Plot
The setting, like My Time at Portia , takes place in a post-apocalyptic world 300 years after the Day of Calamity, an event that has destroyed previous civilizations and most modern technologies, causing people to rebuild society and eventually form the Alliance of Free Cities and a military organization called the Civil Corps. [2] The player inherits Mason's Workshop, a retired builder. Sandrock combines elements of farm life sims and role-playing video games. The player (male is by default named Max and female is by default named Lucy) first arrives to Sandrock on the first day of summer, unlike other farm sims which start on the first day of spring. There, they meet Mi-an, another builder; Mason, and Yan, the town's guild commissioner. They also meet a local hero named Pen, who warns them of the infamous bandit Logan.
The player and Mi-an's first job is to repair a lift for a mining corporation led by a foreman named Rocky. Once that is done, they are soon given another job: rebuilding a wrecked outdoor stage at the request of Mathilda, the town's minister, after it had been destroyed by a sandstorm. At one point, they help defeat some lizardmen-like creatures called Gleeglers threatening a moisture farm and has an encounter with their leader. The player later fights the Gleegler leader, who intends to invade Sandrock, with the help of a sheriff named Justice, which ends with the Gleeger leader falling down an unstable bridge; the Gleeger leader's death results in the Gleegers fleeing away from Sandrock. A new bridge is later built to replace the broken one, aided by Mint, a character from Portia. Logan later launches an attack on the town's water tower and escapes capture. Sometime later after discovering water shortage in Sandrock, the player joins Mi-an and her friend Elise to investigate Logan's house, to which Elise believes that Logan is innocent from a recent attack on a nearby temple. The player undergoes further activates such as exanimating an old submarine to find parts needed to create algae cultivation machines for a farmer named Zeke, rescuing Mathilda from Logan with the help of Justice and Pen; capturing a young boy named Andy, who's working for Logan; and defeating Bandirats led by the Rat Queen, who are responsible for a recent release of toxic gases. Musa (returning from the previous game) arrives in Sandrock to help support the town once the Rat Queen is defeated. After saving the mole people, who are allies of Logan, from the Rat Queen and capturing a hostile robot called Magic Mirror (who later becomes a Sandrock citizen), the moles enter a trading business with Sandrock. After following a goat owned by Logan, the player falls down a cliff and is presumed dead, but they have actually survived. Once the player locates and fights Logan, they learn that he is indeed innocent and that Miguel, the town's pastor, is behind the temple attack as well as all the previous crimes that Logan was accused of. Grace, the inn cook, is revealed to an agent working for the Alliance and is allied with Logan. It turns out Logan's earlier actions were to get justice for his deceased father, and that Pen was responsible for the water tower's attack and framed Logan for it. Grace came to Sandrock in search for an undercover Duvos agent called "Tiger". The player returns to town to confirm to the townsfolks that they are still alive. After gaining access to a hidden facility, they discover that Miguel is also the one behind a water shortage plot in Sandrock, and that Pen and Yan are helping him; they are also in allegiance with Duvos. As Miguel attempts to frame Haru, a member of Logan's gang, and then the player for the incident, Logan confronts them, which results in Mathilda being shot by Miguel (though she survives) and Andy sabotaging Pen's power gauntlets. The player defeats Pen with some help from Elise. Yan tries to escape, but is stopped by Rocky and the player. After Yan, Pen, and Miguel are arrested, the player and Grace learn that the water diverting ploy was a front for an excavation project. After attempting to contact Duvos via telegram to figure out their scheme, Duvos prepares to invade, prompting the town to prepare for battle.
Duvos later attacks and rescues Pen and Yan. Mathilda is revealed to be “Tiger”, who sabotages their weaponry to ensure Duvos's victory. As a result, the player is forced to work for Duvos, but is allowed to freely move about while being supervised by a Duvos soldier named Stev. Logan and a mole named Ged rescue them and free the townsfolks. Duvos's commander takes Trudy, the town's mayor, hostage to force them to surrender, but Logan foils his ploy, allowing the player to defeat the commander and forcing the Duvos soldiers to surrender. Aware that Duvos's airship is still here, the player and their friends are sent to investigate the excavation site with the help of Elise's giant bird friend Daisy. It turns out Duvos is digging for engines belonging to ancient spacecrafts called Starships. Infiltrating the facility, they defeat Pen and Mathilda, who is sent flying along with her mech. Duvos's airship flees when it comes under attack by Alliance jets. Mathilda is shown to be stranded in space and dies from lack of oxygen. Avery, an Alliance commander, awards the player and their friends for their heroics before taking the Duvos agents, Yan, and Pen prisoner. A native named Burgess becomes the new minister, Yan's twin brother Wei becomes the new guild commissioner, charges against Logan are dropped, and Grace soon leaves.
The player, Elise, and Logan later help with constructing a tunnel to Portia to gain access to water and tourism. They also rescue a suffocating Gleeger named Larry, who allies with them in turn. Turdy then make plans to upgrade the town, which includes building a school and repairing a broken pipeline. A botanist named Luo and his assistant Nia also come to town to help grow new trees to protect the town from sandstorms. At one point, Grace retires and returns to Sandrock. When attempting to retrieve an algae sample from a hidden laboratory inhabited by Gleegers to help with the tree growing project, they encounter Larry's wicked cousin Gary, who has taken both Larry and his wife Xena hostage and is now the Gleegers' new leader, who intends to take control of Sandrock. After the player and Logan defeat Gary, he activates a sonic device to stun them, but Nia frees Larry, who fights Gary and destroys the sonic device, but Gary overpowers him and makes himself stronger with a super algae potion. Following Gary's second defeat, he perishes and Larry retakes his position as the Gleeger leader. After the trees are grown, the player helps save a dying tree that belongs to Zeke and his father Mort. Once the player finishes constructing a new airship using Starship engines for both tourism and defense from Duvos, Trudy thanks them for their help in reviving the town and the main story ends.
Development
The sequel for My Time at Portia was announced in October 2020, funded through a Kickstarter campaign. [4] The campaign reached almost 10,000 backers from over 160 countries and pledged a total of $524,770. [4] For comparison, Coral Island , another farm sim that entered early access and fully released in 2022 and 2023 respectively, pledged $1.6 million. [5] The game was initially slated for release in early access in March 2021 followed by a full release in summer 2022. [6] However, after the announcement in March 2021, the early access plan was delayed because it needed to earn a "local rating certification" for online publishing. [7] After a long delay, the game finally released into early access on May 26, 2022, by PM Studios for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. During early access, the Knives Out Update was released in April 2023, which introduced minigames, new weather, a narrative, and weddings. [8] The game was fully released on November 2, 2023, having been delayed from September 26, 2023, to ensure it meets the game's quality. [9]
Unlike My Time at Portia (which never planned to introduce multiplayer), [10] the Windows version has co-operative multiplayer. [3] The developers plan to release downloadable content (DLC) packs in 2024. [11] Cross-platform play has been available since June 2024. [12] [13] The game was ported onto the PlayStation 4 (PS4) on September 12, 2024 [14] [15]
