7 Billion Humans

Lore & Background

7 Billion Humans is a puzzle video game developed and published by American studio Tomorrow Corporation. It was released on August 23, 2018, for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, and the Nintendo Switch on October 25, 2018. The game was later released for Android on July 25, 2021. Designed as a sequel to Human Resource Machine, players solve puzzles by moving multiple data cubes with human workers using an in-game programming language.

Reader's Guide

7 Billion Humans is a puzzle video game developed and published by American studio Tomorrow Corporation. It was released on August 23, 2018, for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, and the Nintendo Switch on October 25, 2018, with an Android release on July 25, 2021. As a sequel to Human Resource Machine, the game features over 60 programming puzzles where players program human workers to move numerical data cubes. The programming language resembles assembly language, allowing loops, logic, memory storage, and calculations. The same program controls all humans simultaneously, but each human follows individual logic based on state. Players can debug by stepping through the program and watching individual humans. After a working solution, the game simulates 25 additional cases with random factors; if the program fails, the player must account for that. Players are ranked on program steps and cycles (seconds), with optional challenges to beat average marks set by Tomorrow Corporation. The game was generally reviewed positively, with Destructoid calling it 'work...but enjoyable work' and Harry Slater of Pocket Gamer rating it 4.5/5 stars, calling it 'a brilliant mixture of coding, humour, and puzzling.'

Did You Know?

• The game was released for Android on July 25, 2021.
• It was designed as a sequel to Human Resource Machine.
• Players are ranked on the number of program steps and the number of seconds (cycles) it takes for the program to complete.
• The game simulates 25 additional cases with random factors after a player achieves a working solution.

Development & Platform Rollout

7 Billion Humans was crafted by Tomorrow Corporation, an American game studio, as the spiritual successor to their earlier title Human Resource Machine. The game made its initial debut on August 23, 2018, arriving simultaneously for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms. Just over two months later, on October 25, 2018, the Nintendo Switch version launched, bringing the experience to handheld and docked play. The title's platform expansion continued well beyond its initial window, with an Android port arriving on July 25, 2021, making the game accessible to mobile players roughly three years after its first release. Tomorrow Corporation handled both development and publication in-house, maintaining full creative control over the project. The game's core premise builds directly on its predecessor's foundation: players once again take on the role of programming human workers, but this time they must coordinate multiple workers simultaneously rather than directing a single individual. This shift from one worker to many represents the central design evolution that distinguishes the sequel from the original.

Programming the Workforce

At the heart of 7 Billion Humans lies a programming language deliberately modeled after assembly, equipping players with tools for simple loops, conditional logic, memory storage, and basic calculations. The game presents over 60 distinct puzzles, each typically requiring the player to orchestrate human workers in moving numerical data cubes—tasks might involve sorting cube values into a specific order or routing them to designated locations. A defining mechanical twist is that a single program governs every worker on the floor at once, yet each human independently interprets that same code based on their own current state, such as whether they are moving left or right depending on the value of the cube they carry. Players can debug by stepping through the program line by line and selecting any individual worker to observe their unique path. As with Human Resource Machine, code can be edited in textual form using copy-and-paste, giving programmers a familiar workflow. If all workers reach the end of the program without the solution being met, the player must revisit and rework their logic.

Optimization & Hidden Depth

Achieving a working solution in 7 Billion Humans is only the first hurdle. Once a program successfully completes a puzzle, the game immediately stress-tests it by simulating 25 additional scenarios in which random variables—such as the values on data cubes—shift, potentially exposing edge cases the player had not anticipated. If the program fails under any of these randomized conditions, the player must refine their logic to handle the full range of possibilities. For puzzles where the solution holds, the game then ranks performance on two axes: the total number of program steps and the number of seconds (cycles) required for completion, benchmarked against average marks established by Tomorrow Corporation. Most levels offer two optional optimization challenges—beating the average step count and beating the average cycle count—and notably these goals can be diametric, meaning the program that minimizes steps may not be the one that minimizes time, and neither challenge needs to be solved in a single program. Beyond these, certain puzzles are entirely optional and demand significantly more advanced programming techniques.

Critical Response

Upon its 2018 release, 7 Billion Humans earned generally favorable reviews from the gaming press. Destructoid struck a balanced tone, describing the experience as "work...but enjoyable work," acknowledging that "there could be some hard-to-ignore faults" while ultimately affirming that "the experience is fun." This framing captured the game's identity as a demanding intellectual exercise that nonetheless delivers genuine satisfaction. Harry Slater writing for Pocket Gamer offered an even more enthusiastic assessment, characterizing the title as "a brilliant mixture of coding, humour, and puzzling" and awarding it 4.5 out of 5 stars. The critical consensus reflected appreciation for how the game layered its assembly-style programming with lighthearted workplace humor and escalating puzzle complexity. Reviewers recognized the game as a meaningful evolution from Human Resource Machine, with the multi-worker coordination system and the post-solution randomization testing adding depth that the original lacked. The positive reception across platforms—from PC to Nintendo Switch—helped cement Tomorrow Corporation's reputation as a studio capable of crafting accessible yet genuinely challenging programming puzzles.

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