Universe
Night Soil is a very mature game about sanitation in Tudor London.
As the exemplar of cultural progress in Europe, Tudor London (1485-1603) is at the spear’s edge of cultural and technological development. However, as modern plumbing is still generations away, the city is gradually filling up with human waste, making it a terribly fragrant place to live.
Gameplay
In this game, players run competing waste collection companies. During the day, neutral workers can be sent into London to advertise, gain the favor of local businesses, or upgrade their company’s assets. However, the growing crowd of workers tends to worsen the city’s waste problem.
At night, worker cards are used to carefully move waste cubes through London’s narrow streets to generate profit and recruit new workers. Each player begins with a starter deck and can purchase additional unique cards during the day phase, gradually building a small personal engine.
Night Soil blends several mechanics in an innovative way: victory points are the game’s currency, workers are neutral and can be recovered during the night phase, a guild system adds strategic depth, and the waste cube movement uses a shared mechanic—every move brings you closer to your goal, but may also benefit your opponents.
All of this is wrapped in a streamlined rule system, brought to life by dozens of illustrations from artist Jesse Gillespie.