Retro Grid

A perspective floor grid that scrolls slowly toward the viewer, drawn with CSS only.

Motionv0.1.0experimentalWCAG 2.2 AAView spec

Optional, and kept apart.

Nothing here is included in a project unless you add it, and the plain component it builds on is unchanged. This effect is decoration: it is hidden from screen readers, stands still for visitors who prefer reduced motion, and can be paused. Use Still on a preview to see that version.

Perspective floor

Scrolls toward you slowly

import { RetroGrid } from "@rdloom/react";

export default function RetroGridBasic() {
  return (
    <div className="flex w-full justify-center">
      <div className="relative flex h-96 w-full items-center justify-center overflow-hidden rounded-xl border border-[var(--rd-color-border-default)] bg-[var(--rd-color-surface-default)]">
        <RetroGrid />
        <div className="relative text-center">
          <p className="text-4xl font-semibold tracking-tight text-[var(--rd-color-text-default)]">Perspective floor</p>
          <p className="text-base text-[var(--rd-color-text-muted)]">Scrolls toward you slowly</p>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

Installation

CLI

Manual

npm

pnpm

yarn

bun

npx rdloom add retro-grid

Copies the source into src/components/rdloom. Edit it freely: rdloom upgrade merges later versions into your changes.

It also adds rdloom-motion.css next to your tokens and imports it from the tokens file, once: no setup, and no inline styles. The plain components you already use are untouched.

Use another registry client

npx shadcn@latest add https://rdloom.vimalbhatt.com/r/retro-grid.json

Works, but without upgrade tracking, and you import the motion CSS yourself.

Usage

import { RetroGrid } from "@rdloom/react";

<div className="flex w-full justify-center">
  <div className="relative flex h-96 w-full items-center justify-center overflow-hidden rounded-xl border border-[var(--rd-color-border-default)] bg-[var(--rd-color-surface-default)]">
    <RetroGrid />
    <div className="relative text-center">
      <p className="text-4xl font-semibold tracking-tight text-[var(--rd-color-text-default)]">Perspective floor</p>
      <p className="text-base text-[var(--rd-color-text-muted)]">Scrolls toward you slowly</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Colored

Ember floor

Steeper and finer

import { RetroGrid } from "@rdloom/react";

export default function RetroGridColored() {
  return (
    <div className="flex w-full justify-center">
      <div className="relative flex h-96 w-full items-center justify-center overflow-hidden rounded-xl border border-[var(--rd-color-border-default)] bg-[var(--rd-color-surface-default)]">
        <RetroGrid color="var(--rd-color-ember-500)" angle={70} cellSize={48} />
        <div className="relative text-center">
          <p className="text-4xl font-semibold tracking-tight text-[var(--rd-color-text-default)]">Ember floor</p>
          <p className="text-base text-[var(--rd-color-text-muted)]">Steeper and finer</p>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

Still

Held still

The floor stops

import { RetroGrid } from "@rdloom/react";

export default function RetroGridStill() {
  return (
    <div className="flex w-full justify-center">
      <div className="relative flex h-96 w-full items-center justify-center overflow-hidden rounded-xl border border-[var(--rd-color-border-default)] bg-[var(--rd-color-surface-default)]">
        <RetroGrid isStill />
        <div className="relative text-center">
          <p className="text-4xl font-semibold tracking-tight text-[var(--rd-color-text-default)]">Held still</p>
          <p className="text-base text-[var(--rd-color-text-muted)]">The floor stops</p>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

API Reference

Defined by the spec. Components also accept the props of the React Aria component they wrap.

Prop	Type	Default
`angle` Tilt of the floor in degrees.	`number`	`65`
`cellSize` Size of one grid cell in pixels.	`number`	`60`
`color` Colour of the grid lines: any CSS colour or token.	`string`	`"var(--rd-color-border-strong)"`
`duration` Seconds one cell takes to scroll.	`number`	`15`
`isStill` Stops all movement. Moving content should be stoppable.	`boolean`	`false`

Accessibility

Role presentation, WCAG 2.2 AA. Tested with axe and keyboard tests; screen reader checks are in the audit checklist.

Keyboard

Not interactive.

Screen readers announce

Ignored: it is not announced

What your code must do

Pure decoration: aria-hidden, never focusable, and pointer-events none so content on top stays usable
Drawn with CSS only, so it needs no JavaScript and is safe in server HTML
Stands still for visitors who ask for less motion (prefers-reduced-motion), with isStill, and inside an rdm-still container
Nothing flashes more than 3 times a second (WCAG 2.3.1) and moving content can be stopped (WCAG 2.2.2)
Hidden in forced-colors (high contrast) mode so it never fights system colours
Keep text on top at 4.5:1 against the effect: use a low-contrast colour

Guidelines

Use it when

The bottom of a hero section
A calm, technical backdrop

Avoid it when

Behind long text
As the only sign of a boundary

Don't

A fast duration: keep the scroll slow
Placing it behind dense forms

Design tokens

The semantic tokens this component uses. Change them once and every component follows; see Design tokens.

--rd-color-border-strong