My Time At Sandrock

Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Genre: RPG/Action
Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Developer: Pathea Games
Release Date: Nov. 2, 2023

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'My Time at Sandrock' Early Access Update Adds Story Content, NPCs romances, Wedding Features And More - Trailer

by Rainier on April 12, 2023 @ 2:43 p.m. PDT

My Time at Sandrock is a sandbox simulation RPG set in the My Time at Portia world; inspired by Dark Cloud 2, Harvest Moon, and the works of Miyazaki.

Welcome back to the Alliance of Free Cities, and to the rugged mining town of Sandrock in My Time At Sandrock! As Sandrock’s newest Builder, it’s up to you to revitalize the region and restore the city to its former glory. 

Sandrock is a city-state located in the Eufaula Desert within the Alliance of Free Cities. It was founded beside Martle’s Oasis on top of an ancient metropolis. At first, the city attracted many prospectors interested in an extensive supply of relics hidden beneath the desert, but, as time went on, the oasis dried up, leaving the city unable to sustain a large population. Many people left, leaving the place in its vagarious state found today.

Start a new life in the enchanting town of Portia! Restore your Pa's neglected workshop to its former glory by fulfilling commissions, growing crops, raising animals, and befriending the quirky inhabitants of this charming post-apocalyptic land!

Make the most of your time in Sandrock by leveling up skills suited to your playstyle. Choose to become a social butterfly by increasing community and friendship traits, or get increased production yield from construction talents. Tame the desert and plant delicious crops by skilling up cultivation talents or even grow into a stalwart defender of Sandrock through combat-oriented talents.

Take on assignments from Sandrock’s eclectic residents, assembling an array of machinery, civic structures, and more. Learn new blueprints to create complex structures piece by piece, turning copper plates, bronze bars, and gears into everything from elevators to bridges and water reservoirs! Complete jobs and tackle hundreds of sidequests to earn higher Builder ranks, taking on advanced commissions to overhaul Sandrock while earning the appreciation of the locals.

Learn more about the history of Sandrock by exploring below the desert sand. Mine through layers of rock searching for materials, long-forgotten relics, and data disks containing information and blueprints from old-world technology. Explore caverns and ruins, fighting back against hostile inhabitants with an overhauled action-RPG combat system featuring melee and third-person shooting mechanics as well as an arsenal of weapons to master.

Forge bonds with more than 30 NPCs new to the franchise. Spend time with them, learn their backstories, exchange gifts, build friendships, and even find that special someone. Celebrate seasonal festivals full of friendly competitions that bring the community together. Soak up the adorable scenery by taking a stroll through town to admire its bold colors and architecture or enjoy an enchanting night watching the stars in the vast desert sky.

Take a breather from assisting the charming townsfolk to expand the workshop and decorate your home. Craft furniture, decorations, and new outfits before expanding the farm and growing crops for cooking delicious dishes. Carve out a destiny in Sandrock with whoever you see fit!


Focus Entertainment and Pathea Games today extend the Early Access (Steam and Epic Games Store) experience of My Time at Sandrock, with a new patch packed with awaited and player-requested content.

The ‘Knives Out’ free update brings a story act, romances and wedding features, new dungeons and boss, and much more content.

“Knives Out”: A bounty of new content

Uncover the secrets of Sandrock

Today’s “Knives Out” Update marks a new chapter of Sandrock’s main story plot. You finally get to uncover the truth… but prepare for a hell of a ride!

Get married!

Upon player request, “Knives Out” introduces an exciting new feature as it becomes possible to marry NPCs. Get a ring to propose to your loved one and make wedding arrangements for the ceremony of your dreams!

List of new content

  • New narrative content
  • Wedding-related content
  • New romantic activities and prompts 
  • New dungeon locations
  • New mini-games
  • NPC visiting relics behaviors
  • Improvements and upgrades in players workshop

Sandrock is a city-state located in the Eufaula Desert within the Alliance of Free Cities. It was founded beside Martle’s Oasis on top of an ancient metropolis. At first, the city attracted many prospectors interested in an extensive supply of relics hidden beneath the desert, but, as time went on, the oasis dried up, leaving the city unable to sustain a large population. Many people left, leaving the place in its vagarious state found today.

There are numerous unique characters for you to discover in Sandrock, all with complex personalities and intricate backstories. Many of them can be romanced, and almost all of them can be befriended to unlock quests that will reveal their hopes, dreams, and personal goals, or maybe just a fun storyline to achieve something together with that character. We’ve written a new AI system for this game so that the characters will behave more “alive” than in My Time at Portia. For example, we’re planning to have the NPCs interact with each other more instead of keep to themselves like they do in Portia.

