Whilst the theme is certainly fun, Spreadcheat is really more maths puzzle than it is spreadsheet puzzle.
As a maths teacher, I tend to spend a fair bit of time tinkering with Microsoft Excel. Got to crunch those numbers! I’m no expert by any stretch, but there are some neat things you can do with data using those spreadsheets. I have to admit though, a video game about spreadsheets isn’t something that was on my bingo card for 2025, but Spreadcheat is here in all its mid-90s glory.
You are a new hire in the finance team of a company in the mid 1990s and are tasked with solving spreadsheet problems to manipulate the books. Your boss is clearly taking advantage of your “nerd skills”, but there really isn’t much of a story to speak of.
In reality, you’ll be putting commands and numbers into certain cells to reach a specified output number. Most of the time there will be some preset formulae and numbers and you’ll simply need to fill the blank spaces with preset inputs. You won’t be working across multiple sheets and creating pivot tables here, you’ll really just be solving maths problems using ready made formulae.
I quite enjoyed this if I’m honest, as some of the puzzles later on become quite convoluted thanks to messy spreadsheet formulae being all over the place — meaning you need to work out which cell will affect which other cells. With that said, you really do have quite limited input, with you only really getting two or three options to place in the empty cells. Don’t get me wrong, these are used creatively, and you’ll need to think about which numbers will compound each other, but you’ll actually only have a limited number of options.
What’s quite fun here is the absolute commitment the devs have to replicating Windows 3.1, which will bring memories flooding back for players of a certain age. Everything is pixelated, backgrounds have silly little animations that don’t make any sense, and a Clippy-equivalent mascot will insist on helping you. This filters into some of the dialogue too, some of which is quite of its time in a Wolf of Wall Street kind of way. I don’t feel any of it is overtly offensive, but it does tap into that bro business culture a fair bit here and there.
Between solving these problems, you’ll get the occasional mini-game of sorts. These are fun little distractions that really only serve to elongate the game. Multiple choice options will have you setting up a powerpoint presentation for your boss, or you’ll need to create a carefully worded message to HR about some senior staff member’s indiscretions. These are tongue in cheek and mostly pretty funny, but they’re only there because the main game is quite short. There are only around twenty levels, and most of them can be solved fairly quickly with some careful thinking and willingness to restart one if you make a mistake, but that’s all there is. The full release comes with a daily puzzle, which is nice, but at time of writing I haven’t been able to play any of these so I can’t comment on their challenge level.
Whilst it’s a neat and amusing theme, Spreadcheat won’t be for everyone at all. Those attracted by the amusing throwback visuals should really be aware that this is a maths puzzle game at heart. If you don’t like maths then you won’t like this game, and if you’re insanely good at number manipulation then you may find it too easy. At least there’s a demo to try out. I for one quite enjoyed playing though. I think the combination of maths puzzles and my being of the right age to appreciate the pastiche that Spreadcheat is going for makes me the target audience. If you tick those same boxes, then this might be right for you.
Spreadsheet is available now on PC.
