Excel Wizard Forges Elden Ring

A Reddit user, brightyh360, shared an incredible project on the r/excel subreddit: a top-down version of Elden Ring, painstakingly recreated in Microsoft Excel.

This remarkable feat required approximately 40 hours of work—20 hours dedicated to coding and another 20 to rigorous testing and debugging. As brightyh360 stated, "I made the top view version of the Elden Ring in Excel using formulas, spreadsheets and VBA. It was a long project, but the result was worth it.”

The impressive scope of the Excel-based Elden Ring includes:

• A sprawling 90,000-cell map;
• Over 60 weapons;
• More than 50 enemies;
• A fully functional character and weapon upgrade system;
• Three distinct character classes (tank, mage, assassin) with unique playstyles;
• 25+ armor sets;
• Six NPCs with engaging quests;
• Four different game endings.

While entirely free to play, the game utilizes keyboard shortcuts for control: CTRL + WASD for movement and CTRL + E for interactions. Reddit moderators have verified the file's safety, but users are advised to proceed with caution due to the extensive use of macros.

Interestingly, the game's Erdtree sparked a festive comparison to a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Reddit user Independent-Design17 proposed that the Australian Christmas tree, Nuytsia floribunda, may have served as inspiration for the Erdtree's design. They highlighted the striking visual similarity between the in-game Small Erdtrees and the Nuytsia floribunda. Further parallels were drawn by fans, noting the catacombs at the base of the Erdtree in Elden Ring, where souls are guided, mirroring the Aboriginal Australian cultural view of Nuytsia as a "spirit tree," whose vibrant colors and branching structure symbolize the journey and souls of the departed.