# How to play 1in8bn

> Start a life, choose a pace, make decisions, manage annual focus and save your progress in the free life simulator.

Canonical page: https://1in8bn.com/reference/how-to-play/
Reviewed: 2026-10-25. Language: English.

## Start your first life

1. Open 1in8bn.com and choose a language.
2. Choose an era, birthplace weighting and lifetime pace in Before you are born. Enable Gentler mode or Classroom mode if wanted.
3. Select Be born. Read the birth card and choose Begin this life.
4. Read the life record and current statistics. Use Play, Pause, Next decision or Next year to control progression.
5. Resolve available decisions or reflection pauses. Review health, knowledge, relationships and money as the years change.
6. At the end of a life, review its story and available keepsakes. Use Move my lives to export a backup before changing devices.

## How chance and choices work

Babies born now weights birthplace by annual births; The 8 billion alive now weights it by population; Equal country chances gives every included country the same initial weight. These are different sampling choices, not different difficulty guarantees.

Your annual focus and decisions influence probabilities and opportunities. Higher statistics do not guarantee admission, employment, a relationship or survival. Available actions depend on age, country, education, money and the current life state. Children outside school may do paid work or help their family without pay. That status persists through saving and reloading; paid childhood work uses a small share of the national lower-income distribution, while unpaid work earns no wages.


## Control the pace

Automatic progression can pause for a decision. Resolve the choice or use the available pause/reflection controls before expecting time to continue. Auto mode can make future choices for you; use manual decisions when you want to choose the direction yourself.

A planned lifetime pace does not guarantee a character will reach a certain age. A life can end early. Gentler mode reduces early mortality and distressing events; Classroom mode also disables personal publishing.


## Read the life record

The life record explains important events and decisions. Other panels show family, country statistics, life map, finances and keepsakes as they become available. A disabled action may require another age, sufficient savings or the resolution of a current decision.

The simulation can include poverty, illness, intensive care, loss and death. It is intended for ages 15 and older. Pause or leave the game whenever needed.


## Reference library

- [About 1in8bn](https://1in8bn.com/reference/about/): What 1in8bn is: a free browser life simulator with 172 countries, choices, generations and keepsakes.
- [How to play 1in8bn](https://1in8bn.com/reference/how-to-play/): Start a life, choose a pace, make decisions, manage annual focus and save your progress in the free life simulator.
- [1in8bn frequently asked questions](https://1in8bn.com/reference/faq/): Answers about free play, countries, saving, languages, family, ICU, sharing, mobile support and embedding.
- [Family, adult children and later generations](https://1in8bn.com/reference/family-and-generations/): Understand family events, adult descendants, work, marriage, leaving home and migration in 1in8bn.
- [Health, illness and intensive care](https://1in8bn.com/reference/health-and-icu/): A gameplay guide to health events, treatment choices, intensive care and gentler play in 1in8bn.
- [Saving, sharing and free keepsakes](https://1in8bn.com/reference/saving-and-sharing/): Export and transfer saves, keep pixel artwork and life stories, and understand public memorials and iframe storage.
- [Data sources and simulation method](https://1in8bn.com/reference/data-and-method/): Dataset provenance, weighting, units, snapshot dates and limits of the 172-country life simulation.
- [Privacy and storage](https://1in8bn.com/reference/privacy/): How local saves, optional public memorials, cookieless analytics and anonymous player presence work.
- [Use of 1in8bn](https://1in8bn.com/reference/terms/): Age guidance, fictional simulation limits, community conduct, backups, embedding and third-party attribution.

- [Play 1in8bn](https://1in8bn.com/)
- [AI content index](https://1in8bn.com/llms.txt)