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Save Room – Organization Puzzle has turned the grid-based inventory system largely popularized by Resident Evil 4 into an entire game, and it’s only $2 on Steam (opens in new tab).
Resident Evil 4 wasn’t the first or only game to challenge players with careful inventory management in this style, but it’s become a touchstone for the approach and it was clearly a major influence on Save Room. The eggs and multi-colored healing herbs are a dead ringer for the Leon Kennedy-led suitcase shuffling sim, and the rules of the game will feel familiar to fans of Resident Evil, to say nothing of several survival shooters and even some older RPGs.
As PC Gamer (opens in new tab) noted, the whole game is about rotating and combining items to make everything fit in your limited inventory space. You can pack ammunition into weapons like revolvers and shotguns, condense herbs into healing consumables or other items, and then smush everything together like you’ve overstuffed your suitcase before a two-day stay at a hotel just in case you really need three spare pairs of pants.
The kicker is that there’s also a survival element to this: you won’t be seeing any action yourself, but you’ve got to make sure your prepared supplies are enough to handle the fights apparently happening off-screen. “The goal is to make all the items fit in your inventory, while all your guns are loaded and your life is not too low,” as developer Fractal Projects puts it.
Save Room – Organization Puzzle is a clever application of one of gaming’s most satisfying and underappreciated systems, and $2 seems like a steal for its 40 levels. If you find yourself hankering for more inexpensive puzzles, you can also try Fractal Project’s now three-game series on how to bathe your cat (opens in new tab), which I swear I didn’t make up and which clocks in at $2.50 altogether.
Speaking of Resident Evil 4: director Shinji Mikami says it’s the game with the least of himself in it.
