Inventory
Learning paths through this topic
Judge evidence shown in a confrontation without punishing repeated tries
In an investigation game the player holds up an item against a claim, and the game must decide: caught them, wrong item, or right item at the wrong claim. Mistakes cost something, but not the same mistake twice. This entry shows how to separate those cases and keep the count fair.
Let cheap orders pass an unaffordable one, but not forever
A big castle at the front of the build queue blocks every hut behind it while the player saves up, yet if small orders always jump ahead, the castle never starts. This entry lets others pass a few times, then makes the queue wait so the savings can finally add up.
Let raiders steal from the stockpile but never from the vault
A raid that takes a share of everything can wipe out a player who just saved for hours, while a raid that takes nothing is pointless. This entry makes a protected part of each good untouchable, caps what the raiders can carry, and takes the most valuable goods first.
Ration a short supply between hungry buildings by priority
When there is not enough grain for the bakery, the barracks and the tavern, the one first in the list should not eat everything, and handing out equal shares can leave the hospital hungry. This entry serves the important ones fully and splits the rest fairly, to the last unit.
Work out the raw materials for a whole chain of recipes
One axe needs planks and sticks, planks come from logs, sticks from planks, and each step makes several at a time. Adding it up by hand goes wrong in exactly the places where a crafting step makes more than needed. This entry counts what to gather and what is left over.
Rehouse citizens after a house is torn down with the fewest moves
When one house is demolished or made smaller, re-sorting the whole town sends every worker across the map and breaks their routes. This entry keeps everyone who can stay where they are, moves only those who have to, and says clearly who ends up without a roof.
Reload a weapon so no bullets are lost and a half-empty magazine is topped up
When ammunition is scarce, players notice every missing round. Reloading with a few shots left, with almost nothing in reserve, or while already full must each do the right thing and keep the numbers honest. This entry gets the arithmetic and the odd cases right.
Stop two build queues from spending the same wood twice
With a barracks queue and a farm queue running side by side, both see the same wood and both promise to use it. This entry sets resources aside for an order, shows what is still free to promise, and lets a cancelled order give everything back.
Resupply units so the emptiest are topped up first
A supply wagon with too little ammunition for everyone should not fill the first squad to the brim while the last one has nothing. This entry hands out the load so that the squad running emptiest, compared with its own size, always gets the next unit, until the wagon is empty.
Give a quest reward only if every item fits in the bag
A quest hands out three things, the bag has room for two, and the third vanishes or the quest gets stuck. Checking each item alone says yes every time. This entry checks the whole reward together and leaves the bag untouched when it fails.
Send goods along a road without overfilling the town at the other end
Carts leave the farm every few seconds and arrive much later. If the town at the end only looks at what it holds now, it accepts too many, and the last carts arrive to a full storehouse. This entry counts goods on the road as already taken, so nothing is lost or duplicated.
Make the rewind key give back items gained or spent in a story scene
Story games let readers step back through earlier lines. If they step back past a line that handed over a key or took coins, the bag must go back too, exactly, and stop where the story says there is no way back. This entry records the changes in a way that can be reversed.