Refinement and renovation.
2019’s My Time at Portia was an enjoyable experience albeit one that was a bit rough around the edge. And my My Time at Sandrock can often emulate that same sentiment. That said, its time in early access has allowed the title to see some vast improvements and make for a far more engaging experience. It certainly doesn’t look to shake things up as this is essentially a lot more of the same, but developer Pathea has certainly refined the experience in ways that certainly will entertain players looking for a bit more of that cozy sim life.
My Time at Sandrock once again places you as head of your own shop. As the current town builder is hoping to leave town as soon as possible, it is up to you and a second builder, Mi-an, to satisfy the needs of the town and get to the bottom of the numerous issues plaguing this sand-locked settlement such as bandits, and a group of monstrous creatures that have Sandrock in their sights.
The character creator is pretty decent for what it offers, allowing you to fashion a character that you’ll more than be happy with. There is also a wide range of outfits to buy or craft as well, complete with numerous events that can grant even more wacky options.
Like the previous title, building and tending to your shop, and the farm you’ll create around it is only one part of the adventure. You also have to worry about building weapons to keep you alive as you tackle numerous monsters and creatures that aim to put you in the dirt. Combat is more or less fine and while certainly more improved over the original, still can leave a lot to be desired, especially as it is part of the core experience. This would be a different story if it was only meant to keep pests from damaging your crops, but combat encounters occur just as much as anything else, at least after several hours.
Nearly every system has been improved from the original, creating a game that is far easier to grasp what is needed of you, even if a few quests and tasks can be a tad confusing on how they work alongside you. As an example, each morning you can collect a task to perform. Eventually, you’ll be able to tackle more than one. I had a main story quest to create a backdrop for the stage that had been damaged in a storm. I had then collected a special mission that required the stage. I had assumed that this would be how I handed it in, considering it is one of the game’s first major quests. However, after handing the backdrop in for that task, my main story mission was still present, forcing me to slave away at making a second backdrop. What had happened was the task for some reason had requested the backdrop for the stage but wasn’t connected to the main quest. Why would they need the backdrop if not for the quest? Hell, it was by the guy who issued the quest in the first place. This is something that repeated later on but I knew not to accept the task that asked for the main quest item, I picked something else instead.
Like My Time and Portia, Sandrock has you conversing with the local townsfolk for a wealth of quests, conversations, games, and if you play your cards right, romance. The people in My Time at Sandrock are vastly better rendered here with a less distorted design than Portia, making them much full of character and charm. I also quite enjoyed the voice acting present here to as it makes Sandrock really come alive.
Still, you’ll wake up and begin your day by tending to your machines, ensuring your water tank is full to power your devices and then find out what tasks are required of you as you tour the town and work towards boosting the relationship between you and the people who make Sandrock home. Eventually, you’ll gain access to the quarry to go digging, burrowing through the dirt as you recover various resources that aid in allowing you to build more and upgrade your machines, which then subsequently aid in building more advanced items for more involved projects. It is a loop that keeps on going. And with several skill trees to work through, you’ll have plenty to tackle as you build not only the tasks before you but your character as well.
What is great about the jobs you’ll be given is that the blueprints to make them are easy to come by and when you explore what parts you’ll need to make it a reality, it tells you exactly how to come by those resources. Sometimes it is taking to the quarry or even to the various shops to shortcut your way to what you need. It will also tell you what machine is required, and should you have the data discs to research more advanced stations, you can easily do that as well. While tracking down those items can still be a bit of a grindy affair, the simplicity at how easy it is to then fashion those resources into the parts you need is where Sandrock excels.
I also quite enjoy that nearly every resource you find can be used in some way. Even scraps can be fashioned into pipes and tubes and more, allowing you to have a vast array of machines going that can take those resources and turn them into something useful. You do need to tend to the machines to fill them with their respective fuel, but you’ll rarely be without the amounts you need, provided to keep to a steady rhythm of your daily tasks.
When you are not building components and structures for the townsfolk, from repairing the water systems that aid in growing their food, or repairing the train after a robbery, you’ll take part in events, such as their Halloween event that has you playing a game of hide and seek as one group act as a ghost and the others as something akin to a ghostbuster, complete with a device that can sense paranormal activity. And should you do well enough, you can earn some fancy new duds to walk around town in. Each of these events are rather engaging, allowing you to get to know the people who live there as well as become a contributing member of society.
As you tend to the various missions and progress throughout the story, you’re going to make some serious money as well as build all the appropriate containers to hold all your resources. This allows you to retrofit your home and start to make something of yourself in Sandrock. It can take quite a while to even afford what you need apart from making your fenced-in area much bigger than the small contained location you start with. Eventually, you can make a much bigger home and fill it with a ton of furnishing and pets, and even start a family. Again, it takes a while, but it certainly becomes worth it.
You can also build stables and bring in horses of your own as opposed to renting one for the week. This makes getting around Sandrock and its neighboring areas a great deal faster. Thankfully, the horses are vastly better than what we had in Portia, complete with better controls and overall animations.
My Time at Sandrock doesn’t reinvent the cozy life-sim, but it does refined a formula that Pathea nearly had with My Time at Portia. While there is still a bit of those rough edges, especially with hearing how unoptimized the Switch version is, I only had a few issues here and there, especially as I played about half of my time on the Steam Deck, usually caught with several loading issues both getting into the game as well loading up the menus. Thankfully, the latter issue wasn’t present on my laptop and the game ran fairly well there. Still, there is some work to be done to fine-tune a few things and make it a more technically enjoyable experience. While My Time at Sandrock is more renovation than innovation, it provides the tools and resources to be a damn fun time, regardless of the platform you enjoy it on.
Developer - Pathea. Publisher - Pathea, PM Studios, Focus Entertainment. Released - November 2nd, 2023. Available On - Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4/PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC. Rated - (E 10+) Alcohol Reference, Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes
Platform Reviewed - Steam Deck / Steam - Windows. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.