers and practitioners who build simulation-games for studying critical infrastructure resilience can use the accumulated insights on these four aspects to improve the quality of their game design and the quality of the simulation models the game participants interact with.