ThreatGEN: Red vs. Blue

From dev post on discord dated — 12/07/2023: [quote=n4mely (Greg) (Developer)] the Steam version has been discontinued (it will no longer receive updates past 1.10, you'll have to buy the professional version off threatgen.com/pricing/ which is offered as a subscription) [/quote] This is not reflected on a store page in any shape or form.

Edit 12/17/2020 The balance switched to Red and the UI is slightly improved since I last played, but that sort of thing would only matter if this was a game worth playing to begin with. Now that they have split the game into tiers, it's easy to see that the professional versions are where the good training stuff lives (but it costs way more and requires 10 licenses minimum). So, I firmly reinstate that you should only purchase this stripped version if you are in cybersecurity education but can't afford the real thing and want a sneak peak. Gamification is a noble endeavor, but I think it should actually be a good game before heaping praise on it. It's more game-ish than game. Strategy gamers will quickly notice that what's going on in the background doesn't leave much room for actual strategy. Release Review: Before you purchase this, you should know that there isn't much more here than a proof of concept. It could be very cool in the future, but there isn't much depth to the game ...

I have over 20+ years in the IT field and 15+ years in Information Security or Cyber Security. Experience from desktop support, server support, setting up networks, configuring firewalls and hours upon hours of standing on server room floors when a configuration change went sideways. Now I work in Risk Management and Governance Risk Compliance implementing the NIST RMF and now CSF. I have also worked as an IT Auditor and Security Controls Assessor. I haven't read too many of the comments but I would understand if reviewers first impressions of the game as "overly simplistic" or "not reality". And I cannot argue the first point but I would not discount the game as learning tool. What this game provides, at it's essence, and captures is the constant challenge or struggle the IT industry faces on a day to day basis. IE patch management; social engineering; SDLC; etc. These simplistic actions teach good fundamentals for aspiring STEM students or adults considering a career chang...

First, this is not a game [i]per se[/i] – [b]education[/b] is its primary mission, and if you have a packet of fun while learning, all the better. Reading the manual and existing community guides was [i]necessary[/i], but not [b]sufficient[/b] – I had to experiment, and make my own mistakes. Although there’s been a bit of a learning curve, I obviously like ThreatGEN:Red vs Blue (RvB) enough to put 260-odd hours into it (as of this writing). It’s a fun, deep experience that rarely plays the same way twice – and well worth the price. Your role is either attacking a network (Red Team), or defending (Blue Team). Either way, you have limited resources, and must make tradeoffs under that constraint (Do I install a VPN, or harden the terminal server? Do I attack a machine now, or prepare a covert attack and research some class of vulnerability to boost my chances later?), while not knowing exactly what the opposition is up to. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said “Perfection is ac...

I just finished reading previous reviews and there is not much else to write. Personally I am grateful that games like these exist, because it provides an entertaining way to learn cyber security. Yes, the graphics aren't flashy moving objects, the game is rather simplistic, but I think it is good enough for the purpose. I have mostly played as Blue team in Single player, completed all 3 levels and won all 3 by Weathering the storm. Now why am I recommending this game? In my opinion, it is a great starting point, if you want to decide whether to get into Cyber Security or not. For me as someone with a background in IT it was not too hard, but sometimes it revealed what I need to refresh my memory on or study again. I will certainly try the professional version, since Im curious to see what changed in the latest version (I am not paid to write this).

I want to first say I really like this game. It is a lot of fun and you can learn a lot of valuable cyber security skills without even realizing it. Anyone who works in cybersecurity really should give this game a try. With all that said this game is still very young and has quite a few issues including a lot of bugs. I think this game will get a lot better over time and the creators are very open to feedback and changes. I would say if you are even slightly curious what goes into cybersecurity from a red team or blue team perspective this is the game to get!

I can quite easily recommend this game as something to learn cyber security. In it's current state, 1.1.2 you can learn some basic concepts behind red team and get a look into how this would be managed by blue team. If your an absolute beginner to cyber security then this will give you a few ideas to go off and learn more about yourself until the game starts getting deeper into the issues it wants to teach which i'm sure it will, making this a game to keep an eye on. As for the actual game itself, there can be a lot of back and forth between the two teams when specifically the red team is played properly. There is always a way for red team to get in through SE (Social engineering) but once all the vulnerabilites have been patched out it does get increasingly difficult for red team, otherwise for red team the early game is entertaining, especially if you win remarkably quickly.

I've never come across a game quite like this on Steam and I thought it was pretty great. Some of the critcisms of the negative reviews are right on the money - There's no tutorial and you won't be able to just jump into the game without a cybersecurity background, but for someone with an understanding of the field you will have fun with the Blue side. The Red side is lacking. As a game it's not very fun or engaging (there are other, much better hacking simulators out there), but if playing with a friend the Red team could be a lot more fun. I recommend for cybersecurity learners (or professionals, if you're the sort that would drive a truck all day at work then head home to play EuroTruck Simulator to unwind.)

Disclaimer: I purchased the Steam version of Red vs. Blue at retail, played it a lot, volunteered as a beta tester (unpaid), and later received a free copy of the Pro version. I love this game. That being said, if you don't like turn-based strategy games and are not professionally interested in cybersecurity, then it's not for you. [b]This is not your regular hacking game.[/b] [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Red vs. Blue simulates a conflict between an attacker (Red) and a defender (Blue) to illuminate the strategy behind cybersecurity programs. Players take turns spending action points on their own tech tree/menu of a few dozen actions. Blue's actions typically also cost money. Red wins either by damaging Blue's industrial control systems or by causing a sufficient economic loss. Blue wins either by surviving to the end of the game or by gathering enough threat intelligence to put Red away for good. You can play against an AI or against other humans (hot-seat or Internet). The current AI (the...

Very good game, can't wait for my lecturer of cybersecurity play with me :)