Storage Hunter Simulator Preview

Storage auctions have always been such a weird concept to me: someone decides not to pay for their storage space or other happenstances result in it becoming abandoned, forcing the company that owns it to put it, and its contents, on auction to make back losses! This itself seems sad and a bit invasive to me, but then I realise there are people that do attend these auctions as a second or even primary job and I don’t know what to think. Then again, my own love of flea markets may be equally strange to someone else, so I decided to see what the storage life was like via a peek at the Early Access title, Storage Hunter Simulator.

Suppose you’ve ever watched shows like Storage Wars or Auction Hunters. In that case, you’ll know exactly what to expect from Raccoons Studio’s simulator title: you sign up for auctions in your area, drive up to the lot, and bid on its contents based on what you can see from the doorway. If you bid the highest of the bunch, the container’s trove of goodies is yours to do with as you will! As you go through each item, some are sold off immediately, others are scanned to see their condition and worth, and some need to be taken to specialists for analysis or processing.

The auctions themselves are pretty simple. Using your handy smartphone, you can sign up for any currently running auction, which will add an objective to your HUD indicating where you need to drive. Once you get on location, the auctioneer will open up the container or storage space, allowing you to have a look at what it could potentially offer. Going into the space itself is not allowed, so you’ll have to decide how much you’re willing to sink into it beforehand. Once you’re ready, the bidding commences, wherein each participant, well, bids on the store until a sum is reached. You can add money to the bid in small increments which depend on the current price of the lot. So, if the current bid is under 200, you can add in increments of 10, whereas afterwards, you’ll have to put in cash in increments of 20 and so on. The competition can be quite fierce, with some seemingly dull lots going WAY over my estimate, but such is the bidding world. Luckily, if the price passes your budget, you can exit the auction at any time.

The small glimpse into the lot on sale, while not super helpful, can give you some useful insight into how valuable the items within could be. For example, you can roughly tell what condition something is by its appearance and, as a rule, garbage bags and other trash are usually sold instantly for a few dollars apiece. While this method of guesstimating is not perfect by any means, it is nice that there are some hints given before bidding.

f you manage to snag a container for yourself, you are then tasked with clearing out all the items and valuing them. This is easy enough, as you have a handy dandy Verification Tool that can tell you both the worth and condition of items up to a certain rarity, depending on the tool’s level. Another useful tool is the Fixing Tool, which can be used to raise the condition of any item up to the tool’s current capabilities. You may also find closed chests or boxes, which can themselves be sold, but they often contain a few more fun knick-knacks for your collection. You may even find rare items, so it’s always worth the hassle! They can be locked, however, so you may need to take them to the local locksmith.

And with that stellar segue, we get into my absolutely favourite part of the game: packing all your junk in your tiny pickup. You see, the items in these containers are often big, bulky, and unwieldy, to say the least, and the absence of an easy inventory to store them in means you will have to channel your inner dad on holiday as you work to fit each item on top of each other to avoid making more than one trip! Funnily enough, the game does have some physics, so your Leaning Tower of Junksa may topple if you’re not careful. However, the second you hop into your vehicle, all of the physics ceases to work, and you can be on your merry way with half a kitchen unit hanging on by a thread.

Usually, your first stop will be to a pawn shop to offload your winnings, but in some cases, you may find yourself in possession of a rarer piece, which your current tool cannot identify. In these cases, you can either sell the item for a pittance or take it to a specialist. Leaving the item with an expert for some time will result in you getting the coveted details, though it does cost a bit. Often, however, these rare pieces are worth a lot more than the identification fee, so it’s usually worth it!

Little by little, you’ll gather money and renown using your amazing auction skills, which you can use to get into higher-class auctions, buy better equipment, and even set up a pawn shop of your own! Items you sell at your own pawnshop can be sold at a higher price but take a bit longer to sell, so if you’re running low on cash, it may be easier to drive somewhere else to make some quick profit. As you keep raking in the dough, you can add specialisations to your store, allowing you to sell items belonging to a certain category for 20% more!

Storage Hunter Simulator is very similar to other simulator titles in that the basic loop is entertaining and simple enough that you can just keep doing it with your brain on autopilot. However, there are some niggles which slightly sour the experience. For example, you are required to drive somewhat long distances to get to specialists, auctions, or pawn shops, which is fine by itself, but the slow speed and fascinatingly quick petrol usage can make each trip feel frustrating. Additionally, the auctions can be a bit boring as the best strategy seems to be to keep bidding the lowest amount until either you win or the price soars past sense. With this strategy in hand, I don’t think I lost money on an auction once! However, this may change as the game gets closer to release.

I enjoyed Storage Hunter Simulator quite a bit and I do hope the game keeps improving, as it does have potential. The core idea is fun and the truth is, there’s something about being able to dig through someone else’s forgotten belongings that is both intriguing and enjoyable, like an anthropologist diving into a long-lost tomb, shovel in one hand, price gun in the other.