diff --git a/db/savedata.go b/db/savedata.go
index 10256a3..3a983d8 100644
--- a/db/savedata.go
+++ b/db/savedata.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/gob"
 
+	"github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd"
 	"github.com/pagefaultgames/rogueserver/defs"
 )
 
@@ -60,6 +61,19 @@ func ReadSystemSaveData(uuid []byte) (defs.SystemSaveData, error) {
 		return system, err
 	}
 
+	dec, err := zstd.NewReader(nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return system, err
+	}
+
+	defer dec.Close()
+
+	decompressed, err := dec.DecodeAll(data, nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		// replace if it worked, otherwise use the original data
+		data = decompressed
+	}
+
 	err = gob.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(data)).Decode(&system)
 	if err != nil {
 		return system, err
@@ -75,7 +89,14 @@ func StoreSystemSaveData(uuid []byte, data defs.SystemSaveData) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	_, err = handle.Exec("INSERT INTO systemSaveData (uuid, data, timestamp) VALUES (?, ?, UTC_TIMESTAMP()) ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE data = ?, timestamp = UTC_TIMESTAMP()", uuid, buf.Bytes(), buf.Bytes())
+	enc, err := zstd.NewWriter(nil, zstd.WithEncoderLevel(zstd.SpeedBestCompression))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	defer enc.Close()
+
+	_, err = handle.Exec("REPLACE INTO systemSaveData (uuid, data, timestamp) VALUES (?, ?, UTC_TIMESTAMP())", uuid, enc.EncodeAll(buf.Bytes(), nil))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -101,6 +122,19 @@ func ReadSessionSaveData(uuid []byte, slot int) (defs.SessionSaveData, error) {
 		return session, err
 	}
 
+	dec, err := zstd.NewReader(nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return session, err
+	}
+
+	defer dec.Close()
+
+	decompressed, err := dec.DecodeAll(data, nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		// replace if it worked, otherwise use the original data
+		data = decompressed
+	}
+
 	err = gob.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(data)).Decode(&session)
 	if err != nil {
 		return session, err
@@ -126,7 +160,14 @@ func StoreSessionSaveData(uuid []byte, data defs.SessionSaveData, slot int) erro
 		return err
 	}
 
-	_, err = handle.Exec("INSERT INTO sessionSaveData (uuid, slot, data, timestamp) VALUES (?, ?, ?, UTC_TIMESTAMP()) ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE data = ?, timestamp = UTC_TIMESTAMP()", uuid, slot, buf.Bytes(), buf.Bytes())
+	enc, err := zstd.NewWriter(nil, zstd.WithEncoderLevel(zstd.SpeedBestCompression))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	defer enc.Close()
+
+	_, err = handle.Exec("REPLACE INTO sessionSaveData (uuid, slot, data, timestamp) VALUES (?, ?, ?, UTC_TIMESTAMP())", uuid, slot, enc.EncodeAll(buf.Bytes(), nil))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index d6d1862..7e0a6c3 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql v1.7.1 h1:lUIinVbN1DY0xBg0eMOzmmtGoHwWBbvnWubQUrt
 github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql v1.7.1/go.mod h1:OXbVy3sEdcQ2Doequ6Z5BW6fXNQTmx+9S1MCJN5yJMI=
 github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5 v5.2.1 h1:OuVbFODueb089Lh128TAcimifWaLhJwVflnrgM17wHk=
 github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5 v5.2.1/go.mod h1:pqrtFR0X4osieyHYxtmOUWsAWrfe1Q5UVIyoH402zdk=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.17.9 h1:6KIumPrER1LHsvBVuDa0r5xaG0Es51mhhB9BQB2qeMA=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.17.9/go.mod h1:Di0epgTjJY877eYKx5yC51cX2A2Vl2ibi7bDH9ttBbw=
 github.com/robfig/cron/v3 v3.0.1 h1:WdRxkvbJztn8LMz/QEvLN5sBU+xKpSqwwUO1Pjr4qDs=
 github.com/robfig/cron/v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:eQICP3HwyT7UooqI/z+Ov+PtYAWygg1TEWWzGIFLtro=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.22.0 h1:g1v0xeRhjcugydODzvb3mEM9SQ0HGp9s/nh3COQ/C30=