[CELL]IVIZATION: The Civilization Video Game Made in Excel

Play in Excel? Yes! All you need is the right project. A while back we talked about Arena.Xlsm, and if we go a bit further back we'll discover a very interesting variant of the relentless XCOM. However, our resident Excel hacker S0lly has had his way once more. The name is [CELL]IVIZATION, and it obviously draws inspiration from the early stages of the original Civilization. That means we don't go to the extreme of using catapults to destroy tanks... but for a spreadsheet, it's not bad at all.

I gave months of my life to the first Civilization, and I regret nothing. Its outdated graphics, its bugs... it doesn't matter. It's an excellent candidate for any retro system, and once you absorb its details, it will be very hard to leave it. The new editions have very positive aspects, and elements that perhaps should be set aside, but the fans' loyalty is absolute. Guides, tricks, strategies, memes, and homages to the Civilization saga don't stop on the Web.

What's next on the list? A code jam, an Excel enthusiast like S0lly, and a variant called [CELL]IVIZATION. After creating graphics engines and simulating ray tracing inside the spreadsheet, a simplified version of the classic strategy game might seem like small potatoes, but nothing could be further from the truth:

Seven different units, including phalanxes, knights, and catapults. City building, different terrain conditions, fog of war and exploration. The big goal? Destroy your opponent, of course. There are no diplomatic victories (in fact, there is no diplomacy) or anything like that. Nor is there what could be called a "modern era," but these are more than logical limitations considering the development environment. All these elements and more will be added in future editions.

The rest? Go to the official page and download a copy. There you'll find additional instructions for running it, and other data such as possible bugs. The [CELL]IVIZATION spreadsheet takes up about eight megabytes, and for compatibility reasons, it is recommended to use an official Microsoft Excel.

Official site: Click here.