My Time At Sandrock is an exciting simulation and adventure game developed and published by Pathea Games for PC on farming and crafting of Story of Seasons games, and containing the combat and exploration mechanics of titles like Stardew Valley or Rune Factory 5, My Time at Sandrock puts a different spin on the farming narrative. Instead of inheriting a forgotten farmstead in a modern setting, players must restore a workshop in a post-dystopian town.
My Time at Sandrock is set in the same world as My Time at Portia, the previous game developed by Pathea Games. Like My Time at Portia, the new title in the series focuses on rebuilding a run-down town while restoring a personal workshop. Players build tools, machines, and devices that help better the town while taking on quests from the local townsfolk to build relationships. Like JRPG farming game Rune Factory 5, players will also need to explore post-apocalyptic dungeons and fight enemies for important resources, as well as explore the large map to uncover all the secrets Sandrock has to offer.
Many of the mechanics seen in My Time at Portia have been revamped and used in My Time at Sandrock. The most important overhauls have been to the crafting UI. In the previous game, the crafting system was bulky and frustrating, especially early in the game's development, making the primary mechanic for the game difficult to use. My Time at Sandrock has streamlined these menus and the blueprint screen, offering players interfaces that are easy to read and intuitive to use. This both speeds up crafting and makes the process of building new items fun and interesting.
Character customization has become an important option for most simulation and slice-of-life games in recent years. Despite this, the character creator in Pokémon Legends: Arceus and many other titles have kept it simple, limiting what players can do to make personalized protagonists. However, My Time at Sandrock includes an expansive character creator with a wide range of appearance options to pick from. Sliders offer the ability to change face shapes, chin depth, eye shapes, eyebrow thickness, and much more. Players can put makeup on their characters, or interesting face tattoos.
One of the best inclusions in My Time at Sandrock's character creator is the full skin tone color wheel. The character's skin tone can be set to almost any color players may want to use, from natural tones to sharp blues or pinks. Additionally, hair color also possesses the color wheel option, offering an exciting selection of hair tones for those wanting something unique and bright. While there aren't as many hairstyles as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the ability to select from a wide range of skin and hair tones makes the game a diverse and inclusive option for players.
Like in My Time at Portia, the characters in My Time at Sandrock all possess detailed and interesting personalities and backstories. The character cast is diverse with different body types, skin tones, and backgrounds. This gives My Time at Sandrock a more interesting atmosphere than titles like Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, incentivizing players to learn about each character. Additionally, the romanceable characters aren't all new to dating, with certain backgrounds including divorce or other challenges. This offers a realistic element to the game that many players may find refreshing.
My Time at Sandrock has a detailed character UI where players can see their relationships with each of the townsfolk, as well as the interesting details they have discovered about each NPC. Unlike the simple romance systems seen in games like Stardew Valley, players can easily keep track of important information about each NPC, as well as birthdays and professions. This is especially important, as My Time at Sandrock contains just under 40 NPCs.
My Time at Sandrock has also made large changes to the game's overall appearance, offering a crisp and updated art-style and detailed locations that weren't present in My Time At Portia. While the graphics might be a bit much for some computers, they provide a stunning and colorful western-themed environment for players to explore. My Time at Sandrock is a delightful continuation of the previous title in the series, and will likely be a great choice for fans of crafting, farming, and simulation games. Even in the early stages of development, the attention to detail makes it feel polished and unique. Hopefully, further updates for My Time at Sandrock will continue to flesh out the world and provide players with an exciting new adventure.
My Time at Sandrock will be available in Early Access on Steam May 26, 2022. Screen Rant received a Steam code for the purpose of this preview.
