Sand, salt and black ice in Night Plough

In Night Plough, sand gives the road grip right away, so the bus can climb over ice. Salt melts snow and ice slowly, and only when it is not too cold. On the black ice of nights 5 and 6, use sand. Press T, X or the Sand button to start spreading, and drive over the whole icy part.

What are sand and salt for?

Snow is not the only problem on a winter road. Where cars have driven, the snow is pressed flat and hard. Where water has frozen, there is ice. Your blade scrapes those off only slowly. A slippery road is a road with little grip. Grip is how well the tyres hold the road.

Your truck has a hopper at the back. A hopper is a big box that holds the grit and spreads it on the road behind you. You can fill it with sand or salt.

How do you spread sand or salt?

• T or X switches the hopper: Off → Sand → Salt → Off.
• The on-screen Sand button (nights 5 and 6, and in How to play) turns sand on and off. It shows Sand · On or Sand · Off.
• In Tools, the row Sand or salt shows Off, Sand or Salt.

The hopper only spreads while you drive on the road. It covers the whole width of the road behind you.

How much?

In Tools, the row How much changes how much comes out:

A lot is good for a short icy spot. It empties the hopper twice as fast, so turn it back to Normal afterwards.

Black ice on nights 5 and 6

Black ice is a thin, hard layer of ice that is hard to see. On nights 5 and 6 there is a strip of it on North square, a little before Pine corner. The bus can't get up it until it has sand on it. Then the bus stops in front of the ice, its card on the map says "Icy hill", and the line at the top says "Spread sand on North square".

How to fix it:

1. Plough the snow piles first. The tip says so too: "Plough the route. Then spread sand on the ice."
2. Turn on Sand before you reach North square. The line reminds you when you get close.
3. Drive over the whole icy strip. The sand covers the full width of the road.
4. If the bus still waits, drive over it again, or set How much to A lot.

Salt can't do this job on night 5. It is far too cold that night.

When does salt work?

Salt only melts snow and ice when the air is warmer than about -8 °C. The game does not show the temperature, so here is how each night feels:

Salt also stops melted water from freezing again. On a salted road, the water stays water. On a road with no salt, water freezes back into ice on a cold night. The exact temperatures are on the advanced tips page.

The icy hill: School hill

The coast town has one steep road: School hill, between Town square and School hill. It starts out icy. Cars that want to drive up it wait, and the map says "Icy hill" next to them. The school bus never needs it on its route, but sanding it helps the town's other traffic. See the town map and the traffic for the waiting reasons.

How slippery is a road?

Open the Town map, pick a road under Manage roads, and read its line, for example "3.2 cm of snow · a bit slippery". The three words are:

The words describe the whole road. A short strip of sand helps the bus at once, even if the road's words don't change.

Refilling sand, salt and fuel

You start every night with a full hopper and a full tank. If you run low, drive back to the depot and press Refill at the depot in Tools. It fills fuel and the hopper for free. It only works at the depot itself; anywhere else nothing happens.

See also

• How to plough snow
• All six nights
• Glossary
• Play Night Plough and beat the black ice.

• About Night Plough
• All game guides