diff --git a/packages/ludic.base/ecs_grid_file.ludic b/packages/ludic.base/ecs_grid_file.ludic
index 4d9a79fc..2bdee04b 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.base/ecs_grid_file.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.base/ecs_grid_file.ludic
@@ -38,3 +38,9 @@ function grid_rehash(g: Grid) -> void {
     if k >= 0 { grid_link(g, r, k, grid_bucket(g, grid_key_x(k), grid_key_z(k))) }
   }
 }
+
+# buckets enough for `rows` filed rows before a rehash, made now: a rehash in play makes a new
+# bucket array and nothing gives the old one back
+export function grid_reserve(g: Grid, rows: int) -> void {
+  while (g.mask + 1) * 2 < rows { grid_rehash(g) }
+}
diff --git a/packages/ludic.things/README.md b/packages/ludic.things/README.md
index 134acb83..cfdbb742 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.things/README.md
+++ b/packages/ludic.things/README.md
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ def ThingKinds lure { name_of: fn bait_name, tick: fn bait_wear, put_down: true,
 | `put_down` | set down by someone rather than grown by the world: a restock leaves it (the port has the last word) |
 | `keeps` | keeps its `used` through a restock |
 
+**A removed Thing's record is placed again.** Ludic frees nothing, and a world places and takes
+away Things all day, so `thing_remove` keeps the record and `thing_put` / `thing_spawn` make the
+oldest one again - set back as new, with a new `uid` - once 32 are waiting. Hold a Thing across a
+removal only by its `uid` (`thing_by_uid`), never by the record.
+
 ## The port
 
 Every member has a default, so any may be left out of the `bind`:
@@ -73,6 +78,7 @@ the actor the moment the Thing exists (a caller often scales or tints it on the
 | --- | --- |
 | `thing_spawn(kind, look, x, y, z, yaw, id) -> Thing`, `thing_put(kind, look, x, z, yaw, sink, reach, id) -> Thing` | a new Thing, at a height or on the ground set into it by `sink` |
 | `thing_remove(t)`, `things_drop(gone: fn(Thing) -> bool)`, `things_clear()` | gone for good (told to the port); a new world, quietly |
+| `things_reserve(n)`, `things_spare_count()` | room in the grid for `n` Things, made once at the start; how many removed records wait to be placed again |
 | `thing_move(t, x, z, yaw)`, `thing_move_to(t, x, y, z, yaw)` | on the ground there, or at a height |
 | `thing_hide(t)`, `thing_show(t)`, `thing_set_active(t, on)` | `active`, told to the port |
 | `things_all()`, `things_count()`, `things_ready()`, `thing_by_uid(uid)` | every Thing, in the order placed; whether a world was ever set out |
diff --git a/packages/ludic.things/index.ludic b/packages/ludic.things/index.ludic
index 28a38b7b..76661a7e 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.things/index.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.things/index.ludic
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ import "near.ludic"
 import "chunks.ludic"
 import "dispatch.ludic"
 import "system.ludic"
+import "spare.ludic"
diff --git a/packages/ludic.things/spare.ludic b/packages/ludic.things/spare.ludic
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e3bf70ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/ludic.things/spare.ludic
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# spare.ludic - a removed Thing's record is made again rather than a new one: Ludic frees nothing,
+# and the world places and takes away Things all day (a sign an animal leaves, a bed, a drop).
+# Oldest first, and only once TH_SPARE_LAG are waiting, so anything still holding one sees its
+# uid change long after the removal; everything else about it is set back as new
+const TH_SPARE_LAG: int = 32
+
+function th_spare_put(things_st: mut ThingsState, t: Thing) -> void { push(things_st.th_spare, t) }
+
+# a record for a Thing about to be placed: the oldest spare past the lag, or a new one
+function th_record(things_st: mut ThingsState) -> Thing {
+  let l = things_st.th_spare
+  if len(l) - things_st.th_spare_at <= TH_SPARE_LAG { return new Thing }
+  let t = l[things_st.th_spare_at]
+  things_st.th_spare_at += 1
+  if things_st.th_spare_at >= 64 { th_spare_pack(things_st) }
+  return th_clean(t)
+}
+
+# the waiting ones moved to the front, in place
+function th_spare_pack(things_st: mut ThingsState) -> void {
+  let l = things_st.th_spare
+  let at = things_st.th_spare_at
+  let n = len(l) - at
+  for i in 0 .. n { l[i] = l[i + at] }
+  for i in 0 .. at { List.pop(l) }
+  things_st.th_spare_at = 0
+}
+
+function th_clean(t: Thing) -> Thing {
+  t.uid = 0
+  t.kind = 0
+  t.id = 0
+  t.look = ""
+  t.x = 0.0
+  t.y = 0.0
+  t.z = 0.0
+  t.yaw = 0.0
+  t.owner = -1
+  t.active = true
+  t.reach = 0.0
+  t.timer = 0.0
+  t.used = 0
+  t.n = 0
+  t.sx = 0.0
+  t.sz = 0.0
+  t.syaw = 0.0
+  t.shared = false
+  t.ent = -1
+  t.tab = null
+  return t
+}
+
+# room for `n` Things in the grid before it has to grow: a world that will place more in play
+# than it placed at the start sizes it once, at the start
+export function things_reserve(things_st: mut ThingsState, n: int) -> void { grid_reserve(things_st.th.grid, n) }
+
+export function things_spare_count(things_st: ThingsState) -> int { return len(things_st.th_spare) - things_st.th_spare_at }
+
+# a placed Thing's slot in the table: reused as Things come and go, so a list indexed by it is as
+# long as the most Things there have been at once; -1 once it is removed
+export function thing_slot(t: Thing) -> int {
+  if t == null or t.ent < 0 { return -1 }
+  return t.ent & ECS_SLOT
+}
diff --git a/packages/ludic.things/store.ludic b/packages/ludic.things/store.ludic
index 164e591b..4ec3fe18 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.things/store.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.things/store.ludic
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ export state ThingsState {
   th_uid: int = 0
   th_facts: Queue<ThingFact> = th_facts__new()
   th_hs: words = words(0)           # things_tick's handles, taken before any tick runs
+  th_spare: []Thing = new []Thing   # removed records, made again oldest first (spare.ludic)
+  th_spare_at: int = 0
 }
 
