Hoarding items is a staple in many videogame genres. In RPG’s in particular, players often build up such vast stashes of items, keeping them organized becomes part of the core gameplay loop. How can we reverse this trend and create a less extractive relationship between players and their game worlds, where having more stuff isn’t always the answer?

In Death Stranding, each piece of inventory comes with a weight penalty that affects your ability to move through rough terrain.

80 Days defuses players’ hoarding habits by making their inventory space tiny, forcing them to think about how useful each item really is.

In Don’t Starve, food items gradually deteriorate, encouraging players to leave them be so that they can be of use later, or share them with other characters or players.

Close cousin of Repair, Re-use, Recycle.