My Time at Sandrock

My Time at Sandrock is the second game in the My Time series which, while has connections to the previous title of My Time at Portia, can be played without previous experience of the series.

In it's core My Time at Sandrock is one of the life-sims that has all the things you want in this type of games - building, farming, exploring, monster fighting, dungeons, getting to know many NPCs and romancing them, leveling your tools and abilities and so on. However, main focus is on building as you are a Builder. You craft things, you build things and with that you progress through the story, earn money and improve your own house as well as your ability to build better and faster.

Story - great and fairly lengthy one. Has lots of development, was interesting to follow and generally nice to see how the city transforms through your actions.

Impact on the World - that's one of my most liked things in such games that I wish more games would have. As you complete various missions, both main and side quests, the world around you changes visually. I won't be listing detailed examples for spoilers reason but that's am immediate plus when new things appear and old ones are changed, be it buildings or something else. And I'm not talking about "I will go and construct a shed here" type (which you still can do on your personal territory) but global world changes instead.

NPCs - lots of them. Main NPCs which you can interact with are close to 50 with own schedules, backstories, impact on the story, likes and dislikes. Many of them are romanceable which further adds to the quests you can complete as there are tons of side quests for improving relations with NPCs.

Aethetics - game is pleasant to the eye and to the ear but won't say there's much to it. It has it's own charm but at the same time can't quite point something out as extraordinary. There are several cases where music gets bugged (either stops completely after a cutscene or two tracks overlap with one being stuck from the cutscene and the other being the regular one). And at times it took a couple of seconds for the game to load everything when leaving the insides of a building.

Bugs - still present in the game, some are at or close to gamebreaking level. Some characters lag out and teleport (not the fast travel option which player and NPCs use but actual teleportation), sometimes NPCs pathing got weird. Pathing issues are especially noticeable as you increase your territory, sometimes non-aggressive monsters from nearby spawns end up roaming within your fenced area. Had a couple of softlocks where I couldn't do anything after starting several activities - had to restart the game and load from the last autosave. Some NPCs are free roaming while you are talking with them and may end up at the other side of the city when your dialogue ends instead of stopping and talking. Not all encyclopedia entries can be acquired properly (or rather can be missed under certain conditions).

Other - there are three things I did not like specifically. One is a downgrade from the My Time at Portia in terms of how museum operates. In their first game NPCs would actively visit museum and would improve relations with you if they liked something from the items you've donated. Does not happen in Sandrock.

Another bad thing is that some events end up overlapping. If you end a quest (especially main story mission) before a festival, you may end up getting a continuation during the festival day meaning that you will likely skip either the festival activities or the mission cutscenes. Scheduling may be a mess and I had to check calendar more often before completing my missions as the game wouldn't care about that.

And lastly, an absolutely absurd situation - they've added poor censorship in a singleplayer game!!! That's the peak of making dumb decisions. I repeat: they've added censorship to renaming things. In a singleplayer game. Where you don't have many places to name things (mainly used as an option for storages). And it does not even work properly. Example: I could not rename my storage crate into "Assembly" for items that were made on the Assembly station or "Resources Mass" for a crate where I dumped thousands of extremely common items like stones. See the pattern yet? Yep, "Mass" and "Assembly" both contain "ass" which triggers their stupid censorship. In a singleplayer game. I would write some more but further opinion will be rightfully censored by Steam if you get my point.

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To sum up, My Time at Sandrock, despite some unfixed bugs and odd decisions on the dev side, is a great life-sim game which I've fully enjoyed both during Early Access and now with a complete playthrough.

I love the quality of life updates that were added since My Time at Portia. The characters are unique and interesting. There is also a lot of story content. Sometimes figuring out how to get what you need to complete a quest or order can be confusing, but I have learned to use the information in the guide to assist me. If you are looking for a longer game and love adventuring, romancing, and story, this may be the game for you.

Different enough from My Time at Portia to be new and interesting, but still some of the same concepts to be familiar and easy to understand.

Its fairly rare to find a sequel that improves upon most of the aspects of the previous game and this one does. solid game.

If you wished that Stardew was more RPG and less tree-cutting, this is the game for you.

