They Are Billions is a brilliant strategy survival game with a focus on building and managing human colonies, following an apocalyptic event involving zombies. The game came out in 2019 and instantly became a favorite for strategy game fans.

If you’ve played the game, you’ll know that one of the best things about They Are Billions is its custom engine that can handle showing up to 20,000 zombies coming to attack your colonies in real-time. To make things better, each zombie has its own AI.

This is a game that is fun and challenging in equal measures. If you’re a fan of games like They Are Billions and want to play something similar, we recommend you check out the games on this list. They fall into a few different subgenres, but they’re all a lot of fun.

Here are 10 games like They Are Billions.

Rise to Ruins

rise to ruins

Rise to Ruins was initially known as Retro-Pixel Castles. It was on Steam Early Access for five years before officially coming out in 2019. The game comes from Raymond Doerr, who built it from start to finish. Rise to Ruins features only a single-player mode. You can play it on Windows, Linux, and OS X.

Just like They Are Billions, this is a building strategy game that features survival elements. Raymond’s main inspirations for Rise to Ruins include Banished, Warcraft, and Dwarf Fortress. The game is a godlike village simulator at its heart but it includes elements from multiple genres.

One of the primary focuses in the game is village management. You have to think of ways to keep your village thriving with the tools you have. This isn’t an easy task because swarms of monsters will attack you at night.

Building and managing a village is extremely fun in Rise to Ruins because you have a lot of different godlike abilities. Players can speed up resource growth, change the terrain, pick up monsters, and more. However, having all of these abilities doesn’t make the game any less challenging.

If you’re an experienced strategy player, you can turn up the difficulty by choosing the Nightmare mode. On the other hand, beginners and players who don’t like engaging in combat can choose the Peaceful mode. In this mode, you won’t have to worry about monsters attacking your village.

If you’re looking for more games like They Are Billions, you’re sure to fall in love with this game. It’s a hell of a lot of fun to play through.

Kingdom: New Lands

kingdom new lands

One person managed to develop Rise to Ruins and turn it into a success. Now let’s talk about a team of two people who did the same thing.

Kingdom: New Lands comes from Marco Bancale and Thomas van den Berg. It came out in 2016 and represents the new version of the game Kingdom, which came out a year prior.

Kingdom: New Lands is a strategy and resource management video game set in a 2D world. The graphics are really simple, which is understandable considering only two people made the game. The gameplay is incredibly fun and interesting if you love strategy games with a dash of survival and exploration.

Your ultimate goal in the game is to build your kingdom. It sounds simple, but wait until you start getting attacked by various foes who want to take your crown. You can survive attacks with the help of loyal subjects who will build and defend your kingdom.

Players begin with a randomly generated king or queen. You also get a horse that you explore the world with. It’s one of the best horse games on the Switch thanks to the depth and detail of this specific gameplay aspect.

As you make your way through the land, you’ll encounter various items and NPCs that can help you build your kingdom. If someone takes your crown, your rule ends.

As you build your kingdom, each night will become more dangerous. When there’s a blood moon, prepare for huge hordes of monsters to come and test your strength. If they don’t steal your crown, they might leave you weak by taking your resources.

RimWorld

rimworld

RimWorld is a construction and management simulation game from the team at Ludeon Studios. It’s also one of the most popular indie games on Steam. It came out in 2018 and is available for Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS, and Linux.

The game is set in the distant future. Humans have made their way to different parts of the universe but they still aren’t able to travel faster than the speed of light. Societies within star systems are isolated from each other, causing a massive gap in their technological abilities.

The best feature of RimWorld is its AI-powered story generator, which is a feature that fans of games like They Are Billions will appreciate. The developers put a heavy focus on players being able to experience a different story each time they play. The stories can vary in everything from medicine and trade to climate and ecology.

