Like other early Infocom games, Planetfall has irritating inventory limits, red herrings, a hunger/thirst timer as well as a disease timer that makes you weaker each day, and some elements of randomization. All of this is difficult to perfectly account for in the kind of tightly-tuned walkthrough I try to provide that often depends on things happening or you being in a certain place at a certain time. (At least there's no one like Zork I's Thief wandering around taking your items!) Caveat lusor; save early, save often.

The "Moves" number on the status line may seem bogus at first. The number is actually a clock, in the Planetfall/Stationfall universe's unit of "millichrons". There are 10 chrons per day, so 10,000 millichrons. One turn lasts 10 millichrons (so a wait command passes 30 millichrons).

Making Planetfall

Wait until an explosion happens at around 4900-5000 millichrons. You can pass some time by scrubbing the floor, examining your inventory items, and reading the brochure the alien ambassador hands you, if you want; or just wait. When the port door opens, go port (west) into the Escape Pod. Get into the safety webbing. Wait about 10 times until the pod lands and the emergency provisions appear. Get out of the webbing and take the kit. Open it. Mmm, looks... tasty? (Whenever you get hungry and thirsty, eat one of the blobs of goo. Drop the kit when you've eaten all three globs.) Open the door and go up twice to the Crag, then up three more times to the Courtyard. Drop the scrub brush, ID card, and the brochure (if you have it).

For Your Amusement:
Talk to Blather.
Attack or throw something at Blather. (save first)
Remove your uniform while Blather is present.
Scrub Blather.
Attack and talk to the alien ambassador.
Touch, eat, smell, look at, and scrub the slime the ambassador leaves on the floor.
Eat the celery the ambassador sometimes offers to you. (save first)
Get thrown in the Brig (try going starboard or up, then refusing to go back), and read the graffiti there. (save first)
Read the towel in the escape pod.

Dorm and Corridor Area

Go north, northeast, east three times to the Corridor Junction, south four times to the Machine Shop, then west to the Tool Room. Take the flask, pliers, U-shaped bar (a magnet), and laser. Remove and drop the laser battery. Go east to the Machine Shop. Put the flask under the spout. Go north four times to Corridor Junction and then go east twice to Booth 2. Drop the laser and pliers. Go west to the Elevator Lobby. Push the red and blue buttons. Go west, south, and east to Storage East. Take the cardboard box. Return west, north, and east twice to Booth 2. Drop the box. ("Booth 2" is a teleportation booth. You are pre-positioning some items you will need later in the game.)

For Your Amusement:
Examine the games and tapes in the Rec Area (two locations north from the Courtyard).
Look under the table in the Mess Hall.

Administration Area

Save the game. Go west twice, then north to Admin Corridor South. You may see "a glint of light from the direction of the floor" (20% probability). If you don't see it the first time you enter, go north to Admin Corridor, then return south, alternating until you do. If you don't see it within a few tries, you may wish to restore your game and try again from there rather than wasting a lot of chrons. When you spot it, search the crevice. Hold the magnet near the key. Drop the magnet.

Go south and west twice to the Mess Corridor. Unlock the padlock and take it. Drop the padlock and key and open the door. Drop the survival kit. Go north to Storage West and take the ladder.

Return south, east twice, and north twice to the Admin Corridor. Drop the ladder and open it. Put the ladder over the rift. Go north to Admin Corridor North and west to Small Office. Open the drawer in the desk. Get both cards from drawer. Go west again. Open the drawer here and get the shuttle card. Go east twice, south three times, and west twice to the Mess Corridor. Pick up the survival kit again.

Go south to the Mess Hall. Take the canteen and open it. Slide kitchen card through slot. (The verb is important. You can't put cards in slots, you must slide them through.) Go south into the Kitchen. Put the canteen under the spout and push the button. The brown liquid counts as another food/drink ration, like the survival kit goo. Take the canteen and close it. Go back north into the Mess Hall. Drop the kitchen card.

Go north, east twice, south four times, and east to the Robot Shop. Search the robot and you will find a lower elevator access card. Turn on the robot. (At first, nothing will appear to happen.) You get tired somewhere around 8200 millichrons, so return west, north four times, west, and south to Dorm C. (Dorms A, B, and D are identical if you like one of those letters better.) Lie down and wait. Soon you will fall asleep.

