A Reddit user, brightyh360, shared an incredible project on the r/excel subreddit: a top-down version of Elden Ring, painstakingly crafted within Microsoft Excel.
This remarkable feat required approximately 40 hours of dedicated work—20 hours for coding and another 20 for testing and debugging. As brightyh360 stated, the game was built using formulas, spreadsheets, and VBA. The result, they claim, was well worth the extensive effort.
The impressive scope of this Excel-based Elden Ring includes:
- A sprawling 90,000-cell map;
- Over 60 weapons;
- More than 50 enemies;
- Character and weapon upgrade systems;
- Three distinct character classes (tank, mage, assassin) with unique play styles;
- 25+ armor sets;
- Six NPCs with associated quests;
- Four different game endings.
While completely free to play, controlling the game requires keyboard shortcuts: CTRL + WASD for movement and CTRL + E for interactions. Reddit moderators have verified the file's safety, but users are advised to exercise caution due to the significant number of macros.
Interestingly, the game's Erdtree sparked a Christmas Eve discussion among Elden Ring fans, with some likening it to a Christmas tree. User Independent-Design17 suggested the Australian Christmas tree, Nuytsia floribunda, as a possible inspiration. They pointed out striking similarities between the in-game Small Erdtrees and the Nuytsia, extending beyond superficial resemblance. The connection deepens when considering the game's catacombs located at the Erdtree's roots, mirroring the Aboriginal Australian cultural view of Nuytsia as a "spirit tree," where departed souls are believed to reside, reflected in its vibrant sunset hues and individual flowering branches representing each soul.