Regardless of where each story takes you, players start off with only three survivors of a shipwreck. The survivors find themselves on a distant world and they must build a thriving colony. You have to use resources at your disposal to build structures, apparel, weapons, etc. You also have to fight hostiles that range from giant insects to pirates.

Apart from keeping your colony protected from hostiles, you also have to keep starvation at bay. You have to engage in activities like farming, hunting, and trading to keep your colonists fed.

The Riftbreaker

riftbreaker

Are you looking for something similar to They Are Billions but with better graphics? If so, you’re in luck because The Riftbreaker is just that. This game comes from EXOR Studios. It came out in 2021 and features only a single-player mode. You can play The Riftbreaker on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Windows.

The Riftbreaker is a base-building survival video game with action-RPG elements. Players take on the role of Ashley S. Nowak, a scientist and commando who goes to a distant planet. You journey to planet Galatea 37 through a portal and will need to build a base that will allow for further colonization.

The tricky part is that you can’t re-enter the portal you went through. That’s why you also have to create a two-way rift that you can use to go back to Earth. To construct this rift, you will need an enormous amount of energy that you can get only by building research facilities, power plants, mines, and refineries.

The thing about Galatea 37 is that it’s already populated by many hostile creatures. They won’t like the fact that you’re building something on their planet, so they will retaliate.

Apart from building your base and gathering resources, you’ll need to be on constant alert to keep danger at a distance. You don’t have much time, though, as the number of creatures attacking will get bigger with each passing day.

Conan Unconquered

conan unconquered 1

Conan Unconquered is the ideal choice for you if you’re looking for a survival real-time strategy with a different setting compared to most games in the genre. It comes from Petroglyph and it came out in 2019. Conan Unconquered is available only for Windows but supports both single-player and co-op modes.

This game is set in the world of Conan the Barbarian. Players need to build a stronghold and protect it from the hordes of Hyboria.

Most of the games like They Are Billions have only a single-player mode.

You can play Conan Unconquered online with other people to have a shared experience of building a stronghold and protecting it against all threats. There’s also a challenge multiplayer mode, where you get the same map as other players and get to see how well you perform compared to them.

The way you build your stronghold and lead your army will play a crucial part in how long you’ll survive. Just like in They Are Billions, hordes of enemies will be attacking your stronghold and they’ll only get stronger as time goes on.

Conan Unconquered features real-time strategy gameplay but allows players to pause the game whenever they want to change their tactics.

Age of Darkness: Final Stand

age of darkness final stand 1

Age of Darkness: Final Stand is a survival real-time strategy video game from PlaySide. It’s available for Windows and supports only a single-player mode. If you enjoy games like They Are Billions, you’ll get a kick out of this game.

The game is set in a dark fantasy world that is clearly inspired by hack-and-slash RPGs like Grim Dawn and Diablo 2. However, the gameplay is very different from these games.

Players need to build structures, gather resources, and train troops to stand a chance against the evils in Age of Darkness.

There’s no doubt that They Are Billions accomplished a huge feat by creating a way to render more than 20,000 units at a time. Age of Darkness: Final Stand takes this to another level by rendering over 70,000 enemies on your screen at a time.

Your goal in the game is to claim territory back from a living death fog called The Veil. When The Veil covers a territory, it changes the terrain and drains life from your troops. Each night, you will face hordes of creatures attacking your towns. If you manage to survive the night, you get to choose a Blessing that will make your army stronger.

Players take control of a hero at the beginning of the game. There are some RPG elements to Age of Darkness: Final Stand, such as leveling up your hero and boosting certain skills. The graphics in the game are outstanding and fighting thousands of enemies at a time is incredibly fun.

Frostpunk

frostpunk

Frostpunk is a city-building survival game where you have to manage both infrastructure and citizens. Coming from the creators of This War of Mine, this game follows a very interesting story and features an alluring design. It came out in 2018. You can play Frostpunk on Windows, macOS, Xbox One, iOS, Android, and PlayStation 4.

