● Intermediate · Tutorial 2 of 6

Inventory — Items, Combinations & Collectibles

Items are the currency of puzzle logic. A key you pick up in the kitchen unlocks the door in the hallway — that journey from discovery to use is what makes escape games satisfying. This tutorial covers the full inventory system: how to define items, make objects pickable, combine items into new items, use items on objects, scatter collectible coins and gems, and build a shop scene.

⏱ 12 min 📚 Intermediate 📄 Requires: INT 1 complete

What You'll Learn

The two inventory systems — items vs. collectibles
How to define named inventory items
Making scene objects pickable via events
Using inventory items on scene objects
Building item combination recipes
Placing coins and gems as collectibles
Setting up the shop scene type
Item ID best practices

Two Types of Collectibles

EscapeMaker has two separate systems for things the player "picks up." Understanding which is which prevents confusion:

Inventory Items

—

Named objects (key, screwdriver). Sit in the bottom inventory bar. Used on scene objects. Drive puzzle logic.

Collectibles

—

Coins and gems. Fill a counter shown in the HUD. Spent in the shop. Used for bonus/exploration rewards.

The two systems are entirely separate — a collectible coin is never in the inventory bar, and an inventory item is never counted in the collectible counter. You can use both in the same game.

	Inventory Items	Collectibles (Coins/Gems)
Shown in	Bottom inventory bar	HUD counter (top or bottom)
Used by	Clicking item then object	Clicking the sprite (auto-collected)
Can be combined	Yes	No
Can be spent	By Remove action	In the shop scene
Drive events via	Object Use Item trigger	Item Collected trigger, Collectible Count condition

Defining Inventory Items

Before any item can be picked up or used, it must be defined in the Inventory Panel. Defining an item registers it with the engine — it does not give the item to the player automatically.

Click the Inventory tab in the left panel.
Click Add Item.
Fill in the item fields.

Item Fields

Field	Description
Name	The display name shown in the inventory bar tooltip and in dialogue when the item is referenced. Example: Rusty Key.
ID	A short identifier used internally — in event triggers, conditions, and actions. Auto-generated from the name (spaces become underscores, lowercase), but you can override it. Example: `rusty_key`. Must be unique.
Icon Image	The image shown as the item's slot icon in the inventory bar. Upload from your asset library. Recommended: square, 64×64 or 128×128px, transparent background.
Description	Short text shown when the player hovers or taps an item in the inventory bar. One sentence is ideal. Example: "An old rusty key. What does it open?"

Plan your item IDs before you start building events. Once an ID is used in dozens of events and conditions across your game, renaming it means updating every one of those references. Short, clear, consistent IDs like rusty_key, blue_gem, torn_map are easy to search and remember.

Defining an item does not add it to the player's inventory. You still need an event with an "Add Item to Inventory" action to actually give it to the player during gameplay.

Inventory Panel showing three defined items with icons

The Inventory Panel — define all items here before using them in events.

Making Objects Pickable

To let the player pick up an item from a scene, you place a sprite representing the item, then use an event to add it to inventory and remove the sprite when clicked. The sprite is the visual; the inventory item is the logical object.

Place a sprite on your scene representing the item (e.g. a key image). Name it key_sprite. Set Interactive to ON.
With the sprite selected, open the Event tab and click Add Event.
Configure the event:

Field	Value
Name	PickupKey
Trigger	Object Click → `key_sprite`
Conditions	Has Item "rusty_key" = false (prevents picking up twice)
Actions	Add Item to Inventory "rusty_key" → Hide Object `key_sprite`

The condition "Has Item rusty_key = false" ensures the sprite only disappears once — if the player somehow clicks it again after already having the key, nothing happens. The Hide Object action makes the sprite vanish from the scene, simulating the item being picked up.

Always hide the sprite after pickup — don't delete it. The sprite still exists as a hidden object; if you later want to restore the scene to its initial state (e.g. for a "new game" or "replay" flow), you can Show it again via another event.

Using Items on Objects

Once an item is in the player's inventory bar, they can use it on scene objects. The player clicks the item in the bar to "hold" it, then clicks a scene object. If an event on that object has the matching "Object Use Item" trigger, that event fires.

Add the event to the target object (the object being used on — e.g. the locked door):

Field	Value
Name	UnlockWithKey
Trigger	Object Use Item → `door` with item "rusty_key"
Conditions	Has Item "rusty_key" = true (safety check)
Actions	Remove Item from Inventory "rusty_key" → Show Dialogue "The door unlocks!" → Navigate to Scene "Hallway"

What Happens When the Wrong Item Is Used

If the player uses an item on an object and no matching "Object Use Item" event exists for that combination, nothing happens — no feedback, no error. This is often fine for a few objects, but for important interactive objects it's good practice to add a catch-all event:

Field	Value
Trigger	Object Click → `door` (plain click, no item required)
Conditions	Puzzle Solved "DoorLock" = false
Actions	Show Dialogue "The door is locked."

