Tousheng。
Right now, about four babies are born every second. Next, it's your turn to become one of them. Where you're born, your family, your sex — all decided by the world, just as it once was for you. Then you live that person's whole life in a few minutes.
The Book of Lives
- Be born somewhere in the world.
- Choose what matters as the years pass.
- Keep the moments that make this life yours.
If you were born right now
Weighted by each country's yearly births — being born in India is about 175× as likely as in Taiwan.
Child death, poverty, disease, war and loss appear here in the proportions real statistics say. Figures come from public data by the UN, World Bank and WHO; the events and writing are original. Ages 15+.
One in 8 billion: where would your life begin?
Take time to read a life year by year. Pause at an event, look at the country profile and consider how the starting circumstances shape the story.
1in8b means one in 8 billion: a way to think about one life among many. Tousheng is a life simulation game that gives you a random birthplace and lets you follow the years, make choices and read what happens.
Read the birth odds as a share of births
To read a country's starting chance, divide its annual births by the total annual births in the game's dataset. The birth certificate expresses that share as an approximate one-in-N figure. It is a chance of drawing that birthplace within the model, not the chance of reproducing every detail of that particular child. Starting another life draws again; it does not guarantee a new country.
Follow four states alongside the events
Health, Joy, Mind and Bonds describe the character's changing game state. Read the effect hints under each focus before choosing: studying, time with friends and work can involve different trade-offs. Compare the next events with those changes, and open the profile for country data. Higher scores do not guarantee a particular ending, and country averages remain context rather than an individual forecast.
How birth probabilities work
The game uses a dataset of 172 countries. It draws a birthplace using each country's annual births as a weight, so the countries do not each have a 1-in-172 chance. A country with more births in the dataset is more likely to be selected. The result describes the game's model, not your own probability of being born there.
Play a year, or let life unfold
Start a new life, read the birth certificate and choose a focus as the years pass. Make event choices yourself, or turn on automatic choices. Change the speed, pause to read the timeline and star moments you want to keep. The profile shows the character's circumstances; the final summary looks back over that life.
Statistics set the background
Country indicators help shape the simulation, while random events and decisions create the story. A national average does not describe every person. The character, lifespan and cause of death are game outcomes, not a prediction of your health, future income or life expectancy.
Questions before you begin
Is Tousheng the official 1in8b.life website?
No. Tousheng is an independent life simulation game. It is not the official 1in8b.life website and does not claim an affiliation.
Can I play without an account?
Yes. The game is free to play in your browser and does not require an account.
Where is my progress saved?
Progress is saved in this browser on this website when local storage is available. Different domains and devices have separate saves; clearing site data can remove them.
Can I change the language during a life?
Yes. There are 14 language options. Switching languages also translates the life history and cause of death without starting the life again.