My Time at Sandrock: Starter Guide

My Time at Sandrock maintains many gameplay features from the series’ first installment, My Time at Portia. However, there are plenty of new mechanics and elements as well. That said, Sandrock is still most certainly accessible for newcomers, regardless of whether you’ve experienced living in Portia. If the builder sim is novel to you, worry not! We’ll instruct you on how to get the most out of the first hours of your adventure in Sandrock. We’ll cover everything from character creation to assembling your first main-story construction project. So, buckle up, and let’s dive into how you can get yourself settled as a novice workshop owner in My Time at Sandrock.

My Time at Sandrock: Your First Steps

You’ll quickly notice My Time at Sandrock is more than your run-of-the-mill farming sim. It has different game modes and a good character creator that allows you to customize your adventure in Sandrock right from the start.

Starting Your Adventure

Once you fire up the game, you’ll notice the main menu, which has the usual buttons we find in many games. However, there are a few you must pay attention to, depending on what you want to play.

The game features Single-player and Multiplayer modes, and each one has its own client. If you switch to one, the game will restart and send you to a different client. We’ll focus on how to start a Single-player campaign first.

Starting a Single-player Game

To begin a new single-player game, click on New Game. This will send you to the character creation screen, as shown below.

From there, you’ll see the following elements:

1. Body/Gender Menu
2. Appearance Meny
3. Character’s Name
4. Character’s Gender
5. Voice Options

This is just a simple menu to set the base parameters of your character, and once you’re done, you should click on the Appearance menu to change your character’s hairstyle, skin color, and more.

Most of the icons are self-explanatory, and they should give you ample choices to customize your character. From their face shape to even face tattoos, there are many options to help you create your ideal character or your digital version to bring to Sandrock. However, if you feel you’re struggling, there are two important buttons we highlighted in the menu:

1. Reset Changes
2. Randomize

If you’re unhappy with everything you’ve done, click on Reset Changes, which will reset the character to its base appearance. Be careful because it’ll reset all changes, and there’s no way to get them back. The Randomize option will give you a random appearance based on the body type and gender you picked on the first screen. After this, you can select your birthday, which is important later in the game as some people will send you useful gifts.

The game divides its years into four months, which correspond to each of the main seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Your character will arrive at Sandrock on the first day of Summer, so choose your birthday wisely. Once you’re done, you’re ready to hop on the train and start your adventure in Sandrock.

Stepping Off the Train

After a short cutscene, you’ll arrive at Sandrock and will be greeted by Mi-An, another builder who took the same job as you to restore Sandrock to its former glory. If you want to skip all the dialogue, you can press Space/A/X; however, we advise against it, as there are many plot points in conversations.

My Time at Sandrock: HUD Elements

Before we talk about what you must do during your first days, let’s take a look at all the HUD elements in the game.

While there are more menus in the game, we’ll start by checking the standard elements in the HUD.

1. Tool Bar.
2. Player’s Level.
3. Player’s Health.
4. Player’s Stamina.
5. Quest Menu.
6. Minimap.
7. Time of the day.
8. Date and season.

It is crucial to pay attention to these elements, as they’ll show you if you require more health, how your stamina is, help you keep track of your quests, and guide you in My Time at Sandrock.

Your First Job

After familiarizing yourself with the HUD, you must follow the quest marker to speak with Yan and Mason; the former will give you your first task: crafting a Pickhammer, one of the game’s most valuable tools. At the same time, you’ll see the notification to open your menu and find even more sub-menus that might be overwhelming. Here’s an explanation of all of them.

