What players carry.
WHAT AN INVENTORY SYSTEM DECIDES
What can be held How much How it is organised How items are used
WHAT CAPACITY LIMITS PROVIDE
Meaningful decisions about what to keep.
WHAT THEY COST
Management work the player may resent.
WHAT MAKES LIMITS TOLERABLE
Easy disposal Clear indication of value Storage available somewhere
WHAT MAKES THEM INTOLERABLE
Frequent interruption to manage Backtracking to store things Uncertainty about what is worth keeping
WHAT ITEM DEFINITIONS NEED
A stable identifier A display name, separate Mechanical effects, as data Rarity or category Stack behaviour
WHY IDENTIFIERS MUST BE STABLE
Renaming an item otherwise breaks every save and reference.
WHAT TO DECIDE
Whether items are consumed, equipped, or both Whether they degrade Whether they can be traded
WHAT TO BE CAREFUL WITH
Items whose effects interact unpredictably Items that are strictly better than others, making choice trivial Sorting that loses the player's arrangement
WHAT TO TEST
A full inventory, a new item arriving, and the resulting decision.