The story takes place in an alternate history where the Earth is going through a worldwide volcanic winter during the 19th century. People develop steam-powered technology so they can stay warm in a frozen world. Millions of people across the globe have died so far and your task is to build the last city on Earth where humans can survive and live peacefully.

When you start the game, you have a small group of survivors ready to build. This group includes children, engineers, and workers. You also get a small amount of supplies that you’ll need to replenish as soon as possible. Players have to start gathering resources to keep citizens warm and healthy. You start with gathering wood, steel, and coal.

Resource management is extremely important in games like Frostpunk. However, you’ll also need to explore the outside world to learn more about its history and how to survive.

Players have to establish laws that determine crucial aspects of everyday life for society to prosper. Apart from building and gathering, you’ll need to develop new technologies to survive the harsh conditions.

Diplomacy is Not an Option

diplomacy is not an option

Diplomacy is Not an Option is like a blend of Age of Empires and They Are Billions, in the best way possible. Coming from the team at Door 407, this is a survival real-time strategy game available only for Windows. Diplomacy Is Not An Option supports only a single-player mode.

Players take on the role of a feudal lord who must defend his castle from hordes of enemies. Circumstances force you to fight a battle against superior enemy forces. But that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to fail. There is hope as long as you manage your infrastructure, resources, and army well.

The game features realistic laws of physics that require you to hone your tactical skills. For instance, you need clear trajectories to enable your siege engines and archers to hit targets. That’s why you’ll have to be very careful where you place your towers and defenses.

The engine behind Diplomacy is Not an Option allows for around 10,000 enemy units to be rendered at a time. If you’re a fan of games similar to They Are Billions, you already know how entertaining it is to engage in combat with so many enemies at the same time.

You’ll not only have to build and fight to survive the attacks but manage your resources as well. Without food, your soldiers can starve or get sick. Without a good economy, there won’t be significant progress in your city. Players need to focus on multiple activities to ensure the safety of their castle.

Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation

judgment apocalypse survival simulation

Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation is a colony simulation game with survival and tactical combat elements. It’s a game that shares many similarities with They Are Billions but puts a unique spin on them. Instead of a zombie apocalypse that takes place in They Are Billions, players in this game find themselves in the midst of a demon apocalypse.

Coming from independent studio Suncrash, Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation came out in 2018. It is available only for Windows and features a sole single-player mode.

The story follows a small group of people who survive an encounter with a demon. The people decide to build a base to keep surviving and put an end to the demon invasion.

You start with three survivors and slowly build your base and society. Players need to manage their resources well to make their base sustainable. Survivors need food, water, a place to sleep, weapons, and more. You have to provide that for them with the tools and resources you have.

You need to put a heavy focus on creating a good economy for your base to prosper. As your base gets bigger and stronger, you move on from simple activities like farming and planting to building complex facilities and researching new technologies. Survivors will have different professions and skills you can utilize to create a sustainable economy.

Your main mission in Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation is to find a way to close the gate that unleashed demons into the world.

Endzone – A World Apart

endzone a world apart

Endzone – A World Apart is a survival strategy and resource management video game from Gentlymad Studios. It came out in 2021 and features charming, modern graphics. The game has only a single-player mode. You can play Endzone – A World Apart on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, macOS, and Windows.

The story takes place 150 years after a global ecological disaster brings humanity to the verge of extinction. The only people who survived the disaster hid in underground facilities referred to as Endzones. When you start the game, your mission becomes to get back to the Earth’s surface and build a settlement.

The Earth is not what it used to be before the disaster. The surface now has multiple threats you’ll need to be wary of. Everything from toxic rain to radioactively contaminated ground can hurt your society.

You will need to survive by building a self-sustaining economy, but you can start by simply gathering food and water supplies for your people. Protecting them from starvation will then lead to everything else, from education to innovation. It’s one of the most interesting survival games on the PS5 and fans of games like They Are Billions will love it.