Night Soil

About this board game

Night Soil is a mature sanitation board game for 2–5 players, with plays lasting about 90 minutes. Set in Tudor London from 1485 to 1603, it places players in charge of competing night soil companies during an era of cultural and technological development—but one still generations away from modern plumbing.

As London gradually fills with human waste, the city becomes a terribly fragrant place to live. By night, players use laborer cards to carefully maneuver waste cubes through the capital’s narrow streets. The goal is to turn this unpleasant civic problem into profit while also recruiting workers for the company.

By day, those workers can be sent into London to shape the company’s fortunes. Their possible tasks include:

• Advertising the company
• Garnering favor with local businesses
• Improving the company’s assets

Yet growth comes with a complication: crowds of workers tend to add to London’s waste problem. Players must therefore manage the relationship between building their workforce and contributing to the very sanitation crisis their businesses address.

With its distinctive Tudor setting and deliberately mature subject matter, Night Soil offers a memorable take on running a historical service company. Nighttime movement, daytime company development, recruiting, advertising, and business relationships all contribute to the struggle for success.

When the game ends, the player who has made the most money wins. For a game about sanitation in Tudor London, Night Soil turns an unusually messy subject into a focused contest of company management and profit.