| My Time at Sandrock | |
| Developer: | Pathea Games |
| Publisher: | PM Studios Focus Entertainment |
| Engine: | Unity[1] |
| Platforms: | |
| Released: | November 2, 2023 |
| Genre: | Farm sim, role-playing |
| Modes: | Single-player, multiplayer |
My Time at Sandrock is a 2023 farm life sim role-playing video game developed by Pathea Games and published by PM Studios and Focus Entertainment. It is the sequel to the 2019 video game My Time at Portia and was released into early access on May 26, 2022, before releasing on November 2, 2023, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S. The game was praised for its graphics while on the other hand, criticized for its repetitive gameplay.
Players control a new resident in a desert town. The setting, like My Time at Portia, takes place in a post-apocalyptic world 300 years after the Day of Calamity, an event that has destroyed previous civilizations and most modern technologies, causing people to rebuild society.[2] The game starts by the player creating a character, then after that, a cutscene of the train plays. Sandrock combines elements of farm life sims and role-playing video games. Players build up the town, farm, mine, gather resources, craft items, perform side quests, and explore dungeons and the ruins of the old world cities. Combat is similar to My Time at Portia and uses hack and slash mechanics. Players can also make aimed shots with gun sights. Twenty-one characters are romanceable. The game has cooperative multiplayer.[3]
The sequel for My Time at Portia was announced in October 2020, funded through a Kickstarter campaign.[4] The campaign reached almost 10,000 backers from over 160 countries and pledged a total of $524,770. For comparison, Coral Island, another farm sim that entered early access and fully released in 2022 and 2023 respectively, pledged $1.6 million.[5] The game was initially slated for release in early access in March 2021 followed by a full release in summer 2022.[6] However, after the announcement on March 2021, the early access plan was delayed because it needed to earn a "local rating certification" for online publishing.[7] After a long delay, the game finally released into early access on May 26, 2022, by PM Studios for Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. During early access, the Knives Out Update was released in April 2023, which introduced minigames, new weather, a narrative, and weddings.[8] The game was fully released on November 2, 2023, having been delayed from September 26, 2023, to ensure it meets the game's quality.[9]
Unlike My Time at Portia (which never planned to introduce multiplayer),[10] the Windows version has co-operative multiplayer.[11] The developers plan to port the game to PlayStation 4 at a later date[12] and release downloadable content (DLC) packs in 2024.[13] Cross-platform play has been available since June 2024.[14] [15]
On Metacritic, My Time at Sandrock received positive reviews for Windows and PlayStation 5, and the Switch version received mixed reviews.[16] Various critics praised the game as entertaining. Some liked its cozy nature, while others praised how the game made them fall asleep. An early access review from Rock Paper Shotgun described it as "a compelling and lusciously detailed life simulator" and praised the gameplay loop.[17]
Despite some technical issues, IGN called it "a joy" and better in almost every way than My Time at Portia. They found the dungeons and combat a bit basic but said the rest of the game makes up for them.[3] Nintendo Life called it "reasonably enjoyable" but criticized the graphics, performance issues on the Switch, software bugs, and what they felt was "a lack of a distinct identity".[18] Digitally Downloaded has also reported on the technical issue and that the game is so laggy that players "can make a coffee in the time that it takes to actually load the thing"[19] However, Nintendo Life said that the patches had fixed some of the technical issues since the launch. Nintendo World Report also experienced performance issues on the Switch but recommended it on the strength of its gameplay loop and enjoyable world.[20] VG247 said it combines the best parts of Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley. Although they felt the concept is not new, they praised the characters, story, and gameplay.[21] TouchArcade's review for the Nintendo Switch stated that the game felt "like one of the best sequels in the genre with how much it improves".[22]