Technologies

The technologies of Kainga are normally passed down from one generation to the next, but Thinkers have the unique ability to capture ideas from the past at illuminated sites of inspiration.
— Kainga Encyclopedia

Technologies form the core of a civilization. They are granted to a Thinker via Ideas, found around the map as Inspiration.

Unlocking Technologies

Depending on what group a given Technology is a part of, it may need to be unlocked in the Karma Shop located in the Skyloft by spending Karma accrued by completing Challenges. The Starting group is unlocked upon launching the game for the first time, and many groups are available for purchase in the Skyloft immediately. Some groups, such as the Blueprint group, must be unlocked by completing a Quest.

Any Technology without an associated karma cost below is automatically unlocked with the group (if there isn't another special method needed to unlock it). If there is a karma cost, it must be purchased from the Karma Shop before it can be used in the Belowlands.

Discovering Technologies

Inspiration floating on Terraces.

Technologies can be discovered by sending a Thinker to Inspiration, floating orbs of light that contain Ideas. A beam of light also rises into the sky, aiding in finding Inspiration. A Thinker can think at Inspiration to discover a technology associated with that Inspiration.

Each Inspiration will have an icon associated with the type of technology its Idea can provide. When a player has their Thinker selected, these icons will be visible anywhere on the map. When a Thinker successfully thinks of an Idea, the player is presented with three options, randomly selected from the unlocked Technologies. If a Technology is incompatible with previous choices, it will not show up. For example, if a Shelter is chosen that can't have attachments (such as the Vrisk House), no future Ideas will have Technologies that attach to Shelters (such as a Blastpowder Distillery). Note that the "Chance to Appear" trait below is based on all Technologies unlocked and available; the percent chance for a given Technology to appear in each Challenge may be different.

Types of Technologies

Beast

Beast Technologies are specific to captured Beasts; either built directly on the Beast or otherwise utilizing a Beast to produce Materials. Note that some Beast-related structures, such as the Egg Harvester, are listed in other categories but can appear with Beast Inspiration if the prerequisite Beast is tamed.

For a list of Beast Technologies, see Technologies/Beast.

Combat

Combat Technologies create combat Units capable of more effectively resolving disputes the hard way with your neighbors (or Beasts).

For a full list of Combat Technologies, see Technologies/Combat.

Development

Development Technologies are ones that can help your village as a whole, either by providing a support bonus or providing other functionality that doesn't fit into other categories. Diplomatic Technologies are also in this section.

For a list of Development Technologies, see Technologies/Development.

Festival

Festivals are some of the most important Technologies available to discover, and can only be discovered at certain fixed points. After a certain number of other Technologies is discovered, a Festival Inspiration will appear above the Hearth and your Thinker will automatically return to it (if not commanded to do otherwise). Only four Festivals are available to discover during each Challenge: three unique to each Thinker, and one Festival that will complete the Challenge.

For a full list of Festivals, see Technologies/Festival.

Food

Food Technologies are essential for the growth of a village, since they provide the consumable Material needed to produce Braves.

For a list of Food Technologies, please see Technologies/Food.

Movement

Movement Technologies change the way your Units can traverse the Biome, as well as modifying the surfaces available to build structures on.

For a full list of Movement Technologies, see Technologies/Movement.

Passive

Passive Technologies are ones that can't be built, but can affect gameplay in other ways. They can be found either through Passive Inspiration or by opting-out of any other inspiration type and selecting a Passive instead.

For a list of Passive Technologies, see Technologies/Passive.

Protection

Protection Technologies are specific to keeping your village, its people, and the Materials within it safe from climate hazards (such as fire).

For a list of Protection Technologies, see Technologies/Protection.

Resources

Resources Technologies allow you to build structures that produce Materials. Some Resources Technologies can produce without any input, but many consume Materials to produce a different Material.

For a list of Resources Technologies, see Technologies/Resources.

Shelter

Shelter Technologies are where Braves are spawned, and the only way to increase a village's population capacity. They usually consume Food to produce one Brave, and must be occupied by at least one Brave to produce. Shelter Technologies also determine how sturdy all of your structures are against the four main elemental hazards: fire, rain, wind, and snow.

For a list of Shelter Technologies, please see Technologies/Shelter.

Unique

Unique technologies will never appear in a Biome during a Challenge, but instead must be unlocked during a Challenge by discovering both technologies necessary to develop. Some Unique technologies have several different combinations that can unlock them (usually based on a single production technology in combination with a different production technology), but others have only one formula to unlock them. One of the technologies involved in discovering a Unique technology is usually replaced by it (if chosen); it is possible to opt out of developing a given Unique technology if it would be difficult to build or any other reason it might be a worse option than the base Technology. The technology being replaced by the Unique technology is always the first one in the equation.

It is possible to unlock more than one Unique technology at a time; if this is the case, only one of them can be chosen.

For a list of Unique technologies, please see Technologies/Unique.

Other

The Technologies in this category don't fall into any of the above, and don't necessarily follow the same rules as other Technologies.

For a list of Other technologies, see Technologies/Other.