They Are Billions

The Premise: Humanity’s Last Stand Against a Living Tide

Imagine a post-apocalyptic world, but instead of scattered bandits and radiation zones, the real threat is an endlessly proliferating zombie plague. Humanity is pushed to the brink, clinging to existence in small, fortified colonies. You are one of the last commanders, tasked with establishing and protecting these nascent settlements. The “story vibe” is one of desperate survival, where every resource counts, every wall is vital, and every decision could mean the difference between thriving and being completely overwhelmed. It’s less about heroics and more about cold, hard logistics and iron-willed defense. The game drops you into a procedurally generated map, often a desolate wasteland, with a handful of starting units and a dream: don’t get eaten. Easy, right? Not when “they” are indeed billions, constantly shuffling, growing, and eventually, sprinting towards your flimsy walls.

Core Gameplay Loop: Build, Expand, Defend… and Repeat Until Disaster

They Are Billions masterfully blends classic RTS base-building with intense tower defense elements. Your colony starts small: a Command Center, a few tents for housing, and a couple of Rangers. The immediate goal is to establish an economy. You’ll be placing Sawmills near forests for wood, Quarries near stone and iron deposits, and eventually Farms on fertile land for food. Power is a constant concern, generated by Tesla Towers which also define your buildable area. Expand too fast, and you’ll outstrip your defenses; too slow, and you’ll be choked by the ever-present threat. Exploration is crucial – clearing out small pockets of infected to claim new resources, finding ancient ruins that grant valuable gold or technology, and scouting for future defense points. But with every expansion, you expose new fronts to the zombie horde.

Defense is where the game truly shines. You’ll build layer upon layer of walls, ranging from simple wood to impenetrable stone and beyond. Behind these walls, you’ll station various units: Rangers for early, agile defense; Soldiers for sustained firepower; Snipers for taking down the tougher infected; and eventually, mechanical monstrosities like the Thanatos (a walking missile launcher) and the mighty Titan. Turrets like Ballistas and Executors provide automated protection, essential when the waves begin. The sheer scale of the final wave in later game stages is something you have to see to believe – thousands upon thousands of infected pushing against your fortifications. It’s a truly spectacular, terrifying, and often heartbreaking display.

Resource Scarcity and Strategic Placement

Every resource is precious. Gold for buildings and unit production, wood for basic structures, stone for stronger defenses, iron for advanced units, and oil for the most powerful technology. Food dictates your population cap, while energy dictates how many structures you can power. Balancing these is a constant struggle. Should you prioritize more housing for a larger workforce or invest in another Quarry for better defenses? Do you clear out that eastern choke point now, risking an early horde, or secure your northern flank first? Placement matters immensely; chokepoints become strategic goldmines, and open fields are death traps. Learning to identify these opportunities and threats on the fly is a core skill.

Features That Make You Sweat (and Smile, Sometimes)

One of the defining features of They Are Billions is its unique approach to pausing. You can hit spacebar at any time to pause the game, issue commands, meticulously plan your next move, and then unpause to watch it unfold. This isn’t a crutch; it’s an essential tool for managing the insane amount of micromanagement required. Without it, the game would be impossible. The procedural map generation ensures that every survival run feels fresh, forcing you to adapt to new terrain layouts, resource placements, and initial zombie densities. There’s no single perfect build order; it’s all about improvisation.

The Zombie Types and Special Infected

It’s not just brainless shufflers you’re up against. The game introduces a variety of special infected that will force you to adapt your defensive strategies. Harpies are fast and can easily bypass weaker walls. Chubby’s are slow but incredibly tough. Spitters launch corrosive goo from a distance, damaging units and structures. Mutants are tanky brutes. And then there are the terrifying Giants, colossal infected that can smash through multiple layers of stone walls with ease. Each type requires a different counter, forcing you to maintain a balanced army and diversify your defenses. Neglect one type, and it will be your undoing.

The Campaign vs. Survival – Pick Your Poison

They Are Billions offers two distinct ways to play. The **Survival** mode is the classic experience: pick a difficulty (map size, zombie population, game length), get a random map, and see how long you can last, culminating in a final, massive horde. This is where most players spend their time, chasing high scores and testing their strategic prowess. It’s a pure, unadulterated challenge that emphasizes improvisation and resourcefulness.

