Crushing Depths: Building a Story-Mode CTF for RSET Kochi on CYBERCOM

Most CTF platforms present challenges as a flat list. Crushing Depths needed something different: a storyline that players move through, where progress in the challenges is progress in the story.

RSET Kochi ran it as a story-mode CTF on CYBERCOM, with challenges written to belong to the narrative rather than sit beside it.

Story arcs group challenges into ordered chapters. A chapter unlocks for every team the moment any team solves the one before, so the whole field moves through the story together. A combined progress bar shows how far the story has come, and locked chapters show what has to be solved first.

Branch points let the story split. Participants vote on which branch goes live, so the crowd shapes how the story unfolds. Scoring bonuses, including the bonus for the first team to solve a story finale, can be retuned during the event without a redeploy.

Crushing Depths shows what a custom CTF can be when the platform is ours: the systems are built into the engine, so an event can have its own mechanics instead of fitting a standard template. It is the same engine that runs our competitions, skill assessments and team-engagement programs.