Hobbyist makes playable version of Civilization in Excel

A clever mind has developed a simple version of the strategy game Civilization that can be played in Excel. The game has a 1v1 mode for two players and is already working. In addition, the Excel file is free to download.

[Cell]ivization was created by ‘s0lly’, who recently released version 1.0 of the game for free. He did this to participate in the OLC Codejam 2019. The theme of this competition this year is ‘destruction’. “That’s appropriate, because the only way to win in [Cell]ivization is by destroying the other team,” writes s0lly.

The Excel game still lacks the necessary features. Currently it only supports a simple deathmatch mode for two players. The players move their units with the wasd keys. Players need to be patient, because it takes a few seconds for the moves to be implemented.

In the future, s0lly will add artificial intelligence. Currently, you can only get along with another human opponent. In addition, several civilizations are expected in the future. Other functions are also planned, including diplomacy, science and new raw materials. At this time, players cannot yet own resources.

In addition, the game still contains some bugs. The game breaks if there are no more units present. In addition, it gets stuck if a unit can no longer move. The game is certainly not a replacement for Civilization 5 and 6.

[Cell]ivization is not the first game made entirely in Excel. The spreadsheet software supports Visual Basic, Adobe flash and macros, which can be used to create great games. Several clever minds have previously made playable versions of, for example, Monopoly, puzzle game 2048, Flappy Bird, Angry Birds and XCOM. The games are not so much intended as full-fledged games, but rather as a small pastime. In addition, Excel is of course on almost every workstation. Office workers can therefore quite easily secretly play a game of Flappy Bird.