11/10 would listen to one of Cooper's rants again.

I fell in love with my time games with My Time in Portia... and this games just goes further... offering much the same well being it's own game, with it's own feeling for being out in the desert.

For both the fun and the setting and the story line and even better characters.

After 160 hours of gameplay, including two restarts as I decided to shift my play style and pacing, I'm struggling to find the motivation to continue on and finish this game. I'm willing to accept that, for a new player, the introductory week of gameplay is very confusing, as they pile all these instructions in front of you with very little context, and it's not really until you've been playing a couple in-game months that you really acclimatize yourself to the importance of what you've been told. So, okay, I restart with better context, and... well, now I've encountered at least two major bugs, and not crash-your-game bugs, but quest-related bugs. One quest randomly fails for no reason and leaves a marker circle on your map for the rest of the game that you can't interact with. And then I had the game just stall during a play date and ignore all inputs, to the point where I had to Ctrl-Alt-Delete to quit. The game's already a year and a half old with DLCs, so they've had plenty of opportunity to fix issues like this, and I doubt any fixes are coming. And even though I'm probably less than halfway through the main storyline, I can't trust that anything from this point on will work properly, and I'm tired of having to rely on constant autosaves in case I wake up one morning to find another quest bug. It's a nice enough game experience when it works, but not reliable.

Me, hyper-focusing on this game for 8 hrs straight and forgetting to drink the water bottle sitting right on my desk within grabbing distance: this too, Conserves Water

It's a very deep game with a lot to do. i sank some time into this without realizing i was even losing time to it lol.

Deffinetly better than the first one from my time series. Im really waiting for the next one to be launched.

I bought this game back when it was in early access. I had played some My Time in Portia and thought it was decent but could be improved, and this promised improvement. When I tried it at early access, it still was pretty buggy and I got frustrated quick. Now (2025) I picked it back up to try and it seems to be a fully rounded and complete game. I am pretty impressed with how in-depth it is. I just got off a Stardew Valley binge, and I would say if you played Stardew but you feel comfortable playing something that's a little more in-depth than that game and offers a little more diversity in activities, this is your winner. I like the apocalyptic-style setting and the desert setting, and the soundtrack is beautiful. I actually am still relatively low-key into the game, I haven't done full romances yet or gotten through the whole plot, but I'm enjoying the game so much and feel strongly about recommending it, especially to those who are migrating from Stardew. This should be your next pick, it'll scratch your itch. Also, to the devs... Damn, your mining system is so fun! I love "uncovering" the mine and spending time cleaning it up so I can see everything. It's a really unique way to do that and I think it was an A+ decision.

DON'T buy!
I want to love this game. It's so unique, it's got so much to love. I have been playing cozy games for over a decade and this one was perfect for a refreshing take. But do NOT buy it on Steam in this state. This game deletes your saves! I have done every method to ensure the save file goes through before I exit, but then when I load up (not click continue) it deletes my saves! Days or weeks we're talking. It happens continuously. I have heard of people missing entire years. Unless you want to continuously redo days, it's not worth it. This is the biggest flaw. It's so disheartening.

Other flaws include NPC favoritism in writing, or strange story pacing, but overall the game is excellent. Just... abysmal that it deletes saves with no fix or report.

Lots of hours to go playing this game. Good value for money and such a wide variety of things to do in it. I even like the music.

Great Storyline! Most hated how long it was, but I always enjoy a great adventure rather than focusing on just resource gathering, building up your home, etc. I hope their next game doesn't sacrifice quality for lack of quantity. If they do, at least I can hope there will be DLCs which expand on the environment and history it'll be making as a frontier civilization.

I love this game and wish I found it sooner. I'm the type to like management, sim, and cozy games the most. I'll also play more adventure games with fighting. This game really hits everything I like and every day in the game I can do what I feel like. I can go collect resources, build, complete quests, farm, explore mines, and/or be apart of the community. The game is so dense with stuff you can do I am right now at 37 hours and I really feel like I'm still at the beginning of stuff I can do. It also feels like they helped a lot with quality of life issues. The game could easily have felt like a chore but they seemed to have figured out stuff to just make it more fun. It also has a fun humor at times it surprises me. I got this game on sale but if I would have paid full price if I knew how much I would enjoy it. I 100% recommend the game to people if you sound like you have similar taste to me.

