1 in 8 Billion Controls: Pause, Speed, Auto Mode & Menus

The life screen is a recording desk: a year counter, a status panel, a life record, and a control bar across the top. The bar is easy to ignore until a decision arrives and the year clock keeps moving.

This page is a reference for every control in the build we checked (v0.8.47, 27 October 2026). The labels can change in a patch; the functions are what matter.

The control bar, left to right

Pause

Pause stops the year clock. Press it again to continue.

Use it before you read a decision, open the money sheet, or leave the tab. The game does not punish you for pausing; the years simply wait.

Speed: 1×, 2×, 4×, 8×, 12×, 16×

The speed buttons change how fast a game year passes. They do not change:

• the country draw,
• the family you are born into,
• the events,
• the decisions,
• the age at death.

At the one-hour pace, a year is about 40–60 seconds at 1×. At 16×, it is roughly 2.5–4 seconds. At the 30-minute pace, everything is twice as fast; at 1.5 hours, 1.5 times slower.

A practical rhythm:

• 1× or 2× for the first few years, while you learn the record and the birth card.
• 4× or 8× for ordinary years.
• 16× for stretches you have already read, or for a quick run.
• Pause whenever a decision or a money screen opens.

Next decision

Next decision fast-forwards to the next decision. It is not a skip button for the life; it is a skip button for the quiet years. The decision still waits for your answer.

Use it when the life record is repeating itself and you want the next meaningful choice. Do not use it if you are trying to read the yearly events; it will jump past them.

Auto mode

Auto mode makes decisions for you and lets you watch. It is useful for:

• seeing how a life unfolds without managing every year,
• testing a country or a setting,
• a background run while you do something else.

It is not useful for a run you care about. Auto mode does not optimize; it resolves. The character will take paths you would not have chosen, and the death record will be a record of those paths.

Music

Music toggles the calm background track. It has no effect on the simulation. The volume control is beside it on the birth screen.

Pauses

Pauses toggles the reflective stops at ages 5, 15, 30, 50 and 70. When they are on, the game stops and asks one question; you can leave a line. When they are off, the life runs through those ages without the prompt.

The pauses do not change the character. They are for you. If you are playing a fast run, turn them off; if you are playing for the record, leave them on.

Light or dark

Light or dark changes the interface theme. It has no effect on the simulation. The game follows the device by default; the button overrides it for the session.

Family and life

Family and life opens the household panel: parents, siblings, spouse, children, and the people in the life. It is the place to see who exists, who has died, and who is still connected. Use it before a family decision so you know who you are deciding for.

Spend & invest

Spend & invest opens the money sheet. The game says time stands still while you choose. The sheet includes:

• Ways of living — recurring costs such as food, housing, transport, insurance, children’s school fees and care.
• How to invest — bank deposit, bonds, balanced fund, stocks, world index, property fund, or picking shares yourself.
• Buy a home, Homes to let, business, debt and other big-ticket decisions.

The money guide covers the options and the order to use them.

Exit

Exit leaves the life. The life stays saved in the browser. Open the game again in the same browser and choose Continue.

Exit is not delete. To delete a life, use the past-lives screen and the delete control. A deleted life cannot be brought back.

On a phone

The build puts the secondary controls behind the ⋯ menu: Auto mode, music, pauses, the frightening-scenes switch, light/dark, feedback, Family and life, Spend & invest, and Exit. The primary bar keeps Pause, the speed buttons and Next decision.

If a control seems missing, open ⋯ before assuming the game removed it.

A control routine for a first run

1. Birth: read the card, set the optional birthplace only if you want the comparison, press Begin this life.
2. Ages 0–5: leave the speed at 4×–8×, read the record, do not hunt for a focus.
3. School: pause at each decision, choose a focus, then resume.
4. Every decade: open Spend & invest, check income, recurring costs and cash buffer.
5. Before a family decision: open Family and life to see who is involved.
6. At 5, 15, 30, 50, 70: if the pause appears, use it. It is the only place the game asks you to reflect rather than optimize.
7. At the end: read the death record before you start another life.

What to do if the controls seem stuck

• The year clock is not moving: check whether the game is paused. Press Pause again.
• A decision is waiting: look for the decision dialog or the “A decision is waiting” notice. The life will not move until it is resolved.
• The speed buttons do nothing: the life may be paused at a decision or a money screen. Close the sheet and try again.
• The page is unresponsive: refresh. The life is saved in the browser; the game should restore the current year.
• The life is gone: check that you are in the same browser and not a private window. Lives are stored locally, not in an account. If you moved them, use the code from Move my lives.

Controls vs settings

The controls are not the same as the birth settings. The birth settings choose the world, the draw, the pace and the optional comparison. The controls change how you watch and answer the life. Changing the speed does not change the draw; changing the draw requires a new life.