Flight Simulators for Crisis Teams: What Actually Happens in Our Games

Pilots don’t learn from manuals. Surgeons don’t operate on assumptions. So why do we expect crisis teams to prepare with checklists?

When I tell people what we do, they often look confused. “You run games for crisis teams? Like board games?”

Flight simulators changed how pilots train. Before them, learning to fly meant hoping you’d never face a situation you hadn’t practiced. Now? You can drop into a wind shear (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_shear) at 500 feet and walk away knowing exactly what to do. Not because someone told you. Because you’ve done it before.

That’s what crisis games do for your team.

What Actually Happens #

Here’s what a session looks like. You and your team sit down. I set the scene: “Your systems are down. Ransomware is spreading. You’ve got a call from your CEO coming in 10 minutes.”

Then the game starts.

I play the outside world. Phone calls come in. Your IT team reports the spread is accelerating. The press is calling. Your compliance officer wants to know if you have to report yet.

Your team makes decisions. Every few minutes, something happens and you have to choose: contain the systems or keep them running? Call the regulators now or wait for more info? Pay the ransom or try to recover?

No slides. No lecture. No one reading from a playbook. You’re in it.

After about two hours (some games can last longer, but our short format is two hours), we stop. We talk about what worked, what fell apart, where the gaps are. That’s the debrief. That’s where the learning happens.

Why This Beats Traditional Training #

Your plan is theory. Practice is what saves you.

In a tabletop, you discuss what might happen. In our game, you make decisions when it’s actually happening. You feel the pressure. You see how your team actually communicates when stakes are high. You find out who’s going to freeze and who’s going to lead.

That’s the gap: your plan isn’t your capability.

Who This Is For #

If you’re a Swiss SME leader who takes cyber seriously, this is for you. Not the checkbox kind of serious. The kind where you actually want to know: if crisis hits today, will my team actually perform?

You don’t need to be big. You don’t need a dedicated security team. You just need a team that might face a crisis and want to find out if they’re ready before it’s real.

Your Next Step #

If any of this resonates, let’s talk. Book an Intro Call. It’s 15 minutes. No pitch, no obligation. We’ll figure out if we’re a good fit.

Practice like it’s real. Decide with confidence.

CrisisGames. Kaos approved.