1 in 8 Billion beginner’s guide

1. Start with the present-day world

Open the game. For a first run, choose the present, a 30-minute pace and manual decisions. These are suggested learning settings, not an easier difficulty level. You can also use the defaults. No account or download is required.

Choose whether countries are weighted by annual births or population. Both modes start at age zero, and neither lets you choose the character’s country. “The country you were actually born in” only selects a comparison. The 30/60/90-minute settings estimate time to the starting country’s life expectancy, not a guaranteed duration. Pauses, decisions and an early ending change the total.

2. Read the birth record

Select “Be born”, then read the country, family circumstances, parents and initial background before selecting “Start this life”. Treat these as a starting situation rather than a score. The displayed global birth share is background information; actual draws are normalized across the included countries. See the methodology for examples.

3. Understand the four attributes

• Health: affects the game’s annual mortality risk from age five, together with age, country conditions and illness. A high value does not eliminate risk.
• Happiness: reflects well-being in the story; a long or wealthy life need not be a happy one.
• Knowledge: contributes to education and some career opportunities. It is not a guaranteed university offer.
• Relationships: describes social connection and influences relationship events. It is not a count of friends.

Attributes range from 0 to 100. Focus, events and annual changes can move them in different directions during the same year.

4. Choose a focus and respond to decisions

From age six, set a yearly focus. The available options change with life stage. Study helps knowledge but has tradeoffs; health, rest, friends and family serve different needs. A yearly focus affects ongoing development. A decision such as continuing school is a separate event with its own conditions and possible outcomes.

For example, imagine a fictional 15-year-old from a low-income family. Pause at the education decision, read their circumstances and compare continued school, vocational training or work when offered. Further study may preserve educational opportunities, but family resources and chance still matter. After choosing, read the event result instead of assuming the intended outcome happened. This is an illustration, not a fixed route. The choices guide explains the tradeoffs.

5. Control the pace

Pause whenever you want to read. Speed controls advance years faster; “next decision” skips toward an interaction. Auto makes choices and adjusts focus for you, so turn it off when you want to decide yourself. On smaller screens, some controls may be inside the menu. Automatic play is a way to observe, not a promise of the best ending.

6. Save, back up and finish

During play, progress saves in this browser. Return on the same browser and choose “Continue this life”. “Quit” discards the current progress. Private browsing, blocked storage and clearing site data can prevent or remove saves.

For a backup, use “Move records” in the footer and copy the code or save the file. On the destination device, open the same site and import it. Importing replaces existing local records, so export those first if needed. Records do not sync automatically.

At the ending, review the timeline and recap. The latest 30 finished-life summaries (without full event timelines) remain locally; publishing to the memorial is optional. Do not include personal details in a public message. You can start another life without publishing the previous one.

For signed-in Memories Pass holders outside classroom mode, the ending screen attempts to save the finished life to the account album and displays success or failure. That is separate from the free local save and is not automatic sync of an unfinished life.

What to read next

Read data and assumptions, help with saves, about this edition or the gameplay overview. Begin your first life.

For resuming, backups and imports, read save and recovery help and troubleshooting. For daily themes, automatic play and teaching, see the mode guide and classroom guide.