How do I unlock the Gridfall in Loftia?
Finish Field Research in the Hanging Gardens. Kassim then gives you Everything Is Connected, which has you craft the Bounce Shoes, get Cliff's authorization and take the Airtram to the Gridfall.
Loftia Gridfall
The Gridfall is Loftia's third district, a floating ruin of an old-world city that Loftians now salvage. It opens during the story quest Everything Is Connected, which Kassim gives you once Field Research in the Hanging Gardens is done; you craft the Bounce Shoes, get Cliff's go-ahead and take the Airtram. If it is still locked, the game says: "Progress the "Everything Is Connected" story to unlock!"
Loftia Gridfall: how to get there and what's inside
For the rest of our Loftia guides, start at the Loftia guide hub.
- What's there: the Historical Quarter, Patchwork Plaza, Neon Alley, Museum Island, the Underground, the Wild Lab, the Subway Platform and the Concrete Jungle, plus Urbex rooms behind locked doors.
- What you get here: the Wrench, Project Station Lv.3, the Urbex keycard, the Rail Boots recipe, the Locator and, at the end of the story, the Glider's Propeller.
- Stuck outside the Concrete Jungle? You don't need it for Carbon Fiber: Urbex rooms and the Pile of Cars give it too, with Hammer Lv.3.
Gridfall facts at a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Unlocks with | The story quest Everything Is Connected, after Field Research. Source: Game files. |
| Travel | The Airtram, after you craft the Bounce Shoes and get Cliff's authorization. Source: Game files. |
| Research station | The Museum Research Station. Source: Game files. |
| Contribution bins | Museum Bin, levels 1 to 3, for daily artifacts. Source: Game files. |
| Urbex | Mita's keycard from Beneath the Surface opens the Urbex doors. Source: Game files and in-game text. |
| Rail Boots | 5 Magnets and 3 Carbon Fiber; recipe from the Museum Research Station. Source: Game files. |
How to unlock the Gridfall in Loftia
The Gridfall opens through the story. After Field Research, Kassim gives you Everything Is Connected: head up to the lookout, get the Bounce Shoes recipe and craft the shoes, pick up a food crate from Herb, get Cliff's authorization to travel and take the Airtram to the Gridfall. The district is open to you from the Airtram step on.
The Airtram describes it as "What was once a metropolis is now Loftia’s hub of salvaging and invention, where clever minds turn scraps into breakthroughs." When you arrive, Cliff gives you directions and you take the food crate to Mita.
From there the rest of the Gridfall story runs with Mita, Milo and Atlas: Keeping the Lights On, The Case of the Missing Curator, Meet Atlas at the Museum, Field Notes and Loose Bolts, Beneath the Surface, The Art of Letting Go, A Second Life and Mending What's Broken. Every step is on our Gridfall quests list.
Places in the Gridfall and what each has
These are the places the game names in the Gridfall. The game files don't place them on the map, and the map above has no labels, so this list says what each place holds rather than where it sits.
- Historical Quarter: Vines, Wild Greens, Old Computers for Electronic Scraps, and leaking pipes and lamp posts to repair for Rusted Metal. One of the Treasure Hunt's locations.
- Patchwork Plaza: Cardboard, and the leaking pipes of Dr. Marie's quest Home Is Where the Leak Is. Rust Resistant Alloy is listed here too.
- Neon Alley: where one resident goes for a "daily dance session".
- Museum Island: named for the museum that Atlas runs.
- The Underground: Sand Piles, Drill Machines for Gears (Hammer Lv.2), and the repairs of Beneath the Surface.
- The Wild Lab and the Subway Platform: named places with no gathering of their own in the files.
- The Concrete Jungle: in a resident's words, "the most urban part of the Gridfall", with Lockboxes for Carbon Fiber and Power Cable.
- Urbex rooms: Magnets and Fabric Scraps, behind the Urbex doors.
The tools and timings for each material are on our Gridfall materials list.
People and activities in the Gridfall
People. Mita keeps the Gridfall running, her brother Milo has his workshop here, Atlas runs the museum, Leela runs the dance floor and Dr. Marie looks after the hydroponics. Cliff meets you at the Airtram.
The museum. The Museum Research Station's sets give the Rail Boots, Hammer Lv.3 and Collector Rod Lv.2 recipes. Every set is on our Museum Research Station list. The Museum Bin takes daily artifacts: in the game's words, "daily artifacts contributions keep Old Earth's history alive."
The dance floor and Battery Totems. "These Kinetic Tiles convert the pressure of Loftians' footsteps into energy." That energy goes to Battery Totems, "which you can use to recharge your Battery." Leela's side quest Dance Class walks you through it, and her next one, Slip, Zip, Hooray!, is about the Rail Boots.
Treasure Hunt. The hourly Treasure Hunt starts at the half hour and moves between Loftia City, the Hanging Gardens and the Gridfall. When it is the Gridfall's turn, the game announces: "The Treasure Hunt is about to start in the Historical Quarter in the Gridfall in 5 minutes!" Our guide to Scrambled Coordinates covers the treasure hunt keys.
Datapads. The district has datapads to collect, with short notes on places such as Patchwork Plaza, the old subway tunnels and the museum.