Everything I want out of a game like this, 19 hours in one weekend should either tell you this game is great or that I have too few responsibilities to worry about.
10/10

I can certainly see where games like these have their, 'niche'. For me, this game is just a quick half hour session type of game (if that). There are just too many interruptions with story lines, go here do this, talk to this person, do that, etc, when I'd rather just do my own thing and be left alone. If you're into more freedom and that, 'sandboxy', type of play-style, you won't find it here.

A grand improvement over the first game (which was quite a bit of fun too). I had a lot of good time with this title and was really impressed by the amount of content this game has. Overall, a fairly casual experience but regardless scratches the itch for anyone who likes games such as Harvest Moon, Rune Factory and Stardew Valley.

My Time at Sandrock has so much content and I love the story, the characters, the mechanics and the lore. It can be a bit grindy at times, but that is typical of the My Time games. The atmosphere and music fit the western theme perfectly. Water is scarce and you have to manage and collect it for your workshop. You can get really creative when building your house and placing items on your plot of land. This is a unique game that definitely deserves more attention. It has a bit of everything. I am still not done with the story and everything this game has to offer and I am enjoying every second of it.

I recommend unless you have issues with puzzle solving. I will never be able to complete the game because I have significant issues with puzzle solving and at no point in any official advertisement or any description is there a mention that towards the end of the game there is a ridiculous puzzle (there is an entire Reddit thread about how bs it is so I know it isn't just me but the problem is the photo instructions make absolutely no sense to me (Just to prove my point about my own inability with puzzles) I have to call someone to come do this for me. Not everyone has that option.

If you played My Time At Portia and enjoyed it, then you will enjoy MTAS.
The game was fun and really had the resource management genre on it's knees. It kept key features from Portia and expanded on it, making it more intuitive and streamlined.
The characters were fun to get to know and felt alive, and the marriage candidates have a real lively feel to them. Also the way you build your workshop has improved VASTLY with more creativity than EVER.
Thank you to the My Time At ____ Team for your work.
I'm looking forwards to My Time At Evershine next <3

Great addition to the 'My Time' universe.

In my opinion 'Sandrock' is not as relaxing as 'Portia' but the story is lot more immersive.

Crafting and collecting and everything in it.

I've really loved this game. The story is pretty action packed and there are a lot of endearing characters. I didn't realize just how much progress was made from Portia to Sandrock, but now I have a hard time going back to Portia because this game is just so well fleshed out and every character really does have their own background and personality.

Evolving over My Time at Portia, My Time at Sandrock is a satisfying action/crafting and story driven game. It can actually be overwhelming sometimes as your collection of resources is limited each day by a stamina bar and the ticking clock but it becomes less and less of a concern as you progress. There is a rhythm that you'll learn set up for yourself as you play. Some of the major features of the game:

1) You're crafting will make major changes to the town over the course of the game.
2) You have a 'home base' to customize, upgrade and expand. Eventually you'll add automation to your crafting.
3) You'll meet over a dozen characters, all with their own unique personalities and stories.
4) You can pick out a character (male/female doesn't matter) to date and marry if you want.
5) You'll go relic hunting and fight through short dungeons with lots of weapons/armors to choose from.
6) The main story has a mystery to solve and expands the lore of the world.

So yeah. There's a TON of stuff to do and see. Check it out. It's a great game!

I loved My Time at Portia and this is definitely an improvement on the mechanics. I really dig the characters, story, and world-building. It really nails that Western aesthetic.

Very stress relieving and cute. It's like an open world stardew valley that is much better and just has a lot of charm. The game is very optimized and all characters have their own life which really brings the world to life :)

Great game, mainly crafting and exploration. Crafting takes time waiting on machines to produce so there is only so much you can do at a time, but good story. Not really re-playable since it is so storyline dependent but it is really enjoyable for a single playthrough.

Genuinely extremely good game. If you like Rune Factory play this game. Also stan Miguel and Heidi <3

Loved this game despite a few lags and glitches. I'm really looking forward to the next chapter from My Time.

