Controls
Reference for the keyboard and mouse controls in They Are Billions. Patch 0.92 introduced full key rebinding — you must switch the control preset to Custom in the options menu before any of the bindings become editable. If a default listed here doesn't match what your game shows, that's where to change it.
Display & Camera
| Input ⇅ | Action ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Hold Alt | Show health bars on every unit and building on screen at once. |
| Middle Mouse / F4 | Toggle the grid / terrain view. Reveals gaps in forests where infected can slip through — huge for planning walls. |
| E | Show the construction grid. |
| Tab (no building active) | Hide and restore the HUD. |
Selection
| Input ⇅ | Action ⇅ |
|---|---|
| F2 | Select your entire army in one press. |
| Ctrl + Left-Click a unit | Select all units of that type currently on screen. |
| Ctrl + Shift + Left-Click a unit | Select all units of that type anywhere in the game — useful for grabbing every Ranger across the map at once. |
| Enter | Select the Command Center. |
Unit Orders
| Input ⇅ | Action ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Q (units selected) | Attack move. Units will stop to attack any infected within range on the way to their destination. |
A regular move order makes units walk straight past danger to reach the destination, even while being attacked. Attack move (Q) makes them stop and engage anything they pass. Use it any time you're sending troops into contested territory.
Building & Placement
| Input ⇅ | Action ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Tab (during placement) | Rotate the structure. |
| Esc (during placement) | Cancel building placement. |
Control Groups
| Input ⇅ | Action ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + 1–8 | Assign the currently selected units to a control group. |
| 1–8 | Recall the control group. |
You can also assign groups by right-clicking the group number on the UI. A common setup is one group for the main army, one for fast units (Rangers / Snipers), and one bound to the Soldiers Center so you can hot-key back to it and queue more units without scrolling across the map.
Tips & Tricks
- Market sell speed-up — hold the right mouse button while left-clicking when selling in the market. The sell rate jumps dramatically; handy for dumping resources fast before a wave.
- Health-bar sweep — holding Alt every few seconds during a wave is the fastest way to spot a building that's quietly being chewed on at the edge of your colony.
- Custom preset gotcha — rebinding options stay greyed out until the control preset is switched to Custom in the options menu.