They Are Billions

They Are Billions boasts strong central ideas about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps to industrialize in the face of grave danger. This is done incredibly well, from the aesthetics to the music and especially the upgrade trees. All of these work in tandem so well that it's cool to see, but unfortunately, the follow-through for the console version isn't done well enough. This on its own is pretty damning, and coupled with the strange aesthetics makes the game considerably less enjoyable. The PC version may run better with the controls, interface and menus.

While the game itself is really quite good, the lack of gameplay options and lack of thought into porting over the control scheme make for an average experience overall. This is a port that feels very much like one done with the absolute minimal effort required, and that's just not good enough for 2019 when so many other games this year have done so much better in this same PC to console space.

They Are Billions is an interesting mashup of classic RTS, tower defense, and survival that successfully conjures up that “one more game” feel, assuming you can persevere through countless defeats.

Taken as a whole, it is an entirely new and interesting take on genres that are as old as gaming. Billions has such great moments at times that it’s rather surprising that these genres hadn’t been smashed together already. Billions leaves plenty to be desired everywhere else though—in visual fidelity, art direction, sound design, and even game balance. Clearly, this is a first step on a new and mysterious frontier. Hopefully, not the last.

They are Billions is a great game that is lacking in content. The idea behind it – a survival strategy with "realistic" zombie mechanics – is fantastic and the actual mechanics behind it are well thought out and make for a deep and enthralling strategy, if one that may be a little too challenging for some. If that sounds great to you then being light on content may not matter, as there aren't many, if any other games that fit into this particular niche.

This game is best played up close – as you would with a computer monitor – and not half a room away on your sofa. While we don’t doubt that with its tight strategy gameplay and weekly challenges it’s a compelling title on its native platform, here it leaves much to be desired. [Issue#166, p.92]

They are Billions is not that different from other games in this genre, except for its Zombies of course, and actually you can even compare it with some top Zombie titles. But the main problem with They are Billions is that it's not compatible with Console controllers, and you'll have a horrible time if you decide to try it on Consoles instead of a PC.