diff --git a/mods/util/overrides/table.lua b/mods/util/overrides/table.lua
index f724b27..a0d32a5 100644
--- a/mods/util/overrides/table.lua
+++ b/mods/util/overrides/table.lua
@@ -1,17 +1,36 @@
-function table.equals(a, b)
-	for k, v in pairs(a) do
-		if not (b[k] and b[k] == v) then
+local t2s = minetest.serialize
+local error_message = [[
+Function %s does not pass self-test!
+Expected results: %s
+Test Results: %s
+]]
+
+local function half_equals(t1, t2)
+	for k, v in pairs(t1) do
+		if not t2[k] then
 			return false
-		end
-	end
-	for k, v in pairs(b) do
-		if not (a[k] and a[k] == v) then
+		elseif (type(v) == "table") then
+			if not half_equals(t2[k], v) then
+				return false
+			end
+		elseif not (t2[k] == v) then
 			return false
 		end
 	end
 	return true
 end
 
+function table.equals(t1, t2)
+	if half_equals(t1, t2) and half_equals(t2, t1) then
+		return true
+	else
+		return false
+	end
+end
+
+assert(table.equals({"a", "b", c = "d", e = {"f", "g", "h", {"h"}}}, {"a", "b", c = "d", e = {"f", "g", "h", {"h"}}}))
+assert(not table.equals({a = 1}, {a = 2}))
+
 function table.shuffle(t)
 	for i = #t, 2, -1 do
 		local j = math.random(i)
@@ -28,13 +47,41 @@ end
 
 function table.is_in(t, value)
 	for _, v in ipairs(t) do
-		if v == value then
+		if (type(value) == "table") and table.equals(t, value) then
+			return true
+		elseif v == value then
 			return true
 		end
 	end
 	return false
 end
 
+-- Returns matching values between two tables
+function table.match(t1, t2)
+	local results = {}
+	for k, v in pairs(t2) do
+		if (type(k) == "number") and table.is_in(t1, v) then
+			table.insert(results, v)
+		elseif not t1[k] then
+			break
+		elseif type(v) == "table" then
+			local tmp_tbl = table.match(t1[k], v)
+			if not table.equals(tmp_tbl, {}) then
+				results[k] = tmp_tbl
+			end
+		elseif t1[k] == t2[k] then
+			results[k] = v
+		end
+	end
+	return results
+end
+
+local match_test_table = {"foo", "bar", bar = {1, 2, 3}, baz = "boo", foo = {"baz"}}
+local match_expected_results = {"foo", bar = {1, 3}, baz = "boo"}
+local match_test_results = table.match(match_test_table, {"foo", bar = {1, 3}, baz = "boo", "furb", foo = {"bar"}})
+local match_error_message = error_message:format("table.match", t2s(match_expected_results), t2s(match_test_results))
+assert(table.equals(match_expected_results, match_test_results), match_error_message)
+
 -- Returns a sub-set of an indexed table which matches the given parameters
 function table.search(t, params)
 	params = params or {}
@@ -43,30 +90,10 @@ function table.search(t, params)
 	local results = {}
 
 	for _, entree in ipairs(t) do
-		local should_include = true
-		for key, value in pairs(params.includes) do
-			if type(value) == "table" then
-				for _, v in ipairs(value) do
-					if (not entree[key]) or (not table.is_in(entree[key], v)) then
-						should_include = false
-					end
-				end
-			elseif (entree[key] == nil) or (entree[key] ~= value) then
-				should_include = false
-			end
-		end
-		for key, value in pairs(params.excludes) do
-			if type(value) == "table" then
-				for _, v in ipairs(value) do
-					if entree[key] and (table.is_in(entree[key], v)) then
-						should_include = false
-					end
-				end
-			elseif entree[key] and entree[key] == value then
-				should_include = false
-			end
-		end
-		if should_include then
+		local includes_match = table.match(entree, params.includes)
+		local excludes_match = table.match(entree, params.excludes)
+
+		if table.equals(includes_match, params.includes) and table.equals(excludes_match, {}) then
 			table.insert(results, entree)
 		end
 	end
@@ -74,7 +101,7 @@ function table.search(t, params)
 	return results
 end
 
-local test_table = {
+local search_test_table = {
 	{tags = {"a", "b", "c"}, num = 1, num2 = 3},
 	{tags = {"b", "c"}, num = 1, num2 = 4},
 	{tags = {"b"}, num = 2, num2 = 3},
@@ -82,15 +109,9 @@ local test_table = {
 	{tags = {"a", "b"}, num = 1, num2 = 3},
 }
 
-local expected_results = {test_table[4]}
-
-local test_results = table.search(test_table, {includes = {tags = {"b"}, num = 1}, excludes = {tags = {"a"}, num2 = 4}})
-
-local error_message = [[
-Function table.search does not pass self-test!
-Expected results: %s
-Test Results: %s
-]]
-error_message:format(minetest.serialize(expected_results), minetest.serialize(test_results))
-
-assert(table.equals(test_results, expected_results), error_message)
+local search_expected_results = {search_test_table[4]}
+local search_test_results = table.search(search_test_table,
+                            				{includes = {tags = {"b"}, num = 1}, excludes = {tags = {"a"}, num2 = 4}})
+local search_error_message =
+				error_message:format("table.search", t2s(search_expected_results), t2s(search_test_results))
+assert(table.equals(search_test_results, search_expected_results), search_error_message)