CyberGuardian: A Role-Playing Educational Game for Learning Cryptographic Primitives in Authentic Cybersecurity Scenarios
Shan Huang, Geoffrey L. Herman, Alan T. Sherman · 2025
CyberGuardian is an interactive educational game that introduces students to foundational concepts in cybersecurity through authentic scenarios. Specifically, the game teaches students about cryptographic primitives and adversarial thinking. Targeted at students without computer science backgrounds, the game immerses players in practical cybersecurity challenges using simplified technical concepts. Players assume the role of a cybersecurity advisor, providing guidance to simulated clients and analyzing authentic messages to assure confidentiality, data integrity, and authentication through three cryptographic primitives: symmetric encryption, asymmetric encryption, and digital signature. Implemented as a single-player offline experience on Mac and Windows, CyberGuardian is scalable and broadly available.