In 1995, Microsoft tucked a first-person, Doom-like game inside Excel 95 to credit its developers.Three decades later, the hidden Hall of Tortured Souls still runs, if you know how to get it running.Here's how to set up a virtual machine and unlock it yourself.
Install a VM Old software needs an old operating system Excel 95 was built for a very different computer, and modern Windows releases don't run it cleanly.The program shipped as part of Office 95, also known as version 7.0, and it expects the Windows 95 environment it was designed alongside.Installers from that era often stumble on current systems, and while there are ways to work around legacy installer issues on modern 64-bit Windows, it's way easier to just go for a VM.
The Easter egg is also documented as working only in the 95 release, so a later Excel build is no substitute.A virtual machine solves the problem by giving the old software the old operating system it expects, sealed inside a window on your desktop.VirtualBox and VMware Workstation Player are the usual free choices.
Both can host Windows 95 as a guest, although neither officially supports it, so expect a little fiddling.It's not hard, though.Enthusiasts who want fewer surprises often turn to 86Box or PCem, emulators that recreate period hardware down to the sound and graphics cards, which tends to make Windows 95 setup more predictable.
Whichever route you take, create a new machine, assign it a modest amount of memory, and add a small virtual hard disk.Windows 95 is notoriously fussy about too much RAM, so resist the urge to be generous.A few dozen megabytes to a couple of hundred is plenty for the operating system and a spreadsheet program.
You will also need installation media for Windows 95 and for Office 95.Microsoft stopped selling both long ago, and the licensing situation is murkier than the nostalgia suggests.Anyone holding original discs and product keys is on the firmest ground.
Disc images preserved on the Internet Archive circulate widely, but their legal standing is a gray area worth understanding before you download anything.Once the guest system boots to its familiar teal desktop, you're ready to get Excel itself installed.Fire up Excel 95 Installing Office 95 and confirming the right version Close With Windows 95 running, mount your Office 95 disc image as a virtual CD drive and launch the setup program from inside the guest.
Office 95 bundled Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint, but only Excel matters here, so a custom install with the other applications deselected will save time and disk space.The installer will ask for a product key and walk through the usual license prompts.It is slow by modern standards, so give it a few minutes.
Restart the virtual machine if the installer asks, since leftover system file updates can cause odd behavior otherwise.Once installation finishes, open Excel from the Start menu.The interface will feel strangely compact, with small toolbars, tiny cell grids and a gradient title bar that was a novelty in its day.
Open a blank workbook and check the version through the Help menu by choosing About Microsoft Excel.That dialog does double duty.It confirms you are running the 95 release, and it is also the doorway to the hidden game, so keep it in mind.
How to actually get playing The exact keystrokes that unlock the Hall of Tortured Souls The Hall of Tortured Souls is not quite Doom, but rather, it works as a hidden game in the style of Doom whose purpose is to credit the people who wrote the application.Despite the grim name, it is closer to a walkable credits sequence than a real game.You move through a blocky 3D environment, read developer names splashed across the walls, and eventually find something stranger at the end of a narrow path.
Start with a blank worksheet and scroll down to row 95.Click the row header on the far left so the entire row is selected.Press Tab to move over to column B, then open the Help menu and choose About Microsoft Excel.
Hold down Ctrl, Alt, and Shift together, and while still holding them, click the Tech Support button.Movement uses the arrow keys.One period write-up also lists D and C for looking up and down.
You begin at the start of a long zigzagging path with developer names displayed along the walls.Ahead is a staircase, and above it sits a small room with red walls where more names appear.Take your time, because the geometry is unforgiving and the controls feel stiff compared with any modern game.
The real secret, though, is what comes next.Turn around until you face the starting wall, then type excelkfa.The wall disappears and reveals a narrow walkway.
The cheat code itself is a nod to Doom's own famous cheat codes.Walk the path carefully, since stepping off the edge drops you back into the earlier room.If you make it to the far end, you will find pictures of the developers, which is the payoff the whole thing was built for.
It rewards patience far more than reflexes.A spreadsheet secret that still runs today Excel 95's hidden Hall of Tortured Souls remains playable if you recreate the right environment.A Windows 95 virtual machine, an Office 95 install and a specific keystroke sequence are all it takes.
The result is a short but memorable glimpse of how developers once signed their work.
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