What you get in the Gridfall
| What | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Wrench | Keeping the Lights On: clear the trash piles to find Milo's spare. It is the only source |
| Project Station Lv.3 | Keeping the Lights On: 5 Electronic Scraps, 2 Rusted Metal and 10 Scrap Wire |
| Urbex keycard | Beneath the Surface: "Ask Mita for an Urbex key" |
| Rail Boots recipe | The Electric Dreams set at the Museum Research Station (a Used Floppy Disk, a Used Game Cartridge and a Used Boombox) |
| Hammer Lv.3 recipe | The Advanced Mechanics set at the Museum Research Station |
| Locator | The Art of Letting Go: 5 Magnets, 2 Carbon Fiber and 2 Glass |
| Propeller recipe | Mending What's Broken, the last Gridfall story quest |
The Wrench also matters on adventures; our guide to the Wrench explains why. How to upgrade the Hammer to Lv.2 and Lv.3 is in our Hammer upgrade guide.
Loftia Urbex: the keycard and the doors
Getting the keycard. Mita hands it over in Beneath the Surface, whose first step is "Ask Mita for an Urbex key". That quest only opens after Field Notes and Loose Bolts, where Atlas asks for 2 Museum research sets, so talking to Mita earlier does nothing. The game then explains: "The Keycard Mita gave you grants access to Urbex doors around Gridfall. These doors will lead you down twisting paths through abandoned buildings and underground facilities."
Three kinds of room. Urbex rooms come in three themes: Underground (subway tunnels, a mining shaft, sewers, a parking garage), Office (lobbies, offices, conference rooms) and Residential (apartments, hallways, stairwells). The game notes that "Each Urbex area has a different assortment of Artifacts", so doors in different parts of the Gridfall turn up different finds.
The underground pillars. Beneath the Surface asks you to repair 3 pillars in the underground. Players found them only in Underground-type rooms, entered through doors in the underground tunnels or through manholes, not in the office or apartment rooms.
The Concrete Jungle, the rooftops and the tallest building
Rail Boots and Air Rails. Residents put it plainly: "You'll need a pair of Rail Boots for that—it's the number one tool to travel the district's rooftops via Air Rails." The Rail Boots take 5 Magnets and 3 Carbon Fiber, and their recipe is the reward for the Electric Dreams set at the Museum Research Station. Leela's side quest Slip, Zip, Hooray! has you get the recipe, craft the boots and try an Air Rail.
The Carbon Fiber loop. Players often get stuck here: Carbon Fiber is listed under the Concrete Jungle, and players mostly get in on the Air Rails, which need Rail Boots made with Carbon Fiber. You don't have to get there first. Urbex rooms have Lockboxes too, and the Pile of Cars group spot gives Carbon Fiber; all of them need Hammer Lv.3 until you own a Locator. Our guide to hard-to-find materials lists every source. Players also report gliding into the Concrete Jungle from high ground without the Rail Boots.
Getting onto the rooftops. The game hints at three ways up: Rail Boots on the Air Rails; the Propeller ("You'll need it to explore a lot of the rooftops around here"); and Urbex ("If you're having trouble finding your way onto a rooftop, Urbex might be the answer").
The tallest building. One resident line asks: "Have you been to the top of the central tower yet? It's the tallest building in the district, and it's definitely got the best views." The line doesn't say which district it belongs to, and we couldn't confirm the building from the game files. To get onto any high roof, use the three ways above.
More Gridfall guides
You reach the Gridfall from our Loftia Hanging Gardens guide, and the story does not stop here: after Mending What's Broken it turns to Loftia's underground, as our guide to the quests after the Gridfall shows.
Version notes and limits
The game files name the places but do not say where they are on the map, which door leads to which kind of Urbex room, how much energy a door costs or when it resets. Those parts of this page come from player reports or are left out. We will reread the map, quest, Urbex and recipe tables when an Early Access patch changes the Gridfall.
Loftia Gridfall FAQ
How do I get to the Concrete Jungle?
Players mostly get in on the Air Rails with Rail Boots, and some report gliding in from high ground. You don't need the Concrete Jungle for Carbon Fiber: Urbex rooms and the Pile of Cars give it with Hammer Lv.3.
Where do I get the Rail Boots recipe?
From the Electric Dreams set at the Museum Research Station: a Used Floppy Disk, a Used Game Cartridge and a Used Boombox. Then craft the boots from 5 Magnets and 3 Carbon Fiber.
How do I get the Urbex keycard?
Complete Field Notes and Loose Bolts, then start Beneath the Surface: its first step is to ask Mita for an Urbex key.
Where are the pillars to repair in the underground?
In Underground-type Urbex rooms. Players found them through doors in the underground tunnels or through manholes, not in office or apartment rooms.
What is the tallest building in the Gridfall?
A resident line calls the "central tower" the tallest building in the district, but it doesn't say which district, and we couldn't confirm the building. Rail Boots, the Propeller and Urbex are the game's ways onto the rooftops.
Where is the Treasure Hunt in the Gridfall?
When the hourly Treasure Hunt comes to the Gridfall, the game announces it in the Historical Quarter, 5 minutes before the half hour.
Sources and version history for this guide: Loftia sources and versions.
Spot an error or a post-patch change? See how we label evidence and handle corrections in the Editorial Policy.