Great sequel to Portia, they improved a lot of things that I didn't care for in the first one, (ie. you can save at any time of day, relationships are easier to build, etc.) and made it different enough that it didn't just feel like a clone of mechanics (the pick-ax, not being able to cut down trees, recycling).
There were some... questionable decisions made about some of the characters (the one Native American coded woman being in charge of a 'casino', sorry 'game center', for example) that made the game not a perfect game for me personally.

All in all a good play, can sink a decent chunk of time into, and the achievements were easier to obtain
8/10

This has been one of the most fun games I've ever played! The world building is awesome, the tasks are plentiful and, for the most part, intuitive to complete, and there's just so much to do (not in an overwhelming way)! I really love the fighting aspect of this game - never played a game like it and it's enjoyable rather than super scary and stressful. Looking forward to what more the game has to offer!

This game is amazing, I played the first one, on both Steam and Switch, and had to get this one! Now there is a third one coming out! It's always better than the precious, so I cannot wait. They keep the good and remove the bad, what else can you hope for from a game developer. I am nearing the end of the game, I think, and don't want it to end.

This game has helped me build new skills around being able to engage with other people, and that's really big for me. I had been recovering from really toxic dynamics and DV abuse, so trusting people felt too hard to do. I really appreciate the variety of ways to interact with the citizens and how to feel like I'm making a difference. This game provides so much variety, sometimes the plot line scenes feel like a whole other game. There is so much to do, to customize, to explore, it is worth starting off slowing down the day, repeating the tutorials, and enjoying the experience of being in Sandrock!

My Time games have taken a special place in my heart. Character design is downright silly I'm ngl, but Sandrock and Portia are doing what other games could only dream of doing. Mining, combat, romance, building, etc... It has it all. It is also one of the few RPGs out there where you can have kids and they grow up. That alone makes it stand out from other RPGs. The storyline is so good as well, and it has so much content to it, to the point that others have complained that it can be a bit arduous to finish. Replay-ability is there, which is important. All in all, it is just a really great game that stands above other cozy games.

I've really enjoyed this game so much. I appreciate the amount of depth the characters have. There are lots of different dialogues, so nothing feels redundant. The city of Sandrock feels so real at times. My friend and I both bought this game and have been comparing our play-throughs. There are so many different outcomes that can happen based on the choices you make. Every relationship you form has its own perks and cutscenes. There's always plenty to do - and if you get overwhelmed - there are ways to change the time progression in the game settings. You can pick how casual or grindy the game becomes for you, without needing to mod it!

This is a well polished game with a decent UI. The mixture of building, gathering, befriending, quests, battling, farming, fishing, and exploration supply you with a robust amount of gameplay. I highly recommend it, and thoroughly look forward to the sequel coming out next year!

10/10 i love the game my fav person is logan the game is open world so fun

Great game so far, played most of yesterday and starting it up today. Easy for beginners and I recommend just taking it slow

My Time at Sandrock is quite fun. There's a lot to do, even expanding on what one could do in the first My Time game.

Personally, I find the whole relationship thing a bit overwhelming, but perhaps after I've gotten through a bit more of the construction missions, I'll have time to focus on the friendships in town.

Do I recommend this game? Absolutely.

Fantastic game...great mechanics, engaging and fun

Upgrade over portia, way better voice actors aswell.

I've put well over 1000 hours into this game, including Steam and XBox, and it remains one of my all-time favorites that I keep coming back to. For me, it is the perfect balance of a compelling story, layered characters, interesting and funny dialogue, and relationships, paired with the perfect resource gathering, mining, fun combat, and construction elements. Pathea is an amazing studio that truly cares about their players and puts so much love into all of their games. I can't wait for My Time at Evershine!

Great game with amazing story line and characters, I have four different saves because of all the various romance content available. 10/10 recommend.

Absolutely love this game. Bought it on a whim. Wanted an easy, fun, chill game after playing Elden Ring for too long. This is the type of game where I sit down to play after dinner, and I blink and suddenly it is 2 am and I am wholly considering calling out sick from work so I can just keep playing.

