They Are Billions

They Are Billions is a PC steampunk survival RTS built around colony construction, resource management, and defensive warfare against enormous infected hordes. The current Steam listing still uses the original title, with no verified rebrand, renamed edition, or replacement storefront name. Developed and published by Numantian Games, it combines city building with real-time tactical control and a single-player structure designed around planning, pressure, and costly mistakes.

Build a colony while the infection closes in

The core loop begins with a small human settlement, limited resources, and open territory that must be secured before the infected reach you. You place houses for colonists, gather food and materials, expand energy coverage, and establish production buildings while scouting the surrounding map.

Expansion is never safe. Every new structure increases the colony's needs, while every unexplored section of the map may contain useful resources or a concentration of infected. Resource management, territory expansion, and defensive planning must develop together rather than as separate phases.

The isometric viewpoint keeps the settlement, army, walls, and approaching threats visible within one strategic frame. You are not controlling a hero in a conventional action game. Instead, you manage the colony's economy and issue orders to groups of units across a wide battlefield.

Real-time strategy with a deliberate pause button

They Are Billions runs in real time, but its Real Time with Pause system makes careful decision-making central to the experience. Pausing lets you place buildings, review information, reposition troops, and issue several orders before resuming the action.

This changes the game's skill profile. Fast clicking can help, but the decisive advantage usually comes from recognizing a weak wall, a dangerous sound source, or an exposed expansion before the situation becomes irreversible. The pause system also makes the game more approachable for players who enjoy RTS design but dislike constant execution pressure.

The infected react to activity in the world. Noise from combat or resource access can attract more enemies, turning an apparently controlled skirmish into a larger engagement. The danger is not only the size of the horde; it is the way one breach can spread through populated buildings and convert workers into additional infected.

Defense, units, and the cost of one breach

Colony defenses include walls, gates, towers, and observation structures that help control the approaches to your settlement. Defensive lines need room to expand, enough firepower to handle escalating attacks, and a layout that prevents one damaged section from exposing the entire colony.

Your army is assembled from distinct human units with different battlefield roles. Ranged troops can clear isolated targets and thin approaching groups, while heavier or more specialized forces are better suited to large engagements and late defensive lines. The important decision is not simply how many units to recruit, but where to place them and when to bring them forward.

Infection is the defining failure state. If an infected unit enters a building, the people inside can turn and spread the outbreak to nearby structures. This creates a chain-reaction infection system that makes internal layout, patrol coverage, and emergency response as important as the outer wall.

Players who enjoy settlement logistics but want a less combat-focused survival economy may prefer resource-driven city builders such as Banished. They Are Billions is much more aggressive, placing military readiness and perimeter control at the center of colony management.

Campaign progression and Survival replayability

The Campaign: The New Empire provides a structured route through the game. Under the orders of Quintus Crane, you reconquer territory, complete colony-building objectives, deploy the Imperial Army, and explore locations connected to the world's post-apocalyptic history.

The campaign includes 48 missions, more than 90 technologies, colony objectives, army-focused scenarios, and hero exploration sections. That structure gives new players a progression path through the game's economy and military systems while gradually introducing the broader setting.

Survival Mode is the more replayable option. Each match generates a random world with different geography, weather, events, infected populations, and resource conditions. You must establish a functioning colony and survive until the scenario's objective period ends.

Survival is not a traditional campaign with a fixed storyline. Its mastery loop comes from learning opening priorities, reading the generated map, optimizing expansion, and improving your response to the final waves. The same broad rules can produce very different problems depending on terrain, access routes, and where useful resources appear.

Content model and PC customization

The current Steam package presents the Campaign and Survival modes as part of the main game rather than separating them into a modern season-pass model. The only separately listed add-on is the Soundtrack and Art Book, while the principal gameplay content remains in the base experience.

PC players also receive Steam Workshop support and an included level editor. The developer has documented custom level tools and rule modifications, giving the community room to create scenarios beyond the standard campaign and generated Survival maps.

That editor support is one of the game's most useful long-term features. It extends the game beyond its official objectives without changing the fundamental appeal: building a fragile colony, preparing a defense, and watching a small failure become a crisis.

For players who want another post-apocalyptic settlement game with specialists, expeditions, and broader economic management, colony survival games like Surviving the Aftermath offer a useful comparison. They Are Billions remains the more combat-driven choice, with less emphasis on diplomacy and more attention on immediate perimeter security.

PC features, controls, and localization

They Are Billions is a mouse-and-keyboard-oriented PC strategy game. The storefront confirms Steam Cloud, Steam Achievements, Steam Leaderboards, Family Sharing, Remote Play on Tablet, and Workshop integration. Full native controller support is not advertised on the current listing, so keyboard and mouse should be treated as the verified primary input method.

The Steam edition uses the Steam client for its storefront features and platform integration. No separate launcher or anti-cheat requirement is advertised on the current store page. The game is fundamentally designed for solo play, even though the storefront includes the multiplayer tag; the listed game features identify the main product as single-player, not as a conventional co-op or competitive RTS.

Interface and subtitle support covers English, Spanish from Spain, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Italian. English is the only language listed with full audio, while the other supported languages provide interface and subtitle localization.

Who should play They Are Billions?

This is a strong fit for PC players who enjoy hard survival games, colony simulators, tower-defense pressure, and RTS systems that punish complacency. It rewards people who like pausing to inspect information, building layered defenses, and restarting after a failure to test a better opening.

It is less suitable for players seeking relaxed city building, direct character action, cooperative multiplayer, or an RTS focused on diplomacy between rival factions. The infected are the central opponent, and the game expects you to accept repeated defeats as part of learning its systems.

The strongest audience overlap is with players who want their settlement game to create constant strategic tension. Food, energy, housing, technology, scouting, walls, and army composition all matter because the colony is always preparing for the next escalation.

They Are Billions FAQ

Is They Are Billions still the official PC name?

Yes. The current Steam listing and the developer's official channels use They Are Billions. No verified rebrand, renamed PC edition, or definitive replacement title has been identified.

Does They Are Billions have a campaign?

Yes. The New Empire campaign includes 48 missions, more than 90 technologies, colony objectives, army scenarios, hero exploration, and story material about the infected apocalypse.

What is Survival Mode?

Survival Mode generates a random world with its own geography, weather, events, resource conditions, and infected population. The objective is to build a successful colony and survive the specified period against escalating swarms.

Is They Are Billions multiplayer or co-op?

The main game is designed as a single-player experience. Steam lists Remote Play on Tablet, but that feature should not be confused with native online co-op or split-screen multiplayer.

Does the PC version support mods?

Yes. The Steam version includes Steam Workshop support and a level editor. Numantian Games has also documented tools for creating custom levels and modifying game rules.

What DLC is included or available?

The core Campaign and Survival content are part of the main game. Steam separately lists the Soundtrack and Art Book as the available add-on, rather than presenting a large collection of gameplay expansions or a season pass.

Does the game support multiple languages?

Yes. The PC listing supports 12 interface and subtitle languages. English is the only listed full-audio language, while Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Italian are available for interface and subtitles.