This gives the player feedback when they click the door without the key — the game feels responsive rather than broken.

The "Object Use Item" trigger is specific to a particular item. You can add multiple "Object Use Item" events to the same object — one for each valid item — so the same door could be unlocked by several different key types depending on which the player has.

Item Combinations

Item combinations let you create crafting-style mechanics: two items in the player's inventory can be combined to produce a third, new item. All combinations are defined upfront in the Inventory Panel.

Adding a Combination

Click the Inventory tab in the left panel.
Click Add Combination.
Set Item A and Item B to the two source items.
Set Result to the item produced. (The result item must already be defined in the Inventory Panel.)
Optionally set a Fail Message — text shown if the player tries to combine the items but something prevents it. In practice, if a combination definition exists and both items are present, it always succeeds — the fail message is shown for the reverse case (combining in the wrong order, or a future condition gate).

How the Player Combines Items

The player opens the inventory bar and clicks one item to hold it, then clicks a second item in the bar. If a combination exists for that pair, the two source items are removed and the result item is added automatically. No event needs to fire — the combination engine handles it.

Hold "Tape"

→

Click "Wire"

→

Result: "Taped Wire"

Combinations are order-independent — "Tape + Wire" and "Wire + Tape" both work. You only need to define the combination once. The result item is what you define; both source items are consumed.

If you want to trigger extra events when a combination happens, use the Items Combined trigger in the Global Events panel. For example: play a crafting sound, show a brief dialogue like "You wrapped the wire with tape." These events fire automatically alongside the combination.

Item combination editor showing Bucket + Water = Full Bucket

Combination editor — Item A + Item B = Result Item.

Collectibles — Coins & Gems

Collectibles are interactive sprites that the player clicks to collect. They increment a running counter displayed in the game HUD. Unlike inventory items, collectibles have a point value and don't appear in the inventory bar — they feed into the collectible counter used by the shop and by condition checks.

Placing a Collectible

Place a sprite on your scene (use a coin or gem image from your asset library).
With the sprite selected, go to the Property Panel.
Check the Is Collectible toggle.
Set Type: Coin or Gem.
Set Value: the point value added to the counter when collected (default 1).

When the player clicks the sprite in the game, it disappears and the HUD counter increments by the item's value. You don't need to add any events — the collectible behavior is automatic once "Is Collectible" is checked.

Using Collectible Counts in Events

The Collectible Count condition checks how many collectibles the player has found. Use it to gate progress — for example, "only allow access to the final room if the player has collected all 10 gems." Add the condition to any event's condition list:

Field	Value
Condition Type	Collectible Count
Type	Gem
Amount	10 (or whatever the total in your game is)
Comparison	Greater than or equal to

Coins and Gems are counted separately. You can use both types in the same game — for example, coins buy hints in the shop, while gems unlock bonus scenes. The HUD shows each counter independently.

Property Panel showing Is Collectible toggle and Type options

Enable Is Collectible on any sprite to make it a coin or gem pickup.

The Shop Scene

The shop lets players spend their collected coins or gems to purchase hints, unlock bonus content, or acquire special items. It uses a dedicated scene type that renders the shop UI automatically.

Creating a Shop Scene

Add a new scene (Insert → Scene or right-click Room Panel → Add Scene).
Right-click the scene in the Room Panel and choose Scene Properties.
Set Scene Type to shop.
Set a background image for the scene (optional — a shop backdrop illustration works well).

Configuring Shop Items

Open Game Settings (toolbar → File → Game Settings, or the gear icon).
Find the Shop section.
Click Add Shop Item for each thing you want to sell. Options:

Shop Item Type	Description
Inventory Item	Adds a defined inventory item to the player's bag when purchased.
Scene Unlock	Unlocks navigation to a normally inaccessible scene (bonus room, extra content).

Each shop item has a price (in coins or gems) and a label. The shop scene renders the full shop UI automatically when the player visits that scene type — you don't need to build the UI manually.

Linking to the Shop

The shop scene is accessed the same way any scene is — via a hotspot, a navigation link, or a "Navigate to Scene" action in an event. A common pattern is to place a "Hint Shop" button sprite somewhere visible and wire it:

Trigger: Object Click → shop_button
Actions: Navigate to Scene → your shop scene

Always plan your collectible economy: how many coins/gems can the player find in total, and how much should each shop item cost? A common rule of thumb is to let a thorough player find roughly 1.5× the cost of all shop items, so completionist players can buy everything without feeling like they missed out.

Create a 3-item chain: define three inventory items — "Bucket", "Water", and "Full Bucket". Place a Bucket sprite as a pickable object. Place a well sprite with an "Object Use Item" event: Use "Bucket" on well → Remove "Bucket" → Add "Full Bucket". Place a campfire sprite with an "Object Use Item" event: Use "Full Bucket" on fire → Remove "Full Bucket" → Show Dialogue "You extinguish the fire!" → Hide Object "fire_sprite".