The NPCs have DEPTH. The story line is *Chefs kiss*. I wanted a game where I can see my work makes active changes to my surroundings, and this is it.

There was one moment where I CRIED. (To avoid this, don't read the books you pick up... lol) There was one journal I found and I ended up just... crying. It was so sad. The game itself is very upbeat (minus the one time I cried- seriously that journal was... gut wrenching) But back to the upbeat- everyone in town is surviving- not living- not thriving- but they're just so motivated. Its not over the top- this game hits on some hard themes- I mean, it takes place after an apocalypse, but the game approaches it in a way where the townsfolk almost take it with another day in sandrock.

This game gives you plot twists, traitors spies and a rancher who just does NOT STOP TALKING.
(Anyone else laugh out loud when they read the Summit Agenda "Yeah, I can take up time!" 0800-1900 LOL.

10/10
Will play again.
And am anxiously waiting for My Time in Evershine to come out.

This game has it all. Twink cowboys. Morally questionable yakboys. Pastor boyfriend. British people. I will never play Xenoblade Chronicles again when this masterpiece exists

Seriously speaking though this game is phenomenal, satisfying crafting system, great farming, pets, cute dates and romances, and an unforgettable and charming cast. it's a must play for anyone who enjoyed Portia or fans of similar games like Rune Factory.

My Time at Sandrock has quickly become one of my absolute favorite games, and let me tell you, it's a huge step up from its predecessor, My Time at Portia. If you’re a fan of life simulation games, building, crafting, and exploring, this game has it all and then some.

First off, the gameplay is *so much* smoother and more enjoyable than My Time at Portia. The added quality of life features make a huge difference. Inventory management, crafting, and building are all far more intuitive. No more frustrating menus or complicated mechanics – everything just works! The addition of faster movement, more flexible crafting, and easier access to tools has made it much more fun to dive in for hours at a time.

But what truly makes Sandrock stand out are the NPCs. In My Time at Portia, I always felt like the characters were a little... flat. Not the case here! The NPCs in Sandrock are so *alive*, with vibrant, engaging dialogues that make the world feel truly immersive. They’ve got their own personalities, and interacting with them is an absolute joy. From the quirky town mayor to the hardworking shopkeepers, everyone feels like they belong in this little desert town, and it makes everything feel so much more personal.

The game’s overall tone is super wholesome too. There’s a lightheartedness and charm to everything – whether it's helping out a friend with a random task, rebuilding the town after disaster, or just chatting with people around town. It’s a game that makes you smile.

I can’t emphasize enough how much fun I’m having. The mix of crafting, exploration, character interaction, and world-building has made My Time at Sandrock an unforgettable experience. If you loved My Time at Portia or are just looking for a warm and engaging life-sim game, this is a must-play. Every day in Sandrock is a new adventure, and I’m here for it!

What Makes this Game is the Details.

I have played an insane amount of farming/life sim games. I could argue it's my favorite genre. Town builders, farming, romancing villagers- Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, the 5000 other games since that are all lovely in their own way.

Nothing will EVER beat Sandrock.

Let's Talk Mechanics

The game loop is freaking AWESOME. It is a GRIND, and that is my thing, so therefore, I'm living my literal best life.

Your character is a builder. You will build. Constantly. You will take commissions, you will need materials, you will go out and scrounge for materials, you will meet your commissions, and then you will rinse repeat for the entire game.

It feels AMAZING.

I'm about 100~ hours in I think on my second run, and I am nowhere near done with gameplay content. I still have ores, fishing areas, combat locations, dungeons, and more that I have not yet discovered. Hell, I haven't even finished the story- HELL I haven't even gotten MARRIED, AND I haven't even met all of the bachelors.

I haven't burned out yet, either. As the game progresses, material collection will get easier and easier. If you get the Pet DLC, material collection will get a LOT easier almost right out the gate, because pets are overpowered and also somehow integral, lmao. I've ABUSED the pet system to get materials and still feel like I'm barely keeping up.

Combat is good, building is awesome, material collection and grind is so fulfilling. It's a fantastic gameplay loop.

The social system is PHENOMENAL. I'll be honest, I struggle with the social aspect of things in these sorts of games because sometimes, I just cannot be bothered to go around and befriend the random townies that aren't integral/marriage candidates. It's hard enough keeping track of that one special NPC's schedule, but everyone else?

