Parents' Guide to

They Are Billions

By Neilie Johnson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Difficult real-time strategy isn't for casual players.

They Are Billions Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

age 15+

Based on 1 parent review

age 15+

This game is very good just not for little kids

Shocked by this review. First of all it appears the reviewer does not understand the game at all. Second yes the game is very hard which is the point it is a sim game not an RTS. The game is taking sim city or banished and building on that with simple RTS mechanics using an AI enemy that never stops spawning. In essence you end up with a slower version of a zerg rush (starcraft) attempting to thwart the growth of your city which has ever increasing demands of food and energy... etc. Between each wave it is your goal to push your city walls out such that you have access to the needed resources to increase your tech tree and space to build the necessary housing and infrastructure such that you can keep up with the ever increasing waves of enemies. until your final wave which is a relentless hoard that is timed as long as you make it to the end of the timer you beat the board no mater how many layers of your city you have lost at this point. The reviewer appears to have missed this and assumes that the point of the game is to win or maybe as we used to say "beat it" but that is not the point there is no level progression in this game it is very much made in the fission of a genera of game that is not common but was rampant in the 1990's. Though not for everybody the game is excellent so long as it is played on a computer the console controls leave a lot to be desired. Also i would say anybody below the age of 12 is gonna have a lot of trouble with a game like this. (sorry for the typos i came across this at work and just had to say something on here for the parents looking for a fun game or anybody who came across this as their only review of this game. Ignore the person who reviewed it unless you want this for a child under 12.)

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1):
Kids say: Not yet rated

This challenging strategy game demands absolute precision from players, which is difficult for veterans of this genre and almost impossible for newcomers, thanks to its lack of tutorials. Real-time strategy (RTS) games like They Are Billions can be one of the hardest genres to get into, thanks to its many moving parts and complex rule sets. Still, it can be one of the most rewarding once you get the hang of it. Tutorials and forgiving beginner levels are essential when it comes to absorbing such large chunks of information, and They Are Billions has neither.

True, it contains a player guide/glossary of sorts, but reading pages of instructions isn't as good as learning gameplay a step at a time. The difficulty settings could help things, but here they don't really mean anything. In keeping with the recent hard-core difficulty game trends, even the lowest possible setting is fairly punishing, and things play out so slowly that it's tough to quickly attempt new strategies. The problem is the infection mechanic. As cool as the idea is, it's unbalanced. Infection spreads exponentially, and that means if a single zombie gets through your walls, it's game over. New and less skilled RTS players could find themselves stuck on the same map indefinitely, which is the antithesis of fun. It's too bad, because They Are Billions could be a great game. The steampunk aesthetic is cool, graphics and sound are great, and the build and placement controls are easy and fun. Further, upgrades and unlockable maps promise all kinds of fun new buildings and combat units to toy with. As it stands, though, many players will never see those. High difficulty and the no-tutorial policy mean new and casual players are doomed to hours of time-consuming work followed by quick and painful defeat. If you have the stamina for that, you might enjoy the game. If not, keep searching for that starter RTS.

Game Details

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