My Time at Sandrock review: A new take on farming sims

The Story

In the heart of a charmingly post-apocalyptic world, My Time at Sandrock unfolds its story 330 years following the catastrophic Day of Calamity, which laid waste to many of the technological marvels of the past. Upon embracing the role of Sandrock's newly appointed builder, you'll set foot in the untamed and resilient city-state.

Here, the fate of the community's resurgence rests squarely on your capable shoulders and the trusty tools at your side. Your mission is to collect essential resources, construct intricate machines, forge bonds with the welcoming locals, and stand guard against menacing monsters that threaten Sandrock's peace. All this while, your laborious efforts serve to stave off impending economic collapse and save the town from the brink of ruin. It takes place in a desert where water is scarce, making its protection your primary goal.

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Gameplay

My Time at Sandrock is played in a third-person POV perspective. It is filled with sidequests (main and optional) for players to complete but also features minigames that can be played against the NPCs and townfolk of Sandrock. The game relies heavily on the player making goods and selling them to then be able to purchase equipment to be able to produce more goods.

While that system is very simple and straightforward, getting the hang of what you are supposed to do while also trying to maintain a decent monetary status can be a little overwhelming and you will find yourself being broke for the first 30 hours of the game, living off pennies and items you scavenge rather than the items you buy. The game does offer sidequests players can complete to earn some money but in the early game, the players are pushed toward completing the first "tutorial" quests so exploring your monetary options is very limited until later on.

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You can interact with NPCs to get free rewards

At the start, there are no immediate threats to the player aside from the animals that will attack only once aggrevated so exploring weapons and combat options is not necessary and opting for using your axe/pickaxe will be just fine until you have left the starting area. The game picks up on difficulty very fast and exploration can become very tedious and simply not fun due to the difficulty in keeping your stats high enough to go far.

All forms of transport are extremely limited since horses and other animals used for transport can only be rented and not fully bought so if you are low on money, this option is locked for you. Additionally, entering areas where there is a lot of loot to collect can also be out of the picture due to the areas being locked until a fee is paid.

In a nutshell, the gameplay during the first couple of hours consists of farming, talking to NPCs and looking for materials to complete quests so you can get money, and you will never have enough of it. Not a lot is shown in regards to actually building and crafting as that is only explained later on so if you want to start enjoying the game, you will need to grind out and power through the starting "phase".

Building relationships with the NPCs, playing games or brawling with them whenever you wish is a really nice feature that makes you wonder why don't more games have it. It was quite enjoyable being able to beat up the major who told me that I couldn't chop down the cactus near the city.

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You need to help the NPCs in order to progress in the game

Performance, graphic and sound presentation

The developers have definitely accepted and addressed the criticisms the community voiced during the early access of the game. Aside from the slightly awkward conversation animations with the NPCs, the game runs smoothly with only minor bugs and glitches such as your player being reset multiple times when getting close to bodies of water.

The voice acting is done really well for a game such as My Time at Sandrock and the graphics, while not too realistic nor too cartoony, are relatively pleasing. The inventory system is one of the more pleasant features of the game as you do not have to bring items with you in order to be able to sell/trade in the town. 

The downsides of the game aren't necessarily major but could be a reason to make players shy away from the game. Currently, the starting mana stats are way too low and many players will find themselves farming for 10 minutes and going to sleep at 3 PM (in-game) because they are no longer able to do anything. On the other hand, the HP stats are too high and in my time playing, I have not been in a single situation where I thought the enemies would kill me.

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Conclusion

For what it is, My Time at Sandrock is a relaxing and fun farming simulator but players will need to invest a decent amount of time to get to the part of the game where it becomes enjoyable. The inventory system is one of the best systems I have seen in a long time and the NPCs are interesting to interact with as every chat brings something new.

The idea and the story of the game are very unique and intriguing and they are definitely worth the time invested in the grind. That mixed with the overall decent graphics and gameplay make My Time at Sandrock a good pick once it is on sale. For a price of 35€, you are going to find better enjoyment in farming games such as Fae Farm or even Palia.

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