Sandrock fixed that. Characters have a NETWORK of connections, so at times, you have a chance of not just increasing points with an NPC, but also with everyone in their network. I actually feel like the town as a whole is reacting to my presence in this way, not just the direct people I'm gifting the 18th shiny scorpion to this week.

Let's Talk Vibes.

I feel like my character actually matters to the town and to the other characters.

When you raise your relationship with characters, they begin waving at you, and little greetings pop up above their heads. They'll comment on the fact that you have pets with you, or just say really sweet things because they're happy to see you. All of the characters in this town feel like they actually MATTER, like they all exist within this town and care about it, versus just following a set path and saying one of three things.

They comment on every single interaction in the story, they react to the world around them. This makes the entire town feel alive in a way farming sims just has not felt. Story of Seasons games are lauded as well done, but frankly, the characters feel about as surface level as a sheet of paper.

Not Sandrock. I am INVESTED. The story is NUTS. I was fully in the belief that one particular character is secretly a sociopath, and now I'm questioning that, and only through spoilers do I know another character IS definitely a villain. Or something.

I worried about the game being set in a desert because frankly, I'm not a fan of desert aesthetics.

The game doesn't make you LOVE the desert, but you fall in love with everything that has to DO with Sandrock being in a desert, because IT IS LORE CENTRIC. There is an entire plot around the fact that you are in the desert, and that's incredible. The setting MATTERS. Everything MATTERS. Every character, the location- everything. It's incredible.

This game is so worth it.

I genuinely recommend. I recommend it above and beyond all other farming games. Yes, it's in the desert, but believe me, that's 100% part of the charm and the intensity and the awesomeness. It plays a part in the mechanics, the characters, their traits, and the world you're in.

This game is so well done. Sometimes buggy, but it's one of those games where the pros HEAVILY outweigh the cons. A bug is like a minor inconvenience haha.

The best game I've ever played and it's not even close. I want to be in Sandrock forever. It's so immersive, and the way the town heals with you is incredible. 11/10 recommend.

Highly recommend its very calm and relaxing. I should of tried the game way sooner but I'm glad I got into now.

Bruddahs, lissen. The game is GOOD, but the developper is a moron. Back in Portia (first game), they optimized the game so bad the GRASS made your PC burst, even if yer gamerig had twice the max requirement oompf. But it was easy to get out of it, just cancel grass effects and grass altogether.

Here I am with my gaming rig just one year old, and it's not a weakling, MBI B760 Tomahawk Wifi, 64GB of RAM, Intel iCore 9-14900K and MSI RTX4070 Super Ventus 2x OC 12GB GDDR6X HDMI 3xDP

I should be able to run that game at light speed. But the game is ruined bu THE LONGEST loading screen since the Commodore era.

It takes FIVE MINUTES for the game to let you access the menu screen. Then at some random points in game you have a looping green circle loading or mimicking loading for aeons anfd for no reason.

And when in the mining pit, each level is separated by a 5 minute long loading screen. A,d it's not like it takes all that time to fill the waiting bar, no. Waiting bar is completed to 95% after a few seconds. Then gets stuck for 5 minutes.

The game is good, but NOT THAT GOOD that you're willing to inflict yourselves 5 minutes loading screens, it's even worse than Warcraft II or Diablo on PSX!

Oh yeah, devs have delivered some platitudes "deactive auto Steam cloud saves", "deactive error feedbacks", "update your drivers", "reboot your PC", "reboot your game", "decrease overall graphics quality.

Wall, you know what? Thi is ALL bullshit. Devs are clueless and useless, and couldn't optimize a game even if their lives depended on it.

Do not buy this game except if you got the patience of a buddhist monk. Oh, and did I mention that, sometimes, the loading actually doesn't stop? Or that the game freezes and crash?

The devs won't do jackshit for this game, they abandoned it already since they're working on the third installement. I guess all that's left for them is make sure the game runs absolutely horrifyingly on ALL platforms.

I could run this game on Deep Blue in minimum settings and I'd still have crashes and eternal loadings.