This page lists some spreadsheets and links for having some fun with Microsoft Excel. You know you are a geek when ... :-)

Spirograph

The spirograph spreadsheet below was originally sent to me by Gary Stringham. He gave me permission to spruce it up a little and post it on this site. Thanks, Gary.

Screenshot

Spirograph for Excel This is a fun little spreadsheet that lets you create a spirograph. Try playing with the slider bar and modifying some of the parameters to change scaling and the number of "spokes". Download the Spirograph (.xls) No Installation, No Macros - Just a simple spreadsheet License: Personal Use Only

Mine Blaster 1000

This game uses only formulas and formatting - no VBA. If you get caught playing it, say that you are trying to learn how to use conditional formatting, and that this game was created specifically to showcase an example of conditional formatting.

Mine Blaster 1000 Take a quick break to try a new game developed exclusively for Excel 2007/2010. Mine Blaster 1000 is similar to Minesweeper, but you are trying to blow up the mines, and your bombs cost money. Can you clear the mine field for under $1000?

Tournament Brackets and Office Competitions

NCAA Bracket and Pool Template Friendly office competitions related to March Madness and other sports tournaments can be a lot of fun. You can download our NCAA March Madness bracket and use the pool worksheet to track different players' picks, and the points earned for guessing correctly are calculated automatically.

Fun Articles and Tricks

• Sudoku Puzzles : Free printable grids for the avid puzzler.
• Easter Eggs - j-walk.com - A list of easter eggs for various versions of Excel.
• Space Invasion - A cool video, created one fram at a time, with Excel.
• Excel Art: 17 Awesome Drawings Made with Microsoft Excel via huffingtonpost.com

Excel Games

There are a bunch of games made for Excel. Most use VBA and some very basic graphics.

• Excel Treasure Hunt by Debra Dalgleish - A fun spreadsheet with an explanation of how it was created.
• Andrew's Games - AndrewsExcelTips.com - Andrew's blog listing the games he has created, including Mastermind, Battleship, Rocket, Excel Snake, and Morse Code.
• Excel Games - www.cpearson.com - X-Ray! is like Minesweeper (the VBA is unprotected - so you can take a look). Mine3D, xlCube, and Excel Bingo (provided by David Hager).