ThreatGEN: Red vs. Blue

About

ThreatGEN: Red vs. Blue is a single player and multiplayer casual strategy game. It was developed by ThreatGEN and was released on September 4, 2019. It received very positive reviews from players.

ThreatGEN: Red vs. Blue is a turn-based strategy game that simulates cyber warfare, where players can choose to be either hackers or defenders. This game is designed for those interested in cybersecurity and offers limited support in the Steam consumer edition. Note that this is an educational tool, not just a game, and may be challenging with potentially absent gameplay features.

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Play Modes

+12

Skip User Reviews

90%

Audience ScoreBased on 61 reviews

music1 positive mentions

story2 negative mentions

Provides an engaging and entertaining way to learn about cybersecurity concepts, making it suitable for both beginners and professionals.
Encourages team building and strategic thinking through its Red vs. Blue team gameplay, simulating real-world cybersecurity scenarios.
Offers a unique gamified learning experience that can be used as a training tool in corporate environments, enhancing knowledge in security practices.

Lacks a comprehensive tutorial, making it difficult for players without a background in cybersecurity to understand the gameplay mechanics.
Gameplay can become repetitive and lacks depth after a certain point, leading to a diminished experience over time.
The game has minor bugs and performance issues, which can detract from the overall enjoyment and functionality.

gameplay
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The gameplay is criticized for lacking effective instructional guidance, making it difficult for players to understand how to engage with the game mechanics, despite the presence of detailed guides. While the game successfully presents real-life concepts, the gameplay loop can become repetitive, and some mechanics are buggy; however, the developers are responsive to feedback. Overall, the core gameplay is considered fun and engaging, with players looking forward to future updates, including single-player mode.
- “The mechanics and features sometimes contain a few bugs, but the developers of the game are generally responsive to bug reports over Discord.”
- “It's a shame that the single player isn't available yet, but overall the core gameplay is fun, engaging, and I look forward to spending many more hours in the game!”
- “Without the game portion, it could be just a stylized PDF, and if it wanted to embrace further its tool part, it could've been designed very differently; like a wiki (which it already is) with gameplay elements to facilitate better understanding of concepts.”
- “Without the game portion, it could be just a stylized PDF. If it wanted to embrace its tool aspect further, it could have been designed very differently, like a wiki (which it already is) with gameplay elements to facilitate a better understanding of concepts.”
- “While the game succeeds at presenting real-life concepts, it downright fails to teach you how to play it. There are two rather in-depth looking guides for each team, but they boil down to saying what you can do and what the red team should do to make any progress in the first place, as most of their content still explains what the individual actions would do in real life, which is not what a gameplay guide should contain.”
- “Not even mentioning how quickly the gameplay loop gets old.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The graphics of the game are described as simplistic and not flashy, which some users feel is adequate for its educational purpose. While they are considered good but not exceptional, the focus of the game is on its content rather than visual appeal. Overall, the graphics are appreciated for their functionality, with some users expressing hope for improvements in future iterations.
- “The graphics and music are gorgeous.”
- “Yes, the graphics aren't flashy moving objects; the game is rather simplistic, but I think it is good enough for the purpose.”
- “Fancier graphics, video, etc. would not advance the game's educational mission anyway; they would take extra time and money to develop, bloat the download, and add in more things that can go wrong.”
- “You're not buying this game for the graphics, are you?”
- “Hope they make more with better graphics.”
- “Fancier graphics, video, etc. would not advance the game's educational mission anyway; it would take extra time and money to develop, bloat the download, and add in more things that can go wrong.”
story
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The game lacks a traditional narrative, as its primary focus is on education rather than storytelling. While it may provide some entertainment, the emphasis remains on learning rather than developing a complex plot or character-driven experience.
- “No story.”
- “Fancier graphics, video, etc. would not advance RVB’s educational mission anyway; taking extra time and money to develop would bloat the download and add in more things that can go wrong.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express that the grinding in the game is excessively time-consuming, suggesting that it requires an almost unrealistic commitment, akin to needing a second life to keep up with it.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The grinding feels endless and tedious.”
- “I spent hours grinding, and it felt like I made no progress.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization has been criticized for lacking performance settings, resulting in excessively high frame rates that can overheat GPUs, as there are no built-in limits or v-sync options. This oversight is particularly ironic given the game's focus on performance management.
- “There are no performance settings whatsoever, so the game will happily turn your GPU into an air fryer by generating, at least in my case, over 1000 FPS due to the lack of a built-in limiter or V-Sync. This is ironic for a game that revolves around optimization.”
- “The game runs poorly on mid-range hardware, and the lack of optimization makes it nearly unplayable at times.”
- “I experienced frequent frame drops and stuttering, which is frustrating given the game's potential. It feels like the developers didn't prioritize optimization.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been reported to have some bugs, and users feel that the icons lack sufficient explanation, which may affect overall stability and user experience.
- “The game is a bit buggy, and the icons could use more explanation.”
- “I frequently encounter crashes that disrupt my gameplay experience.”
- “There are numerous glitches that make it hard to enjoy the game fully.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers consistently praise the music, highlighting it as a beautiful and integral part of the game's overall aesthetic.
- “The graphics and music are gorgeous.”