The short answer
1 in 8 Billion draws where you are born from real birth statistics and plays out that one life in about an hour, in the browser. BitLife is a phone game of fast lives in menus, a year per tap. LifeSim is one slow life in a real city on a 3D map, where people answer in their own words and remember you.
Three life sims, three ideas
1 in 8 Billion is about chance. You are one of the babies born on Earth right now, in a place drawn by the real number of births, and you live that one life to its end inside the real statistics of that place. Most lives are ordinary. It is free in the browser, at 1in8b.life, and it came out on October 5, 2026.
BitLife is about what if. You tap Age, a year goes by, and an event asks you to pick an answer. You can be a royal, a surgeon, or a bank robber, and the next life is one tap away. It is a phone game by Candywriter, out since 2018.
LifeSim is about the people around you. You pick who you are and a real city on a 3D map of Earth, and you live there a day at a time. The people have names, homes, and jobs. They answer what you type, in their own words, and they remember what you did.
Side by side
| 1 in 8 Billion | BitLife | LifeSim | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no ads. An optional keepsake pass is $3 once. | Free with ads. Bitizenship $9.99 once. | Free. No ads, nothing to buy. |
| Where it runs | Any browser | iPhone, Android | Any browser, iPhone app |
| How a life starts | You are born at random, by real births | A random life, or one you set up | You describe who you are, in a real city you pick |
| How time moves | About a year a minute, on its own | A year per tap | A day at a time, on its own |
| How you act | Pick a focus and make choices | Pick from a list | Say it in your own words |
| How long a life takes | About 30 to 90 minutes | Minutes | As long as you want |
| The world | The statistics of 172 countries and territories | Text and menus | The real Earth, in 3D |
| Age | Made for 15 and up | 18+ on the App Store | 13+ |
1 in 8 Billion is in 18 languages. LifeSim is in English for now.
Where they are alike
All three are life sims: you don't win, you live. All three are free to start, and your character grows older. In 1 in 8 Billion and BitLife a life runs from birth to death, a year at a time. In LifeSim you start at the age you write, and the days go on.
Which one to play
Play 1 in 8 Billion if…
You want to feel how much of a life is luck. You like real numbers, and a life that ends in an hour, with a record of it at the end.
Play BitLife if…
You want many lives, fast, with jokes, on your phone, and you love wild choices and ribbons.
Play LifeSim if…
You want one life that goes on, in a real city you know or want to know, with people who talk back and remember you. It is slower than both, and you write your own words.
Want the draw of 1 in 8 Billion in ten seconds? Our birth lottery draws a country by the same UN births. More picks are in games like 1 in 8 Billion and LifeSim vs BitLife.
Your first week in LifeSim
You pick a city. Any city, on a real map of Earth. You give your character a name and a reason to be there. Then you step out onto a real street, and there are people on it.
They’re not waiting for you. They have jobs to get to, homes to go back to, friends they see on Fridays. Say hi to one of them, in your own words, and they answer in theirs. Tell them something and they keep it. Tell their friend something and it gets around.
By the end of the week you have a place you go in the mornings, someone you’re avoiding, and someone you’re not. One player once stayed for thirteen hours straight. We checked.
LifeSim is a free game, in the browser and on iPhone. No ads and nothing to buy. Season 1 is in beta.
Questions
Is 1 in 8 Billion like BitLife?
In shape, yes: both run from birth to death, a year at a time. In spirit they differ. BitLife is a sandbox of wild choices and jokes. 1 in 8 Billion keeps you inside the real statistics of the place you were born, so most lives are ordinary.
Which is more realistic, 1 in 8 Billion or BitLife?
1 in 8 Billion. It takes the birthplace, life expectancy, income, and causes of death from public data, such as the UN World Population Prospects 2024 and the WHO. BitLife does not say it follows real statistics.
Can you choose your country in 1 in 8 Billion?
No. The place is drawn by the number of births, or by population if you pick that. You can enter where you were really born, to compare the two lives.
Where would I be born in the birth lottery?
Most likely in India: about 1 in 6 babies born in 2023 was born there. Then come China, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Our free birth lottery draws a country by the same UN numbers. Try the birth lottery.