Microsoft Excel is synonymous with spreadsheets, making tables, creating graphs and spending long hours writing reports of all kinds. This wonderful program from the Office suite has become a standard in the world of work and education. However, anyone who knows Excel knows that it is not the most entertaining program in the world… Or is it? Although many do not know it, from Excel you can also enjoy the best video games.
In today’s article we are going to turn Microsoft’s spreadsheet program into one of your favorite programs. No, we have gone crazy. We are going to share with you a list of the best free games for Excel. Are you ready to have a lot of fun between rows and columns?
1. 2048
2048 is a classic among puzzle games and jigsaw puzzles that you can now enjoy from an Excel sheet. This distant cousin of Sudoku dazzled half the world with its online version thanks to its simple approach and addictive gameplay.
The rules of 2048 are very simple, you just have to join squares with the same number to add them and create a new square. To do this you have to move a square in one of the four directions (up, down, left or right) and see how it swallows all the numbers it finds until it reaches the end of the square. The final goal of the game is to get a square with the number 2048 and although at first it may seem easy, it is a frankly challenging task.
If you want to take a break between Excel cells, why don’t you play 2048 from within the program? You can download the game for free below.
Download 2048 for Excel with anti-boss system
If you like 2048 but you use Excel at the office, don’t worry because we have the perfect game for you. Thanks to this version you will be able to enjoy this entertaining game during your work breaks without receiving any grumbling from your boss. 2048 with anti-boss system incorporates a system so that, with a simple click, your game becomes an Excel page full of formulas and data, so nobody will suspect that you are playing!
2. Scramble (Scrabble)
If you like puzzles and 2048 is not enough for you… Why enjoy a game of Scrabble? Unlike the other games on this list, Scrabble for Excel does not appear directly in the table of your spreadsheet, but opens a new window with the interface of this fun game, making it much easier to work and play at the same time!
In terms of features, Scrabble for Excel is impeccable. The game allows you to compete against an AI and a difficulty level from 1 to 100. It also includes a dictionary, different boards, a timer to measure each turn and even a tool to create anagrams. Its only downside? It’s in English. But if Shakespeare’s language is not a handicap for you, don’t hesitate to try it.
3. Monopoly
Who doesn’t like to take a break and dream of becoming a millionaire by playing a good game of Monopoly? Now you will be able to do this every time you get bored creating Excel spreadsheets. And its creator, Andrew Werner, has spent hours and hours to recreate even the smallest detail of this extraordinary board game.
Monopoly for Excel is a very complete and entertaining version with which up to 4 players will be able to take a break from work and start competing for the control of a city. Buy streets, create your own hotels, go around the board and avoid going to jail. Will you manage to become the tycoon of Excel?
4. Arkanoid
Do you remember Arkanoid? The space video game that revolutionized the formula of the classic brick game is back in a way you never imagined… to Excel! Take control of the Vaus ship once again and face the Dimension Changer while destroying the cells of your spreadsheet. The fun is guaranteed.
Arkanoid for Excel has the game’s emblematic music and can be played both with the keyboard and the mouse. Although the title only has the first 15 levels of the original, it is a perfect diversion for those accounting sessions in front of your PC.
5. Arena.Xlsm
If you like role-playing games and are a fan of the hack and slash genre, you’ll have a great time with Arena.Xlsm. This modest role-playing game offers you to live an epic adventure with 4 different endings and more than 2000 enemies ready to make your life impossible, all this from the Excel spreadsheet!
With 1000 different equipment combinations and over 31 spells to protect you, get ready to survive a bloody battle where only one can remain. Although at first glance the game looks like a colorful version of Minesweeper, Arena.Xlsm is frankly entertaining and worth a try.
6. Candy Number Crunch Saga
Don’t let the name fool you, Candy Number Crunch Saga is not a simple port of Candy Crush on an Excel sheet. It is a hilarious parody in which we take the role of an investor trying to make gold with the IPO of the company King. Will you manage to get rich and not have to use Excel anymore or will you go down with the company?
Novel, fun and refreshing, Candy Number Crunch Saga is a comic game, with all kinds of bizarre situations that will make you laugh a good time and forget about the cells and formulas of the calculation program. It is undoubtedly a perfect diversion if you ever played Candy Crush and want to have some fun investing in the stock market.
7. CellSweeper
CellSweeper is a fun dungeon crawler with roguelike touches clearly inspired by one of the old Windows companions. No, we’re not talking about Clippy, we’re talking about Minesweeper!
In CellSweeper we will go through a dangerous dungeon with our brave hero. To create him we will be able to choose between six different classes and also select the difficulty level we want to face. As we venture through the gloomy dungeon we will find all kinds of enemies to defeat. Do you dare to try?
8. Tetris
Tetris is a title that needs no introduction. Who hasn’t spent hours and hours fitting blocks together and making rows disappear in this classic video game? Now you’ll be able to recover that challenging gameplay with Excel and, although it may not look as attractive as the original, it is just as fun.
To play, you simply need to move the pieces and shapes that appear on the screen and form rows to make them disappear and earn points. As we go through the levels, things will get more complicated and it will be much more difficult to survive the rain of shapes. Ideal for killing time from Excel!
9. 3D Maze
If you thought that Excel cells and columns were only useful for entering data or creating graphs, pie charts or bar charts, you’re wrong! With 3D Maze you will be able to create dungeons and labyrinths of the caliber of titles such as Ultima Underground or Eye of the Beholder. Okay, maybe they are not as spectacular or fun, but they are frankly pleasant to disconnect a little from the boredom of Excel.
Dive into spreadsheets and use your computer’s crosshairs to move through a maze in your own productivity program. 3D Maze is fun, casual and frankly offers a well-deserved break between Excel formulas.
How to install and play Excel games
In order to install and play any Excel game you will need to download its XLS file and open it from the spreadsheet program. In some cases the game is displayed directly while in others you will have to follow some brief on-screen instructions, which usually involve clicking on a cell or activating an additional option such as macros.
Turn Excel into your video game console
We hope you liked our selection of titles to play from Excel. Would you like to get more free video games without installing anything? We recommend that you take a look at our selection of the best free games to play from your browser. And remember, if you liked what you read, don’t forget to share it with your friends through social networks.