Speaking of Portia! Being that Sandrock and Portia are neighboring cities, it seems more than likely a few familiar faces will be stopping in, though we can’t exactly confirm who that will be yet…

Key Features:

  • Storyline – Just as in Portia, Sandrock will offer a deep and open narrative. There will be villains and heroes, comedy and tragedy. We also try to expand upon the lore first explored in My Time at Portia to give players deeper insight as to what the world of the Free Cities is like. The themes of the new storyline are similar to Portia’s: that people can overcome any adversity when they work together.
  • Multiplayer – We’ve heard you, and we are aiming to have a specific game mode for multiplayer, without interfering with our development of single-player. Much is still on the drawing board or in the design phase, but the aim is to support at least 4 players in an open world map, separate from the single-player map. Players will be able to work, fight, and dungeon dive together. We’re also looking to create multiplayer specific missions and storylines. Much of this is dependent on your support!
  • Workshop – You’re still in the role of a Builder in Sandrock, so the workshop is still the central focus of gameplay. You’ll need to gather materials and relics from all over the map to support your workshop and finish commissions from local townspeople and government. There will be lots of new upgrades for the machines in the workshop, as well as some customization features involving the homestead and furniture, i.e., drawing your own designs for things. Being the #1 workshop in the region will still be something for players to shoot for, but it may be hard to pull off without first attracting some industry to the town.
  • Farming – You’ll still be using planter boxes for farming in Sandrock, but with some new elements. We realize that in Portia we had a problem where almost the only thing players could get out of farming was a little extra money through selling crops. We’ll try to remedy that in Sandrock by making sure that there are multiple ways to utilize the harvest.
  • Relationships – All characters in the game will be more interactive than before: almost all of them will have character-specific questlines and have much more dialogue. Initially, fewer NPCs will be romanceable, but we are working to make each romanceable character unique and memorable with several personalized quests for each, in addition to giving them their own unique behaviors. The relationships are, once again, more than just something extra to do in the game; they’re tied together with the overall game loop: if you have a good relationship with a specific character, you’ll unlock perks such as new missions, stat boosts, cheaper goods, or a more willing hand to help out when you need it. Going the romance route will allow you to go on dates with the NPC, and eventually you’ll be able to marry the character and have kids.
  • Battle – The battle system is still relatively simple, but it feels and plays much better than in Portia. We’re looking to add more depth to this battle system before release, as well. You will fight an assortment of enemies: monsters, robots, bandits, and more. Enemies will behave more intelligently, and their attacks will be more coordinated, allowing for better counterplay. Larger enemies can collide with the player, and even send you flying with a strong enough hit!
  • Skills - There is leveling in the game, like most RPGs, but rather than gaining flat experience points for completing tasks, specific skill points will be earned by doing those activities (i.e. mining gives you points for mining skills, fighting gives you points for combat skills, etc.). These points can be distributed to give custom enhancements to your abilities.
  • Dungeons – There will be three types of dungeons in Sandrock. The Abandoned Ruins are dungeons without enemies, and you can dig safely through voxel terrain to find minerals and relics. The Hazardous Ruins are dungeons that are still classified as dangerous;  they’re filled with enemies leftover from an earlier age, as well as some platforming challenges. Finally, we have the all-new Half-Explored Ruins, where there are spots to dig through as well as enemies to fight.
  • Mini-games - We’re trying to add in as many different mini-games as possible. They will include sand racing, sand fishing, sparring, gun fighting, and more.
  • Holidays - There are several holidays and events that happen throughout the year in the game, some returning from Portia with a fresh take, some all new and unique to Sandrock! From the Day of the Bright Sun, which is celebrated all over; to the Day of Warmth, where people dance around a bonfire; to First Rain, where people celebrate the first rainfall of the year; each holiday will make for a fun and immersive experience that keeps the passage of time meaningful.
  • Weather - The game has four seasons as well as a full day-night cycle. Rain doesn’t come very often; but do watch out for the sandstorms!
  • Cooking - The game will have an elaborate setup for cooking. The player will be able to make many different recipes found throughout the world. The food can be sold, given as gifts, or eaten by the player to gain stats.
  • Animals - There are many different animals in the game world. Depending on the time of day, weather, and season, different animals will appear. Some of them can be captured and domesticated. We will have animal husbandry involving a multitude of farm and ranch animals with a fuzzy cow creature unique to Sandrock, the Yakmel, being the most prominent.

My Time At Sandrock is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam / Epic Games Store) in April 2024.


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