5 Fun Excel Models for Fridays

With August coming to a close and the summer slowdown reaching its final nadir, it’s hard to focus on deal making right now. You find your mind drifting to the long weekend — nice weather, barbecues, and maybe even a short trip away. It doesn’t help that most everyone else is mentally checked out as well.

While you may still be in the office, why not  spend your time learning new Excel models and tricks? Not new iterations of DCF models —  but  Mine Blaster 1000, beautiful pictures of Japanese landscape, or a fully-functional role-playing game. Below are some of the most entertaining models we found.

Roll some dice:

Have you ever found yourself wishing you had a pair of virtual dice? Well, wish no more. The first model you can build is a simple dice roller in Excel. Using functions, like RANDBETWEEN or IF AND statements, you could run probability models — or just play Yahtzee.

Here is a step-by-step tutorial

Mine Blaster 1000:

Rolling dice too boring for you? Then check out Mine Blaster 1000, a game written entirely with formulas. Reminiscent of Minesweeper, Mine Blaster 1000 has users blowing up mines — but each bomb costs money. Compete with a co-worker to see who can clear the mine field for less money.

Download the game here

Arena.Xlsm:

Cary Walkin disliked the idea of building a game entirely with formulas. As such, the accountant decided to build Arena.Xlsm, an entire RPG (role-playing game) made out of spreadsheets and macros.  The game is so intricate that it offers over 2000 possible enemies, 12 pre-programmed arenas, and 4 alternative endings.

Download it here

Make some beautiful art:

If you are not a gamer, don’t worry, there’s plenty you can do with Excel outside of building games. Take, for example, Tatsuo Horiuchi, a 73-year-old Japanese artist who designs vibrant pieces of  landscape art with Excel’s autoshapes tool. After seeing some of his coworkers using Excel to build intricate financial models, the creative Horiuchi began using the program to create art.

View more of his designs here

Make a TMNT gif:

This last model is our favorite. Credit to the noble Excel warrior who ventured to make this gif of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Wonder how they animated it? Each sheet has a slightly different image so that, when cycled through, they create the twirling nunchucks, waving bandanas, and blinking eyes.