My Time at Sandrock is an rpg developed by Pathea Games. it's the sequel to My Time at Portia (which I also love!) and a third installment, My Time at Evershine, is currently in the works.
this game is one of my safe places, and this is where i geek out about it. :3
Sandrock is a cozy Old West-style town sprouting from the remnants of a long-ago apocalypse. cute lil mutants roam the dunes and the red rock bluffs, and there's definitely something weird going on with the lizard people...
we're picking up junk, recycling scrap, and doing our best to bring Sandrock back to its former glory. the sandstorms are getting harsher, but maybe Old World technology can help us re-green the vast Eufaula Desert.
everyone in this game is so stinkin' precious. the characters and many and varied, and there's a lot to learn about all their personalities, histories, and motivations. maybe you'll get married and start a family...
this is such a friendly game. there aren't many major consequences - fall damage is a gentle suggestion, staying up too late doesn't bother you, and you can even make the days longer if you find the pace stressful.
there's also so much to do. the main quest will see you slowly improving the town and unlocking new areas and resources, but you can also put that on the backburner in favor of other pursuits:
also the soundtrack is wonderful. the nighttime music paired with the red rocks and the starry desert sky hits me right in the feels sometimes.
this is a collection of things i've noticed and information i've gathered (sometimes painstakingly) from the fandomwiki. i wanted to have everything easily accessible for my own playthroughs and thought someone else might get some use from all of this. i just think it's fun to find efficient ways to do things and figure out what the 'optimal' early game would look like.
update: a beautiful human has created the My Time at Sandrock helper to save us all from having twenty squintillion tabs open, and it's my new favorite thing.
it's probably important to note that despite having several hundred hours of play time racked up, i have actually yet to complete the main questline! there's still a ton of this game i haven't experienced so i'm sure i've missed stuff and made mistakes, but this is a ongoing work in progress.
mild(?) spoilers ahead, obviously, so i recommend proceeding with caution if you're on your first playthrough.
don't limit yourself to just one Recycler! in the early game i keep at least two running constantly. Furnaces are also good to double up on.
if you want some really quick cash, go to Construction Junction and sell your chimney, sign, and even your roof.
since you can access all of your chests from any of your chests, you technically only need one of them taking up space in your yard. while you're at Construction Junction, scooch your rooftop over to the side and you can hide all your other chests on top of your ceiling. just scoot the roof back when you're done. maybe wait until you've upgraded to the Large Storage Boxes so you don't have to fiddle with them too much.
put an ad in the paper every week! it costs next to nothing (100 Gols) and it gives you a 10% boost to commission income, reputation, and/or experience. you'll get a notification when your ad placement ends. if you have money to spare you can cancel and re-place your add to reroll the benefits.
when you first meet Arvio, he'll give you a 50% discount at By The Stairs for one week, which means you can pick up seven Storage Boxes for half price - around 80 Gols each. when you complete his delivery service quest, you'll get another week of discounts. if you get the second one before the first one is over, i don't think it gets applied properly.
go hunting during sandstorms! enraged monsters drop really good loot.
i'm several hundred hours into this game and only now realizing the joy of the tab menu. once you have a planting kit, a home editing kit, or a mount whistle, you can access all of them from the tab menu without needing to have them in your inventory. life-altering, truly. bonus: when you make yourself a new machine, you can use the home editing kit to place it in your yard straight from your inventory. no hotbar shuffling necessary.
the Stable costs 1k Gols, 10 hardwood sticks, 2 rubber shells, and 5 steel bars.
the total cost for the coop, hutch, and barn is 3k Gols, 20 iron plates, 8 bronze frames, and 20 hardwood planks.
the total cost for all yard expansions 758k Gols!
upgrading to the intermediate assembly station costs 1.5k Gols, 5 steel bars, 10 bronze plates, and 5 microchips.
when you unlock the Intermediate Worktable, build it from scratch instead of upgrading your existing table - it's much cheaper. you can donate your Basic Worktable to the museum. the Advanced Worktable, on the other hand, is very slightly cheaper to upgrade instead of building, especially since by that point you'll likely have spare Machine Upgrade Kits lying around anyway.
when you're processing ore and scrap, try to avoid using the very last one of anything. it'll keep your sorting system organized and make auto-sorting your inventory more reliable.
the reward for donating 30 items to the museum is a Relic Restoration Machine that you can put in your yard. it restores relics at a cost of only fuel and time, which means you can save your precious Data Discs for researching machine upgrades. it's not very hard to rush 30 museum exhibits. there are six donatable items for sale at By the Stairs and five more at Tailor Made. you can pick up another four at the Game Center if you rack up tokens. technically there are also four at Hammer Time, but these are the basic stone weapons, which are pretty trivial to craft.
Amirah's questline can bring the Mysterious Man to town early, which is helpful if you want Large Storage Boxes or an engagement ring quickly.
play Critters! a decent game of Critters is worth about as much as a liked gift, and a great game is on par with a loved gift.
if you have relics in your yard or house, the townsfolk will admire them occasionally and you'll get free friendship points with them.
the most loved gifts in Sandrock are diamonds, sunstones, and specifically the Big Flowered Rhino Horn Potted Plant, all of which are loved by 12 people. the runners up are the Yakboy Bookshelf and the chromium and aluminum versions of the axe and the pickhammer, all loved by 10 people.
give out gold and opals like candy. they aren't very rare and everyone at least likes them.
relics to gift:
she's a hard one to shop for - most of her loved gifts are end-game items. a few are accessible earlier on:
leisurely rattan chair: you'll need to buy the crafting recipe from the Mysterious Man and also have access to jute.
elegant swing: you can buy this from Construction Junction after you've cleared out Gecko Station.
her easiest liked gifts are copper pots, frying pans, glass lenses, along with the usual gold, opal, and diamond.