 function th_facts__new() -> Queue<ThingFact> { return queue_new("things.facts") }
diff --git a/packages/ludic.things/tests/things_test.ludic b/packages/ludic.things/tests/things_test.ludic
index 11438c80..a0bb5433 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.things/tests/things_test.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.things/tests/things_test.ludic
@@ -215,4 +215,30 @@ program ThingsTest {
     expect(out[0] == a)
     expect_eq(things_changed(things_st, seen, rows, out), 2)
   }
+  test "a removed Thing's record is placed again once enough wait, as new, with a new uid" (things_st: mut ThingsState) {
+    things_reset(things_st)
+    let first = thing_put(things_st, TH_LURE, "lure", 1.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 2.0, 7)
+    first.used = 5
+    first.owner = 3
+    thing_hide(first)
+    let old_uid = first.uid
+    thing_remove(things_st, first)
+    for i in 0 .. 32 { thing_remove(things_st, thing_put(things_st, TH_BRANCH, "branch", float(i), 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.5, 0)) }
+    expect_eq(things_spare_count(things_st), 33)
+    let again = thing_put(things_st, TH_SIGN, "sign", 4.0, 4.0, 0.0, 0.0, 2.0, 1)
+    let ap: pointer = again
+    let fp: pointer = first
+    expect(ap == fp)
+    expect(again.uid != old_uid)
+    expect_eq(again.kind, TH_SIGN)
+    expect_eq(again.used, 0)
+    expect_eq(again.owner, -1)
+    expect(again.active)
+    expect_eq(thing_nearest(things_st, TH_SIGN, 4.0, 4.0).uid, again.uid)
+    expect_eq(things_verify(things_st), 0)
+    for i in 0 .. 500 { thing_remove(things_st, thing_put(things_st, TH_BRANCH, "branch", 0.0, float(i), 0.0, 0.0, 1.5, 0)) }
+    expect(things_spare_count(things_st) <= 33)
+    things_reserve(things_st, 5000)
+    expect_eq(things_verify(things_st), 0)
+  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/ludic.things/verbs.ludic b/packages/ludic.things/verbs.ludic
index f43e6080..043cd6d0 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.things/verbs.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.things/verbs.ludic
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # verbs.ludic - the only ways a Thing is made, removed, moved, shown or hidden: each writes the
 # record and the table's columns together, so the grid and the kind indexes never fall behind
 export function thing_spawn(things_st: mut ThingsState, kind: int, look: string, x: float, y: float, z: float, yaw: float, id: int) -> Thing {
-  return th_place(things_st, new Thing, kind, look, x, y, z, yaw, id)
+  return th_place(things_st, th_record(things_st), kind, look, x, y, z, yaw, id)
 }
 
 function th_place(things_st: mut ThingsState, t: Thing, kind: int, look: string, x: float, y: float, z: float, yaw: float, id: int) -> Thing {
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ function th_columns(t: Thing) -> void {
 
 # a Thing on the ground (the port's), set into it by `sink`, used from `reach`
 export function thing_put(things_st: mut ThingsState, kind: int, look: string, x: float, z: float, yaw: float, sink: float, reach: float, id: int) -> Thing {
-  let t = new Thing
+  let t = th_record(things_st)
   t.reach = reach
   return th_place(things_st, t, kind, look, x, ThingsWorld.ground(x, z) - sink, z, yaw, id)
 }
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ export function thing_remove(things_st: mut ThingsState, t: Thing) -> void {
   imap_del(things_st.th_uids, t.uid)
   tb_remove(t.tab, t.ent)
   t.ent = -1
+  th_spare_put(things_st, t)
 }
 
 # every Thing `gone` says so is removed for good; from the last row down, so the row a removal