A literature study has identified the major impacts of importantdesign choices in simulation models and simulation-games that model criticalinfrastructure resilience. The four major groups of design choices discussed inthis article are: (1) the chosen learning goal (system understanding or collaborationtraining), (2) realism and time scale of the scenario, (3) design of playerroles and communication rules, (4) number of action alternatives, replay-abilityand richness of performance feedback while playing. Researchers and practitionerswho build simulation-games for studying critical infrastructure resiliencecan use the accumulated insights on these four aspects to improve the quality oftheir game design and the quality of the simulation models the game participantsinteract with.