I’ve been experimenting with Google Sheets for various personal projects like expense tracking and car maintenance logs. Beyond the typical stuff, I’ve created some entertaining projects such as:
• a comprehensive basketball scorecard with player statistics
• a personalized fantasy soccer league manager
• a two-person Naval Battle game
• a multiplayer card game similar to Crazy Eights
• currently developing another group game
Most of these work with just formulas and minimal scripting, though my latest project might require more complex Google Apps Script features.
I’m curious about what innovative projects others have built. Some of the creations shared in this community have been really amazing. Would love to see what creative solutions you’ve come up with!
oh wow thats pretty cool! i made a habit tracker that changes colors based on streaks and sends me email reminders when i miss days. also built a simple recipe randomizer for meal planning - just hits a random number generator to pick whats for dinner lol. way more fun than regular spreadsheets!
Built a family chore rotation system that automatically assigns tasks weekly and tracks completion percentages. The clever part is using conditional formatting to create visual progress bars and Google Forms integration so family members can check off completed tasks from their phones.
Also created what I call a “life dashboard” that pulls data from multiple sources using IMPORTRANGE to show everything from bank balances to upcoming birthdays in one view. Had to learn some interesting workarounds with QUERY functions to make the data refresh properly.
My most ambitious project was a tournament bracket generator for our neighborhood game nights. It handles different tournament formats and automatically updates matchups based on results. Took forever to get the logic right but now we use it every month.
Several years back I developed a comprehensive travel planning spreadsheet that became quite sophisticated over time. It pulls flight prices through web scraping functions and calculates optimal departure dates based on cost variations. The system also manages itinerary scheduling with automatic time zone conversions and budget allocation across different expense categories.
Another project involved creating a collaborative gift exchange coordinator for our extended family gatherings. Participants enter their wishlist items and the sheet randomly assigns gift recipients while preventing conflicts. It even tracks spending limits and sends automated reminders before deadlines.
Probably my most technically challenging creation was a home energy usage analyzer that imports utility data and weather information to identify consumption patterns. The formulas became quite complex when adding predictive modeling for future bills, but the insights helped reduce our monthly costs significantly.