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How To Unlock The Konami Secret In Excel

Back in 1997, Microsoft was in talks to buy the Japanese entertainment company Konami (which produced such classics for the NES as Castlevania and Contra). To celebrate the impending acquisition, the Excel development team was working on a Contra game Easter egg hidden in Excel.

Unfortunately the acquisition fell through but the development team had already finished coding the Easter egg into the core code. The Easter egg addition was long forgotten and was never removed from the core Excel code but can still be access during the Excel loading screen.

While Excel is loading press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A on your keyboard.

If you entered the code correctly during start up, you will be able to play Contra from within Excel.

  1. Go to the new tab Contra in the ribbon.
  2. Press the Contra Logo button.
  3. A playable Contra game will appear in the sheet below.

Wow, so much fun! Happy April Fool’s Day!

About the Author

John MacDougall

John MacDougall

John is a Microsoft MVP and qualified actuary with over 15 years of experience. He has worked in a variety of industries, including insurance, ad tech, and most recently Power Platform consulting. He is a keen problem solver and has a passion for using technology to make businesses more efficient.

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John MacDougall

I’m John, and my goal is to help you Excel!

You’ll find a ton of awesome tips, tricks, tutorials, and templates here to help you save time and effort in your work.

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Comments

3 Comments

  1. dab on them haters
    dab on them haters on 2018-05-20 at 14:07

    i actually tried this

    • John
      John on 2018-05-20 at 14:18

      Haha, sorry to disappoint you. I think productivity would take a nose dive world wide if it was in there.

  2. Anthony
    Anthony on 2020-08-11 at 03:38

    Oh man – i tried this too haha

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