For Your Amusement:
Jump over the rift. (save first)
Show the lower elevator card to Floyd after taking it from him.
Remove your uniform when Floyd is present.
Kick, attack, rub (or pet), and kiss Floyd.

Comm Room

When you wake, stand up and get all your things. Go north, east twice, and south to the Lower Elevator. Drop the lower elevator access card and shuttle card. Go north twice to the Upper Elevator. Slide the upper card through the slot. Push the up button. Wait two times.

Go south to the Tower Core and then northeast to the Comm Room. Note the color of the flashing light on the enunciator panel. (Don't fail to notice this now in the room description, because you can't get this information by examining any object - not the enunciator, not the panel, not the flashing light, not the light...) Press the playback button on the receive console. (Well, that should sound familiar from your recent past.) Examine the screen on the send console. ("To any ship of the Second Galactic Union: Planetwide plague has struck entire population. Time is critical. Emergency assistance requested. <repeat message>" ...Uh oh. This doesn't sound good.) This is the color of liquid that you have to get in the Machine Shop. Go southwest and north back to the Upper Elevator, slide the card through the slot, push the down button, and wait two turns. Leave the elevator and go west, then south four times to the Machine Shop. Push the correct colored button to fill the flask you pre-positioned, then take it. Go back north four times, east, north, slide the card and go up the elevator.

Go south and northeast to the Comm Room and empty the flask into the hole. A different color of light will light up. Repeat the sequence of returning to the Machine Shop, putting the flask under the spout and pressing the button to get the correct color of liquid, then returning to dump it in the Comm Room. You may then need to do this anywhere from one to three more times with different colors. (If so, the time needed for the round trips may affect later moves. You may find you need to eat/drink one or more additional times as well as sleep another time, which in turn will affect your strength and ability to carry things. Floyd can carry one item, but of course he's not always present. However, I received an email in January 2019 from an Eric Klien pointing out the said "one item" can be the cardboard box found in Storage East: you can put items in the box and then give the box to Floyd to use him as additional storage.)

After you see the help message being sent, drop the flask. Return southwest and north to the elevator, slide the card, go down, and drop the upper card in the upper elevator. Leave the elevator, go west three times and south to the Mess Hall. Pick up the kitchen card, slide it through the access slot, and go south to refill the canteen in the Kitchen. Go north once to the Mess Hall and drop the kitchen card again.

Shuttles and Teleporting

Go north once, east three times, and south into the lower elevator. Pick up the access cards you left here. Slide the lower card through the slot. Push the down button. Wait three turns. When the elevator stops, go north, east, south, and then east to Alfie Control East. (Note: you can't operate the shuttle after time 6000 each day.) Slide the shuttle card through the slot. Push the lever up. Wait until the display says speed 60. Push the lever down twice. Wait until the shuttle slides into the station.

Go west twice and drop the shuttle card at Alfie Control West. Go east, north, east twice, northeast, and northwest to the Infirmary. Get the medicine bottle and examine it. Open the bottle, take the medicine, and drop the bottle. Get the red spool. Go southeast, east twice, south, and west to the Library. Turn on the machine, put in the red spool, and read the screen. ...Well, crap. Sound familiar at all? Looks like you have a limited time to live.

Go east and south twice to the Computer Room. Take the printout and read it. Notice there is a malfunction in Section 384. If Floyd is here and examines the glowing light, drop the printout. Otherwise, hang onto the printout for now, show it to Floyd the next time he shows up, then drop it. (Floyd needs to see either the warning light or the printout so you can solve a later puzzle.) Go north, east, then south to Lab Storage. Search lab pocket. (If you say search uniform pocket, the game asks whether you mean your patrol uniform or your lab uniform, but it doesn't understand search lab uniform pocket.) Take the teleportation card and new battery.

Go north, west, north, and east to Booth 3. Slide the teleportation access card through the slot and push the beige button. Zap! You're in Booth 2, back in Complex One. Slide the card through the slot again and push the tan button. Whee! You and the items you previously left in Booth 2 are back in Booth 3.

