I've seen spreadsheets of terrifying size that have demanded years of development and care against anything that could affect its content. However, this spreadsheet stands far above them. Why? Because it's actually a role-playing game with over two thousand enemies, eight “boss battles” and four different endings. The game's name is Arena.Xlsm, and its creator is Cary Walkin, an accountant who knows much more about Excel than he appears.
When someone talks about role-playing games, what comes to mind these days are productions the size of Skyrim, or MMO titles that connect millions of players worldwide... but not this time. The role-playing game we have here today honors the essence of pure and hard RPG, governed by pencil, paper, dice, and imagination. Well, actually you only need imagination, because in Arena.Xlsm, the game's “environment” is none other than Microsoft Excel. Yes, Arena.Xlsm is a spreadsheet, developed by an accountant stationed in Toronto named Cary Walkin.
Features and Content
Arena.Xlsm has over two thousand enemies with various levels of artificial intelligence, pseudo-random items forming more than a thousand combinations and attributes, a total of 31 available spells, fifteen unique items, and 36 achievements. The player must face a total of eight bosses, while the story offers four different endings, depending on the decisions made during the game. The content is generated “procedurally” (yes, the term doesn't exist in Spanish, so bear with us), but some simple graphics have also been introduced in the form of icons.
Compatibility and Development
The only problem with Arena.Xlsm is that its official support seems to be limited to Excel 2007, Excel 2010, and Excel 2013. There's been no luck under LibreOffice or Excel for Mac, and let's not even mention Google Docs. Despite the sharp edges... the guy made a role-playing game in a spreadsheet. Cary took five months to develop Arena.Xlsm, and he did it while studying for an MBA at the Schulich School of Business. He had a lot of experience as an accountant, and therefore in making Excel templates, but he also describes himself as an avid video game fan. Mixing his two passions seemed like the most appropriate step.
Get It and Play
Are you interested in playing it? Head over to his page on itch.io, download the template, and dive into the adventure. If you have questions, you can check out the Wiki, which explains everything you need to know to reach the end of the feat.
