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Gamified Tabletop Exercises

Just like in school, a tabletop exercise is a type of fire drill used by companies to test their disaster recovery plans. EliteSec has gamified the traditional tabletop exercise by introducing randomness through dice rolls, forcing teams to re-evaluate what they thought would work when it doesn't.

Disasters rarely follow the "happy path"

What's Included

Custom scenarios for your company

Gamified randomness through dice rolls

Multiple unique outcomes per scenario

Ransomware Outbreak simulations

Business Email Compromise exercises

Failed System Upgrade scenarios

Social Media Account Takeover drills

Customer Data Compromise responses

Key Benefits

More engaging than standard tabletop exercises

Forces teams to handle unexpected situations

Reusable scenarios with unique outcomes each time

Tests disaster recovery plans beyond the "happy path"

Custom scenario development available

Builds preparedness for real cybersecurity events

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A short call to confirm scope, share a sample report, and outline timelines for Gamified TTX.

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ISO27001:2022 Certified

CREST Accredited

Five Free Re‑tests Included

Sample Reports Available

Exercise Scenarios

Real-world incidents transformed into engaging experiences

Ransomware Attack Simulation

Experience a realistic ransomware incident from detection through recovery, testing your team's response capabilities.

Skills tested: Incident detection, containment, communication, recovery

Data Breach Response

Navigate the complexities of a data breach including legal, regulatory, and customer communication challenges.

Skills tested: Forensics, legal compliance, PR management, notification

Supply Chain Compromise

Respond to a third-party vendor breach affecting your systems and data with cascading impacts.

Skills tested: Vendor management, impact assessment, containment

Insider Threat Detection

Identify and respond to malicious insider activity while maintaining operational continuity.

Skills tested: Detection, investigation, legal considerations, remediation

Gamification Elements

Making security exercises memorable and effective

Team roles with unique objectives and constraints

Real-time decision trees with consequences

Resource management (budget, time, personnel)

Stress events and injects throughout exercise

Scoring system with leaderboards

Post-game analytics and improvement areas

Why Gamified Exercises Work

Engaging format that improves participation

Identify gaps in incident response plans

Build muscle memory for crisis situations

Improve cross-team communication

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about our gamified tabletop exercises — what they are, who should participate, and what to expect.

What is a tabletop exercise?

A tabletop exercise is a structured, discussion-based simulation of an incident — such as a ransomware attack, office impact due to natural disaster, or data breach. Leadership and operational teams walk through a realistic scenario to evaluate decision-making, communication, escalation paths, and incident response readiness.

It is not a technical penetration test — it evaluates people, process, and governance, not just controls.

What is a gamified tabletop exercise?

A traditional tabletop exercise normally follows the pattern of: face a situation, make a decision, assume the decision works, and move on to the next decision. Unfortunately, in a live incident, that assumption isn't always true — not all decisions made during an incident are correct.

At EliteSec, we developed gamified tabletop exercises to combat this. We call it "following the happy path," and we introduce dice rolling with certain decisions to determine if they were successful or not, adding a sense of randomness that mirrors the unpredictability of real incidents.

We're so confident in this approach that our CEO even wrote the book on gamified tabletop exercises.

How is a tabletop exercise different from a penetration test?

A penetration test attempts to exploit technical vulnerabilities. A tabletop exercise simulates how your organization responds after an incident is discovered — focusing on:

Executive decision-making — who decides what, and when.
Legal and regulatory considerations — notification obligations, evidence handling.
Communications strategy — internal and external messaging.
Business continuity — keeping critical operations running.
Third-party coordination — insurers, law enforcement, vendors.

Think of it as testing your incident response muscle memory rather than your firewall.

Who should participate?

Typically:

CISO / Security leadership
CIO / IT leadership
Legal counsel
Communications / PR
HR (if insider scenarios are tested)
Risk / Compliance
Executive leadership (CEO/COO/CFO)

Board participation is highly recommended for mature programs.

What scenarios are commonly tested?

Common scenarios include:

Ransomware attack
Business email compromise (BEC)
Cloud data exposure
Insider threat
Third-party supply chain compromise
Regulatory investigation following breach

Many exercises incorporate adversary behaviors aligned to the MITRE ATT&CK framework for realism.