My Time at Sandrock: Everything We Know (2023)

My Time at Sandrock is on the verge of shedding its early access skin and becoming a full-fledged life simulation game on consoles and PC. And it's about time, too, what with developer Pathea Games having kept it under wraps for the best part of three years. What's better is that it's even available to play today, providing you don't mind skipping out on a few components, that is.

Anyway, if all goes according to plan, then technically, My Time at Sandrock should launch in Q3 2023. But if you're wondering what needs to be heard ahead of its eventual summer release, then be sure to read on. My Time at Sandrock: what is it, and when can we expect to see it finally grace the system?

What Is My Time at Sandrock?

My Time at Sandrock is a life and farming simulation game by Pathea Games, the same team that brought us 2019's My Time at Portia. Like the first instalment, the world of Sandrock will invite you to collect your toolbox and assume the role of a builder in a run-down desert town. As such, you will be tasked with breathing life into old ruins, and essentially transforming a post-apocalyptic dust ball into a bustling haven for like-minded and wholesome folk.

“Travel to the desert community of Sandrock and take on the role of a fledgling Builder,” the Steam description reads. “Use your trusty toolset to gather resources, construct machines, and turn your run-down workshop into a well-oiled production facility to save the town from the jaws of economic ruin!”

A sandbox game at heart, Sandrock will encourage you to unlock your inner creative and craft, build, and evolve till your heart's content. What's more, you'll need to develop lifelong friendships, and even serve as the community's one true defender against its unruly monsters. So, to put it short, in order to make ends meet in the town of Sandrock, you'll need to be the jack-of-all-trades; a dabbler of sorts, but a master in no particular field.

Story

My Time at Sandrock will whisk you away to the post-apocalyptic town of Sandrock, a world that's void of technology due to an earth-shattering event known as the Day of Calamity. As a builder, you will venture out to the dusty region and restore it to its former glory. Sound familiar? Well, as it turns out, the premise isn't all that different from My Time at Portia, to be fair.

In Pathea Games' own words: “After accepting a job offer to become Sandrock’s newest Builder, you’ll arrive in the wild and rugged city-state, where it’s up to you and your trusty tools to restore the community to its former glory. Gather resources to build machines, befriend locals, and defend Sandrock from monsters — all while saving the town from economic ruin!”

Gameplay

Like the prequel, My Time at Sandrock will base most of its gameplay around a traditional open world sandbox formula. To this end, you will be expected to scavenge resources, craft items and cosemtics, and essentially fulfil requests and contracts made by the people of Sandrock. And not just that, but to develop a genuine bond with the residents of the town and embark on countless companion quests, too.

“Explore vast deserts surrounding the city-state of Sandrock” the description adds. “Dive into ruins to dig for Old World relics, seek out materials in hard-to-reach locations, or spend time relaxing in Sandrock with your neighbors.”

Like My Time at Portia, Sandrock will present a wide variation of pastime activities to engage in, including dancing, dune dashing, and farming. In addition to these, the town will also host frequent festivals and seasonal events, effectively giving you a year-round experience to indulge in.

There'll be combat, too, which will involve having to use both melee and ranged weapons to defeat a variation of common beasts and wandering creatures that threaten to disrupt the tranquility in Sandrock.

“Quickly shift between melee combat and third-person shooting mechanics in dynamic action battles,” the blurb continues. “Use the new weapons and defense break mechanic to your tactical advantage, or boost your stats to simply smash through battles!”

Development

It's funny, because My Time at Sandrock was originally supposed to be DLC for My Time at Portia. However, due to Pathea Games wanting to broaden its horizons and shoot for bigger stars, so to speak, the project eventually wound up becoming an entirely new game. Fast-forward to 2021, and it eventually found its ways to an open beta testing phase. And since then, well, it's pretty much been the case of crossing the t's and dotting the i's. It will now launch at some point in summer 2023, roughly three years after its inception.

Trailer

My Time at Sandrock caught your eye? If so, then you'll be pleased to know that Pathea Games hasn't exactly been shy with its trailers since making the announcement. Fact is, the devs actually released a trailer or two back in 2020, and then a slew of additional previews right up until earlier this week. You can catch the latest announcement trailer in the video embedded above.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

My Time at Sandrock will be coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC via Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store in summer 2023.

If you're an avid collector and wish only to get your hands on the most valuable edition of My Time at Sandrock, then unfortunately you're out of luck. Turns out, My Time at Sandrock will only be available in a pretty compact digital edition. It has been said, though, that a physical copy will be releasing at some stage this year.

Planning on staying in the loop? If so, then you'll definitely want to keep tabs on its social feed here. If anything changes ahead of its summer launch, we'll be sure to fill you in on all the key details right here on gaming.net.

So, what's your take? Will you be picking up a copy of My Time at Sandrock now that it's finally out of early access? Let us know your thoughts over on our socials here.