Turning disaster recovery into an engaging game

I've sat through many disaster recovery training sessions where everyone just wanted to get to the end. That shared boredom made me notice something: what we were doing looked a lot like a board game. I realised I could take the role of game master and guide my team, the players, towards one clear goal: getting the system back.

From boredom to engagement

The change from a dull task to a game surprised me. People who had been half-asleep were suddenly alert, treating the exercise as a game and a competition. Training that had felt like an obligation became a challenge. As game master, my main job was to keep that enthusiasm going and keep everyone involved.

Building a story

To add excitement and unpredictability, I brought in rare and extreme scenarios, such as nuclear war, an asteroid strike or a fictional "Hackerman" breaking into our system. They were far-fetched on purpose. They made the sessions more exciting, and they were meant to push our disaster recovery procedures harder than a routine, scripted outage would.

Serious play

What came out of it was a mix of fun and seriousness. As the team worked through each imaginary disaster, people stayed engaged rather than waiting for the session to end. It fits a simple idea: when learning is enjoyable, people are more likely to take part and remember what they learnt.

Reimagining disaster recovery training as a game turned a traditionally dull exercise into one my team enjoyed. I think this kind of play has a place in preparing teams for real incidents.