Arvio loves lots of things from the festival store/souvenir shop, with the cheapest being the bunny-ear headband. if the Game Center is more your style, he also loves (to my never-ending amusement) a squeaky toy.
finally, you could build him a simple bookcase at the expense of some bronze, or buy one from the Mysterious Man.
he also likes wooden storage boxes if you have extra lying around.
sweet Burgess is perhaps the cheapest date in Sandrock. he loves:
rib meat, which drops from boxing jacks.
rhino horn cactus from the garden.
steamed sandfish - Owen gives you three of these early on.
yakboy geometric carpet from Construction Junction.
a good pair of loved gifts for Catori are the desk clock and office chair - you'll need hardwood for both. you can also give her any orchid earrings you come across.
some common likes for her, besides the usual ones, are curling irons, techno calendars, and feather dusters.
if you can handle his yapping, he loves the leisurely rattan chair along with the harmonica. you'll need to find the recipe for the latter near the Gecko Station Ruins.
it's super easy to alternate between cantaloupe and rhino horn cactus, but she loves feather dusters also.
Elsie is pretty easy - she loves a shiny scorpion, and you can get a perk pretty quickly that lets your catch them automatically. you can alternate with some easy purchases from Construction Junction. Elsie will be happy with pretty much anything you could house an animal in, but in particular she loves the animal house and the camping den.
one of the pickier residents. your best bet for him is anything from the festival store/souvenir shop with cact-o'-lantern in it.
otherwise, he has the usual likes plus rhino horn cactus, crafted pencilholders, and eagle flutes.
you can't give him gifts at all until you progress his questline a little, but once you do, he loves shiny scorpions. progress a little more and you'll get access to two more loves - mapo tofu and spicy bean paste.
he likes large sandacudas and wooden storage boxes as well.
unsurprisingly, Grace loves copper pots and frying pans. if you're into gardening, you can also give her rhino horn cactus.
she also likes all daggers from chromium on up.
another lady who's hard to shop for, except for one super easy gift - go to her store and buy an antique street lamp, which is available from day one. once you clear Gecko Station, you can also buy the elegant swing from her and gift it right back.
she likes wooden storage poxes and bronze tools, as well, if you want to get rid of some of your old equipment.
it's a little pricy, but you can alternate harmonicas and iron plates.
chromium ore and mountain roses are easy likes - you can get chromium ore from day one with the Monster Whisperer DLC.
once you have an apprentice cooking station you can make her mushroom forest cake. she also loves the bunny-ear headband from the festival store, and harmonicas.
he loves tempered glass along with simple cabinets which can be bought from By The Stairs.
he likes a bunch of recycler products: copper sticks, old parts, bearings, iron latches, plastic pipe, and rubber tubes.
you can make him an office chair or an arm stretcher with a little bronze. he also likes most medicines, but loves fang special x, which is not hard to make once it's been unlocked.
like Grace, Krystal loves copper pots, frying pans, and rhino horn cactus.
not a lot of good early-game loved gifts for Mi-an. the two simplest, i think, are iron plates and Drool With Joy noodles, for which you'll need an apprentice cooking station and a questline from the Mysterious Man.
for her liked gifts, you can get her a cat-ear headband from the festival store or the souvenir shop. she also likes sandgear, on sale at Tailor Made and also easily craftable.
she loves mountain roses and the leisurely rattan chair.
Construction Junction sells a couple of her likes: yakboy geometric carpet and antique street lamp.
another cook in Sandrock. she loves frying pans and copper pots, along with canvas.
it's hard to get on his good side early on. his most accessible loved gift is the rustic chair, which you can buy at the Commerce Guild with badges.
for likes, you can give him rhino horn cactus, crafted pencilholders, or fang special x.
Mort loves a silk scarf along with tea leaves and strong medicine.
lots to choose from: frying pan, copper pot, arm stretcher, rhino horn cactus.
Construction Junction sells yakboy sheriff carpets, which is Pablo's easiest loved gift. you can also give him diamonds.
he likes curling irons and harmonicas as well.
another jock who loves an arm stretcher, and diamonds of course. you can also buy him a yakboy display board from Construction Junction.
a very tough one! all his loves are relics and later-game components. he does like most gems, however, along with coffee beans and tea leaves.
Ceramic Gate sells little figurines of some of the townspeople. Rian loves all of them.
he's got expensive tastes. diamonds and condensed power stones are his most accessible loves.
our little mayor loves crafted pencilholders. a second option to alternate with could be iron plates or dew collectors.
the boy loves his rocks: diamond, gold, sunstone, rosestone, opal.
Venti is easy - she loves all gems (diamond, opal, flourite, spinel, gold, rosestone, sunstone) and she likes all scrap (except the highest-tier ones, which she loves).
Sandrock's grandma loves magnifiers, which you can get from completing inspections at the Commerce Guild. you can also buy canvas from her store and gift it right back to her.
unsurprisingly, the greedy commissioner wants diamonds. wolf tooth pendant is your next best bet - you can find these by exploring and opening chests.
he also likes desk clocks.
once you start planting, Zeke is easy. he loves rhino horn cactus, cantaloupe, and coffee beans.
