🎮 Office Game - Hack&Roll 2026

A fully playable arcade game collection built entirely in Microsoft Excel VBA! Battle through classic Pong with dynamic barriers and cracking walls, then unlock a bonus Flappy Bird game through an epic egg-hatching cutscene.

🎯 Project Overview

This project was created for Hack&Roll 2026 (24-hour hackathon) and showcases the unexpected power of Excel as a gaming platform. No external libraries, no game engines—just pure VBA magic!

Games Included:

1. Pong - Classic paddle game with modern twists
2. Flappy Bird - Navigate through pipes with pixel-perfect collision
3. Animated Cutscene - Smooth transition animation between games

✨ Features

Pong Game

• 🏓 Classic Paddle Mechanics - Move up/down to keep the ball in play
• 🧱 Dynamic Barriers - Obstacles spawn and degrade over time
  • 2-4 cell variable lengths
  • Horizontal & vertical orientations (80% vertical spawn rate)
  • Health-based color degradation
• 🧱 Breakable Wall System - Hit the wall 5 times to break through
  • Progressive crack visualization
  • 2-cell thick wall with individual cell damage
• 🎨 Ball Trail Effect - Smooth motion trail behind the ball
• 📈 Difficulty Scaling - Ball speed increases over time
• 🐉 Pixel Art Dragon - Hand-drawn boss behind the wall

Flappy Bird Game

• 🐦 Smooth Flight Mechanics - Gravity + flap physics
• 🎨 Custom Pipe Design - Hand-drawn pipe pixel art (replicated from template)
• 📊 Score Tracking - Points for each pipe passed
• ⚡ Adjustable Difficulty - Configurable gap size, speed, and spawn rate
• 🎮 One-Button Control - Simple flap button gameplay

Cutscene Animation

• 🥚 Egg Hatching Sequence:
  1. Ball flies to center stage
  2. Ball grows into egg (1x1 → 2x2 → 3x3 → oval)
  3. Cracks appear progressively
  4. Egg shakes and explodes
  5. Bird emerges and flies
• 💥 Wall Explosion - Wall pieces fly outward with physics (gravity + velocity)
• 🎬 Smooth Frame Animation - Cell-based flipbook animation

🎮 How to Play

Setup

1. Open PongGame.xlsm in Microsoft Excel (macros enabled)
2. Go to the Menu sheet
3. Click "Start Game" to begin Pong

Pong Controls

• Up Button (or click cell) - Move paddle up
• Down Button (or click cell) - Move paddle down
• Objective: Hit the wall 5 times to break through and win!

Flappy Bird Controls

• FLAP Button - Make the bird jump
• Objective: Navigate through pipes and get the highest score!

Game Flow

Menu → Pong → Wall Breaks → Explosion Animation → 
Egg Hatching → Bird Emerges → Flappy Bird → Game Over → Menu

🏗️ Technical Architecture

File Structure

PongGame.xlsm
├── Sheets
│   ├── Menu (Game selection)
│   ├── Pong (Main game board)
│   └── FlappyBird (Bonus game board)
└── VBA Modules
    ├── Module1 (Pong game logic)
    ├── Module2 (Cutscene animations)
    └── Module3 (Flappy Bird logic)

Key Technologies

• VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) - All game logic
• Excel Cells as Pixels - Visual rendering system
• Timer-Based Game Loop - Application.OnTime for smooth animation
• RGB Color Manipulation - Custom color palettes and effects
• Cell Interior Colors - Graphics rendering

Core Systems

1. Game Loop System

' Pong runs at 0.5 seconds per tick
' Flappy Bird runs at 0.15 seconds per tick
Application.OnTime GameTimer, "GameTick"

2. Collision Detection

• Pong: Ball vs Paddle, Ball vs Barriers, Ball vs Walls
• Flappy Bird: Bird vs Pipes, Bird vs Ground, Bird vs Ceiling
• Pixel-perfect hitbox calculations

3. Animation System

• Frame-based animation using DoEvents loops
• Physics simulation (gravity, velocity, friction)
• Particle system for wall explosion

🎨 Design Decisions

Why Excel?

• Accessibility - Everyone has Excel, no installation needed
• Challenge - Pushing Excel beyond its intended use
• Visual Grid - Perfect for pixel art and retro games
• Hackathon Novelty - Unique approach for a 24-hour sprint

Performance Optimizations

• Application.ScreenUpdating = False during rendering
• Efficient cell range clearing (batch operations)
• Minimal redraw operations (only changed cells)
• Timer-based game loop (non-blocking)

🐛 Known Issues & Limitations

Performance

• ⚠️ Laggy on older computers (Excel isn't optimized for gaming!)
• ⚠️ Animation framerate depends on CPU speed
• ⚠️ Large number of active timers can cause slowdown

Excel Quirks

• ⚠️ Application.OnTime can sometimes queue multiple callbacks
• ⚠️ Macros must be enabled (security warning)
• ⚠️ Doesn't work in Excel Online (desktop only)

Gameplay

• ⚠️ Flappy Bird collision could be more forgiving
• ⚠️ No sound effects (VBA Beep is too basic)
• ⚠️ No high score persistence across sessions

🚀 Future Improvements

Potential Features

• 🔊 Sound System - Use Windows API for better audio
• 💾 High Score Tracking - Save to hidden sheet or external file
• 🎨 More Pixel Art - Additional enemy sprites
• 🎮 Power-ups - Speed boost, shield, multi-ball
• 🏆 Achievement System - Unlock skins, modes
• 👥 Two-Player Mode - Competitive Pong
• 🌈 Visual Effects - Screen shake, particle explosions
• 📱 Touch Controls - Better macro button placement

Code Refactoring

• Separate rendering engine from game logic
• Implement proper game state machine
• Add configuration file for easy tuning
• Create reusable animation framework

📚 What I Learned

Technical Skills

• ✅ VBA advanced techniques (timers, user-defined types, modules)
• ✅ Game loop architecture and timing
• ✅ Collision detection algorithms
• ✅ Animation and physics simulation
• ✅ Excel object model deep dive

Game Design

• ✅ Balancing difficulty curves
• ✅ Player feedback systems (visual cues)
• ✅ Progressive challenge design
• ✅ Importance of playtesting

Hackathon Lessons

• ✅ Scope management in time-limited projects
• ✅ Rapid prototyping and iteration
• ✅ Creative problem-solving with constraints
• ✅ Making unconventional choices that stand out

🙏 Acknowledgments

• NUS Hackers - For hosting an amazing hackathon
• Classic Arcade Games - Inspiration from Pong (1972) and Flappy Bird (2013)
• Excel Community - For VBA documentation and examples

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Created in 24 hours for Hack&Roll 2026
Proving that Excel is not just for spreadsheets! 📊➡️🎮