Master Microsoft Office with Ribbon Hero

Yes, you too can now be that kind of hero; the type usually associated with guitars. Perhaps you lack the manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination, or maybe you just don't like playing the same damn songs for months on end. Maybe, like the Microsoft Office Labs team, you don't think guitar/drum/DJ heroics should be reserved for the home! That's right, you can now be a frickin' office hero.

The Ribbon UI, which made its debut in Office 2007, has been rather controversial. After some 20 years of File, Edit, Format, The Ribbon throws you for a loop. The Ribbon is meant to provide easier, faster access to contextual commands -- let's face it, manipulating the old 'standard' toolbar to find the right commands was pretty painful -- it just takes a little getting used to. Enter Ribbon Hero, 'a game designed to help boost your Office skills and knowledge'. By turning Office into a game -- by accruing points and competing with your friends -- you can quickly learn how to use The Ribbon.

It's a novel idea, and by no means a bad one. The game itself installs easily, and the implementation (press the button on the ribbon to get started) is smooth. You can either take part in explicit 'challenges' to earn points, or simply gather points by going about your every-day work. After playing around with it for half an hour, it's not surprising to find out that a professional game designer worked with the Microsoft Office Labs team to make RIbbon Hero.

Oh... did I mention that you can use Facebook Connect to battle your friends to the paraphrased, bulleted DEATH?

Tags: games, labs, microsoft, microsoft office labs, MicrosoftOfficeLabs, office, productivity, ribbon hero, RibbonHero