For Your Amusement:
Don't brake the shuttle, and let it crash into the station. (save first)
Get into bed in the Infirmary.
Wait around in the Infirmary until Floyd finds Lazarus' breast plate. Take the breast plate, then give it to Floyd the next time you see him. (This reaction contrasts with his usual one when you give him objects.)
Read through the information on the computer in the Library Lobby, one room west of Booth 3 (although you may find this difficult, not to say painful). Use the command type [number] to navigate through the menus. (There's no Librarian to consult about "appropriate spools" for further information on anything.)
Destroy the mural in the Projcon Office (south of Project Corridor).

Planetary Systems Area

Take the pliers and bedistor. Go west and north twice to Course Control. Open the cube. Remove the fused bedistor with the pliers. Drop the fused bedistor and the pliers. Put the good bedistor in the cube and close the cube. Go south, west twice, and north into the Repair Room. Wait for Floyd to turn up if he's not already present. Tell Floyd to go north. When he comes back, tell Floyd to take the fromitz board. Go south, east, and north to Planetary Defense. Open the panel. Take the second board and drop the fried board. Put the shiny fromitz board in the socket. Close the panel.

Laboratory Area

Go south, east, south twice, and then east to the Main Lab. Open bio-lock. Go southeast and then east. Make sure that Floyd is in the room. Wait one time. Floyd will volunteer to go into the Bio Lab and get the miniaturization card. Open the door, close the door, wait, open the door, and close the door. Floyd, alas, will be out of commission. Enjoy the "Ballad of the Starcrossed Miner" (which may sound familiar if you've played Starcross). Take the miniaturization card.

Go west, open the door, west two more times, north, and east to Booth 3. Drop the teleport card. Get the laser and put the battery in it. Go west and then south three times to the miniaturization booth. Slide the miniaturization card through the slot, then type 384 (the number of the malfunctioning section from the computer printout). You will be shrunk down to the size of a semiconductor.

At Station 384, go east and then north twice to Strip Near Relay. Look inside the relay. Set your laser to 1. Fire the laser at the speck. Keep on doing that until the speck "vaporizes into a fine cloud of ash". Once that's done, set the laser to 6. Head back south. Oh no! A killer microbe! Fire the laser at the microbe. Keep firing until the laser is "quite hot", and then throw it over the side. The microbe will follow the laser and vanish to its death.

Go south and west. You will find yourself in the Auxiliary Booth. Go north to the Lab Office. Notice the labels on the buttons. Open the desk, then take and wear the gas mask. Save the game here, because you won't be able to afford to waste any moves. Push the red button. Open the door. Go west into the Bio Lab. Open the lab door. Go west twice. Open the bio-lock and go west three times, then south twice into the Cryo-Elevator. Push the button. Whewww!!

Remove the mask. Wait two turns. Go north. Congratulations, Galactic Overlord!

For Your Amusement:
Type an incorrect number into the miniaturization keypad. (save first)
Throw acid at the mutants.

For Your Amusement at various times:
Read your chronometer.
Take off your chronometer and pour acid on it.
Scrub yourself.
Say Zork.
Use the various meta-commands (save, restore, quit, etc.) with Floyd present and turned on.

Extras

For further entertainment, you may be interested in:
Lists of bugs in Planetfall: Nathan Simpson, Graeme Cree, XyzzyNews
Posts about this game at The Digital Antiquarian, The Adventure Gamer, and SPAG
Source code, and for the Solid Gold version

Points

Action	Points
Making Planetfall
Enter escape pod	3
Arrive at the Crag	3
Administration Area
Enter Storage West	4
Enter Admin Corridor North	4
Get kitchen card	1
Get upper card	1
Get shuttle card	1
Enter Kitchen	4
Get lower elevator card	1
Turn on Floyd	2
Comm Room
Enter Tower Core	4
Send help message	6
Shuttles and Teleporting
Enter Kalamontee Station	4
Enter Lawanda Platform	4
Planetary Systems
Repair Course Control	6
Repair Planetary Defense	6
Laboratory Area
Floyd returns from Bio Lab	2
Get miniaturization card	1
Enter Strip Near Station	4
Fire laser at speck	2
Destroy speck	8
Enter Auxiliary Booth	4
Enter Cryo-Elevator	5
Total	80

Last updated: 6/23/2021