1. Character Menu
   • Includes your equipment, stats, Workshop level, and items assigned to your Tool Bar.
2. Inventory
   • Includes all the items you gather and automatically equips your tools to your toolbar. It can be expanded by clicking on the “plus” icon at the bottom right corner.
3. Map
   • Opens Sandrock’s map. It shows all stores in Sandrock. Green dots indicate people. Orange markers show main quests, blue markers are side quests, and green markers are commissions.
4. Quests and Commissions.
   • Shows your active quests and commissions. You can only track two at a time.
5. Handbook
   • Shows crafting recipes for machines you can build at the assembly station, as well as the process of building them.
6. Social Menu
   • It includes a registry of the people you meet in the game, their likes and dislikes, birthdays, and friendship levels.
7. Calendar
   • It shows the game’s calendar and lists all events. You can add reminders by clicking on a specific date.
8. Knowledge (talent tree unlocked at level 5)
   • The game’s talent tree. You use Knowledge points to unlock passive skills in Gathering, Crafting, Combat, and Social skills.
9. Album (includes cutscenes and photos)
   • Includes all cutscenes in the game to watch them later and the pictures you take with the game’s camera. Skipping cutscenes for the first time won’t save them in the album.
10. Encyclopedia
    • Records information of all the things you gather and build, as well as animals you find in the game and their location.
11. System (save, load, settings, etc.)
    • The game’s main menu. It allows you to save, load, and change the game’s settings.

Now that you know your way in and out of the game’s menus, it is time to head to your Workshop, marked on the map.

Crafting a Pickhammer

Contrary to other games of the genre, you won’t be able to cut trees here, at least not the good ones. The game has a mechanic that lets you search scrap piles to get materials. The game has different scrap piles, but you’ll be introduced to two: stone and wood piles.

After digging through these piles, you’ll get materials such as Stone, Wood, Dregs, and Scraps. These piles are great but are only good for the most basic materials in the game. For better materials, you’ll need to build better gathering tools.

Building Menu

With the materials in hand, return to the Worktable and interact with it. Once you do, you’ll see the new building menu, which is quite easy to use. However, we’ve included the key elements of it in this starter guide for My Time at Sandrock.

1. Crafting Menu.
2. Upgrade Menu.
3. Filters.
   • You can filter between all crafting options, furniture, materials, equipment, and quest-related items.
4. Item List.
5. Required Materials.
6. Quick Build menu.
   • You can queue multiple objects for building if you have the materials.
7. Item Description.

Since you have all the materials by now, click on Quick Build and get your first Pickhammer. The Worktable always crafts things instantly. Other machines take longer.

DIsmantling the Workshop

While the game doesn’t tell you explicitly, now that you have the Pickhammer, you should dismantle the broken machines inside your Workshop. Use your Pickhammer to break the machines, pick up the stone axe, and use it to break the damaged crate. Remember, every time you swing a tool, you’ll consume 3 points of stamina. You must pay attention to it. After that, return to Yan inside the Commerce Guild.

Building Your First Recycler

Next up in our started guide for My Time at Sandrock comes the Recycler. The game has many machines that’ll automate your job and let you do other activities while you wait for certain items to be crafted. The Recycler is the first one you’ll get, letting you gather materials from the scraps you find.

Once Yan unlocks the Recycler recipe for you, return to your Workshop and interact with the Assembly station. This will show you the same menu as in the Handbook, with the exception of letting you click on the Assemble button to start building the machine.

After clicking on Assemble, you’ll notice a silhouette of the machine you want to build. From the station, you can add the required materials. Once you do, the machine will reflect the materials you add. It is important to remember that you can add materials in any order, but only if it’s the right amount. If the Recycler asks for 3 pieces of wood, you can’t add 2 pieces only. You need the 3 to add it. Once all materials are in, you can pick up the machine and place it wherever you want. If you have the time, we recommend building 2 Recyclers to make other quests easier during the first hours.

Kicking Butts and Naming Things

After building your Recycler, you’ll have to go to City Hall to rename your Workshop, but you’ll be stopped by Pen, the Protector of Sandrock, and ask you to spar with him. We strongly recommend you do the tutorial, as it is a nice introduction to the game’s combat system.

You’ll get to choose between the Stone Spear, Stone Sword, Stone Daggers, and Stone Sword and Shield. For the tutorial, we recommend you pick the one you like the most. You’ll get to craft them all soon, so don’t get too attached to one. After the tutorial, you can head to the City Hall to rename your Workshop. You can rename it again by paying gols, the game’s currency.

