My Time at Sandrock Review - Screenshot 1 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Since this review was published, an update has reportedly improved one or more of the issues cited. Unfortunately, we cannot revisit games on an individual basis, but it should be noted that the patched game currently available may offer an improved experience over the one detailed below.

Fans of the farm sim genre have been eating well in recent times, thanks to a boom in enjoyable new releases and remakes. Heck, even Natsume's newest Harvest Moon is kind of good! Yet it was only a few years ago when Switch owners didn’t have anywhere near as many options, and it was in this period that My Time at Portia released. Offering up a jankier take on the Rune Factory approach of farm sims, it offered up a passable experience that nonetheless helped to fill an important gap in the broader library. Since that release, developer Pathea has been spending its time working on a sequel, My Time at Sandrock, which many were hoping would meaningfully improve on the flaws of the original. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really do so. My Time at Sandrock still offers up a reasonably enjoyable take on the farm sim formula, but its poor graphical presentation, litany of technical issues, and general lack of a distinct identity really drag it down.

My Time at Sandrock Review - Screenshot 2 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Gameplay follows the expected trappings of a farm sim, wherein you slowly build up an impressive property via tending to crops and livestock, all while building relationships with various locals and participating in the occasional festival or gathering. Even in the desert, seasons change and you have to plan out how you time your planting and take care of your animals, even as new seasonal alternatives become available. It’s well-worn gameplay by this point, but it’s still fun to engage in. There’s something remarkably satisfying about diligently tending to your tasks every day and watching your equipment quality increase as your property gradually expands.

My Time at Sandrock introduces some more RPG-esque qualities to the mix, too, borrowing from Rune Factory. There are enemies to fight and dungeons to plunder, while you can also hit the mines to find precious metals and discover more about the history of the dead civilization that preceded yours. Regardless of what you’re doing, you’ll almost always be gaining experience that boosts your character’s levels and stats over time, while there are a few small skill trees that grant passive benefits to activities like gathering or socializing. The RPG elements admittedly feel a bit undercooked here, but they introduce just enough of a twist on the farming side of the gameplay to feel like they’re worthwhile.

My Time at Sandrock Review - Screenshot 3 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

This is all well and good, but My Time at Sandrock feels a little too ‘safe’ in most respects. The farm sim genre has utterly exploded over the last few years with plenty of new and interesting titles, and while My Time at Sandrock may have its fundamentals down, this is certainly a game that you’ve played before—possibly even multiple times. My Time at Sandrock does a decent job of offering the expected mixture of socializing, farming, and crafting, but it fails to answer the question of why you need to experience all that here instead of in another game such as Story of Seasons or Rune Factory. Innovation is not mandatory, but these days a game needs to do more than offer up yet another cozy village and farm to tend if it wants to meaningfully set itself apart from the pack.

Compounding this issue of the relative mediocrity of the game design is the fact that My Time at Sandrock runs terribly on the Switch. It’s not quite the load-time disaster that My Time at Portia was at launch, but no serious person could claim it runs ‘well’ here at launch. The frame rate is a total rollercoaster ride, jumping from its target 30 FPS down the mid-teens territory and then back again, all the time. Pop-in is egregious, too. Sometimes you’ll hit an invisible wall while running, only for a fence or an entire building to materialize after a few seconds pass.

My Time at Sandrock Review - Screenshot 4 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Then there are all the annoying smaller quirks that add up quickly. The ‘Show/hide description’ button for items on shop and inventory screens just straight up doesn’t work, forcing you to squint at the grainy icons to try and guess which item or tool you’re about to buy. Or, in another example, there’s a memory leak issue present at the moment that limits playtime to about three hours at a time—if the game is open for much longer than that, even after being in sleep mode, there’s a good chance it’ll crash, and you’ll lose everything since your last save. Then there’s the matter that the multiplayer, which was one of the headlining new features of this new release, has been delayed to sometime next summer.

We’ve been assured that many of these issues are being addressed in patches due to come out throughout launch month and beyond, though it’s anyone’s guess whether these fixes will cover everything. Pathea has definitely got its work cut out, and let’s not forget the track record here — at the time of writing, a performance update for the original game is still aiming for release "as soon as possible." We’re hopeful that all of Sandrock's technical issues will be adequately fixed over time, but with so many other options available, we'd recommend caution at launch. And while we can’t currently speak to the performance of other versions, it’s hard to imagine it could be worse elsewhere—keeping an eye on versions for other platforms, if that’s an option for you, may be the way to go for the time being.

My Time at Sandrock Review - Screenshot 5 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

The visuals are also another notable negative. While the cutesy art style has brief flashes of brilliance here and there, the low texture quality, chunky models, and overall lifelessness really harm that ‘warm’ atmosphere that’s clearly being aimed for. The iffy graphics are especially noticeable in conversations with locals, where they usually blankly stare forward with dead, empty eyes and often speak without moving their mouths at all. Of course, farm sims are rarely noted for their graphical prowess, but it feels like more could’ve been done when you consider these rather sloppy results.

Conclusion

My Time at Sandrock is a decent new entry in the farm sim genre, though not one that we’d say you need to play. To its credit, its mixture of open-ended farming, crafting, socializing, and questing is compelling and could easily drive dozens of hours of gameplay if it gets its hooks in you. However, everything My Time at Sandrock does has been done elsewhere, and better. Couple this with the mess of technical problems at launch, and you’ve got a game that has its draws but does very little to demonstrate that it’s worthy of your attention. If you’ve already started and finished several farms across the likes of Stardew Valley, Harvestella, and Story of Seasons, and are looking for something new — and you're not too bothered by bland presentation and technical hiccups — then My Time at Sandrock could be a decent way to keep working the land. That said, we’d recommend you wait for a deep sale, ideally several months from now once time proves whether those patches ever come.

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