Introduction to Inventory and Power-ups

Badly wounded by the goblin, the hero reaches into their backpack. Uncorking a terrible-smelling potion and drinking it, their wounds close. Refreshed, the hero is ready to return to the good fight.

This scene is a staple of modern fantasy games: the adventurer finds an item on the map, stores it in their inventory, and then uses it later when needed. Substitute the smelly potion for a healing system controlled by sympathetic nanobots, and we’ve got a similar, sci-fi game mechanic.

With items and inventory systems, we can add variety to our game. Players can now make tactical decisions based on item use; they’ll need to consider whether it’s worth the potential injuries to reach an item despite the number of monsters who might be guarding it.

Before we can offer items for pick-up, however, we first need to design and create them.

What will we learn?

In this chapter, we’ll learn how to add items and power-ups to our game. Power-ups make the game more strategic because then collecting and managing resources becomes a conscious decision. Making our player ponder whether hunting for a nonessential item is worth the danger encourages them to keep playing and makes their failures feel less arbitrary and frustrating. It also rewards clever play.