They Are Billions Switch 2 Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
There’s simply not enough strategy games on the Switch and Switch 2, in my opinion, so when I caught wind of a steampunk zombie survival RTS, I had to know more. They Are Billions originally rose out of Early Access on PC in 2019 and breathed new life into the genre through its relentless difficulty, constant tension, and overwhelming scale. Like any good zombie, the game refuses to die and has now infected the Switch 2 with its intriguing concept, thanks to Suncreest Games, who are handling the port. What’s it like? Place some tents, raise your defences, and listen closely for the undead as we review They Are Billions on Nintendo Switch 2.
They Are Billions tells the story of a world wiped out by a vicious zombie virus. The last bastion of hope is a settlement built inside a crater that somehow managed to keep the infection out. The founder of this final city tells its people that it is time to reclaim the planet and stop living in fear. That speech was made 13 years ago. You are the latest general in a long line of failed attempts to establish life beyond the city walls. There are only a few thousand humans left, while the zombies number in the billions, and taking back the planet has proven to be an almost insurmountable task. It is a bleak setup, but one that perfectly frames the pressure and hostility of the world you are about to step into.
This premise feeds directly into the game’s extensive campaign, which spans roughly 60 hours across 48 missions. The campaign does not gently hold your hand. Instead, it coldly pushes you outside the safety of the walls with a limited tech tree and asks you to establish a foothold in a world that is actively trying to wipe you out. I managed to completely fail my first attempt within 15 minutes, and it was an early lesson in how unforgiving They Are Billions can be.
They Are Billions delivers constant tension. While you are busy building up resources like food, wood, and stone, you are also unknowingly increasing the zombie population’s potential food supply. Every new tent or house is both progress and risk, and the game never lets you forget that balance. Outside of the campaign, the real meat on the bones is Survival Mode. This was the original way to play during the game’s PC Early Access period, and it remains the most compelling experience here. You establish a base and its defences while hordes of zombies test those walls every seven days or so, and the knowledge that an attack is coming builds incredible tension. That said, what surprised me most was that nearly 90 per cent of my failures were caused by just one or two zombies. When a zombie hits one of your buildings, it infects it, and if even a single house or tent falls, it can trigger a chain reaction that is extremely difficult to regain control of. Entire settlements can collapse in seconds.
Many runs ended within 30 minutes, no matter how prepared I thought I was. Something would slip through the fog of war and appear when it was already too late. There are no saves, no checkpoints, and no second chances. When you fail, and you will fail often, it is back to the beginning on a newly generated map. My worst failure came several hours into a run. For most of that time, small hordes attacked from one direction and were dealt with fairly easily. Then the final assault hit, with roughly 20,000 zombies on screen, while a warning flashed saying “They are Billions.” I panicked and moved my contingency of soldiers to reinforce one section of my base. The breach came from the original position I had just abandoned, resulting in a total wipe. This style of gameplay will undoubtedly frustrate some players, but I found it incredibly compelling. Each failure pushed me to start again, armed with one more hard-earned lesson and a stronger determination to survive just a little longer next time.
Developer Suncrest Games has done a fantastic job bringing They Are Billions to the Switch 2 when it comes to control options. The game offers several ways to play, and most of them work far better than you might expect for a traditionally PC-focused RTS. The standard controller setup uses a familiar RTS-style layout. One stick controls the camera, while the other moves a mouse-style cursor across the screen. Surprisingly, this mode works quite well once you spend a little time with it, and it proved to be perfectly usable during early testing and shorter sessions. Touch screen controls are available, but they were easily the weakest option. The system relies on a hybrid of touch inputs and button presses, which often felt awkward in handheld mode, where the small UI can make precise selections frustrating during tense moments. The clear standout, however, is the Switch 2 mouse support. Using mouse mode feels almost identical to the PC version, allowing you to build structures and direct troops with speed and precision. In this reviewer’s humble opinion, it is easily the best way to experience They Are Billions on Nintendo’s new hardware.
They Are Billions delivers all of its action using a distinctive, almost cel-shaded 3D engine. Characters feature a pixel-stroke outline, and the overall visual style works extremely well. The steampunk aesthetic gives the game a strong identity, and each building features its own animated loop, helping settlements feel alive as they grow. There are a few minor caveats to this presentation. At times, it can be difficult to immediately tell what is alive and what is undead, especially when zombies are chasing villagers. More than once, my heart skipped a beat seeing a figure running with arms flailing, only to realise it was a terrified civilian rather than an infected threat. It is a small issue, but one worth noting during high-pressure moments.
Performance on Switch 2 is smooth for the majority of the experience. The game maintains a stable frame rate during standard play, with only occasional minor hitches when issuing orders to large groups of soldiers. These moments appear to be tied to AI pathfinding in more complex areas rather than the number of units on screen, and they usually amount to a single skipped frame. The real stress test comes during the final assault. As previously mentioned, there are around 20,000 zombies charging your base, and the Switch 2 can struggle, especially when zoomed out, with the frame rate dropping noticeably. It is a shame, but it is also undeniably spectacular. Part of me was disappointed by the performance dip, while another part was in awe of the sheer scale unfolding on screen. As the assault wears on and the zombie numbers thin, performance gradually returns to normal. Some players may be frustrated by this, but it remains an unforgettable moment.
The audio design deserves special mention. Beyond the brooding score and ambient sound effects that constantly build tension, the most unsettling element is the growl of a zombie somewhere nearby. Hearing it prompted me to shift my troops around, desperately trying to locate the source before it was too late. I found myself playing with a headset at a higher volume just to catch these audio cues. Even while building a bustling settlement, I was always listening for the undead. That constant state of alertness is a huge part of what makes They Are Billions so effective at sustaining its tension.
For my survivors looking into accessibility, They Are Billions includes colourblind modes to help make your time surviving more comfortable. There are also individual audio sliders, letting you drown out specific audio tracks to focus on the important things. I do want to once again mention that both the text and UI appear very small on screen in both docked and handheld mode, so using the system zoom might be a great help here. As always, I recommend further research into finding out if They Are Billions suits your needs.
At just under $45 AUD, They Are Billions has plenty of meat on the bones. The campaign will take you around 60 hours to clear, spanning 48 missions that I can guarantee will provide a challenge. The Survival Mode, with randomly generated maps and unlockable biomes, will also provide hours of entertainment, and I found a lot of my playtesting spent there. Finally, there are weekly survival challenges and leaderboards for those who want to make the zombie apocalypse more competitive.
They Are Billions is as fun to play as it is intriguing as a concept, combining survival elements with traditional real-time strategy gameplay. It is a difficult and tense game, often leaving you with a chill running down your spine as you listen for shambling corpses clumsily making their way toward your settlement. Some may find its unforgiving nature frustrating, but for those who seek survival beyond the walls of the crater, there is danger, tension, and a whole lot of zombies in this outstanding strategy game.
So What’s it Like? They are Billions is Like Company of Heroes, with Zombies.
In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by the developer, but this doesn’t influence my score.
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