The **Campaign** mode, on the other hand, offers a more structured experience with a narrative arc. You play as the Supreme Commander, pushing back the infected front by completing various missions. These missions have specific objectives, pre-set maps, and introduce hero units and a persistent tech tree. Completing missions unlocks new technologies, units, and defensive structures for future missions. While some players find the campaign a bit more restrictive than survival, it offers a great way to learn the game’s mechanics, experiment with different units, and experience a progression system beyond just difficulty sliders. It also provides a satisfying sense of moving humanity forward, however incrementally.

Tips for Surviving the Horde (Don’t Be Like Me)

My first dozen colonies ended in utter disaster, often due to a single overlooked zombie. Learn from my mistakes!

• **Expand Early, But Prudently:** Scout your immediate surroundings and claim resource spots quickly, but don’t overextend your defenses. A single zombie slipping through can rapidly infect your entire colony from within.
• **Economy is King:** Don’t neglect your gold, wood, stone, and iron production. A strong economy allows you to build more defenses, train more units, and recover from setbacks.
• **Wall Early, Wall Often:** Wooden walls are cheap and essential for early defense. Upgrade to stone as soon as possible. Remember to double-wall or even triple-wall critical choke points.
• **Rangers Are Your Early Game Heroes:** Fast, cheap, and quiet, Rangers are perfect for exploring, kiting small groups of zombies, and providing initial defense.
• **Snipers for Specials:** As soon as special infected start appearing, get Snipers. Their long range and high damage are invaluable for taking down Harpies, Chubby, and especially Giants before they reach your walls.
• **Power Up:** Don’t underestimate the need for power. Build Tesla Towers to expand your buildable area and Power Plants to keep your ever-growing colony humming.
• **Scout Aggressively (but Carefully):** Knowing where the hordes are coming from and identifying defensible positions is critical. Use your early Rangers to clear out nearby infected and reveal the map.
• **Ballistas Before Soldiers for Waves:** Early on, Ballistas are far more cost-effective for defending against waves than individual units. Place them strategically at choke points.

Performance and Presentation – A Smooth Apocalypse

Given the sheer number of units that can be on screen – literally thousands during the final waves – They Are Billions performs remarkably well. The engine is optimized to handle these massive numbers without grinding your PC Games to a halt. While the graphics aren’t hyper-realistic, the isometric viewpoint and detailed sprites create a clear and functional aesthetic. The visual feedback when your walls are breached, and the cascade of infection spreads through your colony, is both terrifying and oddly compelling. The sound design is understated but effective: the constant hum of your colony, the distant groans of the infected, and then the terrifying crescendo as a massive horde approaches. It all contributes to an atmosphere of dread and desperate struggle. Most mid-range gaming PCs shouldn’t have too much trouble running this game smoothly, even with the population sliders cranked up.

Who is This Game For?

If you love the strategic depth of RTS games but yearn for a challenge that punishes even minor mistakes, this is for you. If you enjoy the meticulous planning of tower defense titles, setting up intricate kill zones and choke points, you’ll be in heaven. Players who appreciate a high difficulty curve, a game that demands patience, adaptation, and an iron will, will find a lot to love here. This isn’t a game for casual players looking for a relaxed experience; it’s a brutal, unforgiving, and immensely rewarding test of your strategic mind. If you don’t mind losing, learning, and trying “just one more time,” then welcome to the club.

Replay Value – Just One More Colony!

The replay value in They Are Billions is incredibly high, particularly in its Survival mode. The procedural generation of maps ensures that each playthrough is unique, forcing you to adapt your strategies to new terrains and resource placements. The various difficulty settings, from increasing zombie populations to shorter game lengths, offer a continuous spectrum of challenges. Once you master a certain difficulty, there’s always a higher one waiting to push your skills to their limits. Trying new build orders, experimenting with different unit compositions, or simply attempting to beat your personal best score keeps players coming back for more. It’s the kind of game that frequently elicits the “just one more run” mentality, hours melting away as you strive to finally overcome the impossible odds. It’s easily earned its spot in any serious PC Game Library.

Ultimately, They Are Billions is a masterclass in tension and strategic depth. It’s a game that will frustrate you to no end, but the triumphs, however fleeting, are incredibly satisfying. The sheer scale of the threats and the ingenuity required to overcome them make it an unforgettable experience in the RTS landscape.

So, if you’re ready to test your mettle against truly overwhelming odds and experience a unique blend of genres, give They Are Billions a shot. Just be prepared to lose, learn, and then try again, because that’s part of the morbid charm of surviving against, well, billions.