Programmer Recreates Civilization Using Microsoft Excel




/ 5 years ago
civilization microsoft excel

If Sid Meier’s Civilization has taught me anything, it’s that the game has a very deep level of complexity. One that is easy to learn, but very difficult to master. Oh, and that Mahatma Gandhi is a warmongering lunatic who rather than pushing the big red nuclear button, prefers instead to spam it!

In a report via PCGamesN, however, one person has managed to recreate the original 1991 release. While that, in itself, might not sound too impressive, what if I told you that they did this using only Microsoft Excel?… Yes, the spreadsheet tool!

Civilization Recreated in Microsoft Excel

The person, known only as ‘Solly’ has revealed their game design with a video showing the game running within Microsoft Excel. Although he openly admits that it is in a rather basic form at the moment, it is still amazingly impressive that this was possible within a software program designed for anything but gaming! I mean, did you ever have anything close to fun while using Excel?

The concept is his entry to the OLC (One Lone Coder) jam competition and, based on what we can see, he’s got a good chance of winning!

What Do We Think?

At the time of writing the game works under the basic ‘destruction’ premise. So, for me at least, on the plus side, there’s none of that diplomacy business to bother about! Solly has, however, said that if the public show interest in it, he’ll be more than happy to continue the work. Specifically to look to add more features from the original release.

It’s certainly ambitious, but you have to applaud the clearly huge amount of effort this required. He must know his way around a spreadsheet for sure! I wonder if he’ll consider doing my tax return next year?…

What do you think? Are you impressed with the work here? Are you amazed that this was even possible? – Let us know in the comments!


Topics: , , , , ,

Support eTeknix.com

By supporting eTeknix, you help us grow and continue to bring you the latest newsreviews, and competitions. Follow us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram to keep up with the latest technology news, reviews and more. Share your favourite articles, chat with the team and more. Also check out eTeknix YouTube, where you'll find our latest video reviews, event coverage and features in 4K!

Looking for more exciting features on the latest technology? Check out our What We Know So Far section or our Fun Reads for some interesting original features.

eTeknix Facebook eTeknix Twitter eTeknix Instagram eTeknix Instagram
  • Be Social With eTeknix

    Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Reddit RSS Discord Patreon TikTok Twitch
  • Features


Send this to a friend
})