SPOILHEAP

What is SPOILHEAP?

SPOILHEAP is a single-player browser game built around a rescue dig. A field is scheduled for construction, and the player has a limited window to read its buried sequence before the developer and machine take over. The view is a cut through the ground from the side, with deposits stacked oldest at the bottom and later features above. Ploughsoil, pits, ditches, roundhouses, flint walls, and a mosaic floor can all appear. Digging removes each layer permanently, so the notes and printed record become the surviving account.

The game combines incremental progression with archaeological decision-making. Seven generated fields offer 57 kinds of find, and each find is drawn from a seed. Finds go into a cabinet with labels showing where they lay and how much of that context was recorded. The tone is relaxed, but the central pressure is not: every excavation destroys the thing being studied, and the report is the only lasting version.

How to play

Choose a tool for each deposit rather than treating every layer the same. A trowel records everything but takes a very long time. A mattock moves through soil quickly and writes almost nothing down. A find pays its worth multiplied by the share recorded, and a context only counts once recording reaches 70 percent. That makes ploughsoil a candidate for the mattock, while a dark pit fill rewards the trowel.

Order matters as much as tool choice. A layer can be read only after whatever lay above it has been removed. Dig beneath something still standing and the finds lose their date and most of their value. Red on the section marks what is in the way, and a wider trench can take it in. Every bucket also goes onto a spoil heap. A distant tip is safe but means a long walk; a near tip shortens the walk, buries good ground, and can run back into the trench once its foot reaches that point.

The developer arrives on a set date and removes what remains. A week can be bought if the phone call is tolerable. When the site ends, the next field opens and purchased equipment carries forward.

Controls

Everything in SPOILHEAP can be handled with a click or a tap. On a phone, the upright and sideways layouts are separate, and a tap takes effect when the finger lifts. That makes the browser interface usable without a keyboard, while the game also maps several actions to keys.

Q, W, E, and R set the pace. Number keys 1 through 4 switch tabs. Space pauses, S changes speed, and M controls sound. Those bindings cover the main loop: choosing how quickly to work, moving between views, stopping the action, adjusting time, and muting audio. The control set is small and easy to remember, so the challenge sits in deciding what to record and what to sacrifice rather than in learning complex commands.

Tips for your first run

Treat the recording threshold as a budget. A context reaches its value at 70 percent, so spending trowel time above that mark is usually wasted, while rushing a rich deposit below it cheapens every find inside. Use the mattock on ploughsoil, then switch to the trowel for a dark pit fill or any deposit holding finds worth preserving.

Plan the spoil heap before the first bucket. A far tip protects the trench at the cost of walking time, while a near tip saves steps but buries good ground and may creep back into the excavation. Keep the section clear, remove overburden before reading lower layers, and avoid digging beneath standing features until the obstruction is handled.

• Match the tool to the deposit: fast mattock for ploughsoil, slow trowel for a dark pit fill.
• Watch the 70 percent recording mark before moving on.
• Place the spoil heap where the walk and the risk both make sense.
• Remove overburden before reading a lower layer.
• Buy a week if the phone call is tolerable.

Content and replayability

Each site closes with a printed report. It shows the section as it stood, in colour wherever the record was captured on paper, and includes a Harris matrix of what lay on what. That report is the durable result of a dig in which the ground itself is destroyed. The cabinet provides a second record: every find is generated by the game from a seed, with sherds drawn by rim and coins by emperor, and each label preserves where the object lay and how much of that context was recorded.

Replay value comes from the generated fields and the trade-offs between them. Seven fields can be excavated, and 57 kinds of find can appear across them. Purchases carry into the next site: extra diggers, plus volunteers who dig quickly but record poorly until supervised. Sieves, geophysics, a planning frame, and a photo tower support the work. Sampling dates a context. A foreman sets the pace, and a night watchman keeps an eye on metal-detector users. The browser save means progress persists, and the crew continue digging while the player is away.

Presentation and performance

SPOILHEAP uses pixel art for its cut-away ground and generated finds. The soils are produced by a pixel generator, while every section and every find is drawn by the game from a seed. Sherds vary by rim and coins by emperor, so the cabinet fills with objects that reflect the excavation rather than a fixed set. Music and sound are synthesised by the game's own code.

Performance is tied to the HTML5 browser build. The game saves itself in the browser and requires no account. On a phone, upright and sideways each have their own layout, and taps register when the finger lifts. The crew keep digging while the player is away, so progress can continue without a session being open. The interface is built around click or tap input, with keyboard shortcuts for pace, tabs, pause, speed, and sound.

Who should play it

SPOILHEAP suits players who enjoy incremental games with a management problem attached. The appeal is not just watching numbers rise: each layer can be read only once, each bucket must go somewhere, and every find's value depends on how much of its context was written down. Archaeology enthusiasts will recognise the rescue-dig frame, from ploughsoil and pits to roundhouses, flint walls, and a mosaic floor. Players who like a relaxed pace can work through seven generated fields, while those who want pressure can race the developer's arrival.

It is also a good fit for browser players who want a game that saves locally and needs no account. The cabinet and printed report give collectors and completionists a reason to care about recording quality, not only excavation speed. The pixel-art presentation and synthesised sound keep the tone gentle, even when a near spoil heap is burying good ground or a standing feature is blocking the section.