Lifting the Town

Now that you have your builder’s license, it is time to work. In this starter guide for My Time at Sandrock, we’ll guide you through your first official commission, building a Lift for the salvage crew. For this, you’ll need a Furnace, going to the Scrapyard, and building the Lift. We’ll guide you through everything here before you spread your builder’s wings freely.

Building a Furnace

The first thing you’ll need before making a Lift is building a Furnace. If you gathered the materials for the Recycler and mined rocks or salvaged some crap, you should have enough materials. To make the Furnace, you need the following:

• Quartz x4
• Stone Trough x2
• Wooden Stick x2

Once you have it, follow the same steps as the ones to build the Recycler on the Assembly Station and put the Furnace down wherever you want.

Machine Management

Before going to the next area, it is important to know how machines work. In terms of building, they function like the Worktable; the only difference is that machines, such as the Furnace, use fuel. It is important to always keep an eye on this, as machines won’t work if they don’t have energy. To refuel a machine, you need Dregs, Power Stones, or Wood. You can find all of them while mining rocks. You can click on Auto to refuel them, but we don’t recommend it, as it can use some valuable resources.

These machines don’t build things instantly, so we recommend queuing as many things as possible before you head out for a different activity.

Eufala Salvage Co.

One thing you must do before building the Lift is go to Eufala Salvage Co., which is next to your Workshop. By paying 200 goals, you can scrap the junk inside this place to get scraps to recycle. The pass lasts 7 days, and the first one is on the house, so salvage away. Once you have enough scrap, return to your Recyclers and add them to the queue. Focus on Copper and Mechanical scrap.

Idle Time

You’ll notice that even during your first day, you’ll have plenty of free time. Since most things are being automated and you need to wait for the machines to finish, there’s nothing else to do, or that’s what you think. Here, you should return to the Commerce Guild and speak to Yan to tell you about the Commission Board.

Initially, you’ll only be able to take one commission per day. However, leveling up your Workshop will allow you to take more and, through that, make more money.

Finishing the Lift

If you’ve been following all the steps in our starter guide for My Time at Sandrock, you shouldn’t have any issues when finishing your first official commission. Doing so will unlock the mines, so you can venture to get copper, tin, and artifacts for the museum. Since you won’t finish the Lift in a day, here are some of the events and things we recommend you do:

• Attend the Fireside Meeting on the second day.
• Bring a Data Disc to Qi in the Research Center to unlock new machines.
• Craft a Drying Rack.
• Speak to Elsie to unlock Sandfishing.

Doing these events will unlock the basics in My Time at Sandrock, provided you follow our starter guide, of course.

My Time at Sandrock F.A.Q

Since many players are jumping into the game every day, we’ve prepared a list of the frequently asked questions for My Time at Sandrock in this guide.

Is There Multiplayer in My Time at Sandrock?

Yes, there is multiplayer in My Time at Sandrock. To join or host a multiplayer session, you must choose the “Start Multiplayer Game” option in the main menu, which will take you to the multiplayer client. From there, you can join a server, invite friends, and create your character to venture with others.

How To Increase and Restore Stamina?

Your stamina increases each time you level up. To restore it, you can sit on furniture, eat at the Blue Moon Saloon, or cook your meals at your Workshop.

Does the Game Have a Transmog System?

Yes. You can head to the Character Panel and select the Outfit section on your equipment panel to create an outfit. After that, click on Apply Outfit to override the looks of what you’re wearing without affecting your stats.

Can You Change Your Character’s Appearance?

Yes. Once Pablo opens his parlor, you can get a new hairstyle, hair color, and makeup. You can’t change your character’s voice or name.

How To Make Money Fast?

The easiest way to make money is by doing commissions. They all pay well, and some are easier to finish than others. Always grab the ones that require a Worktable only for fast money.

Now that you’ve seen everything in our starter guide for My Time at Sandrock, we encourage you to read the following guides to help you during your late-game journey in this town.

• My Time at Sandrock: Can You Romance Logan?
• My Time at Sandrock: How to Make a Bronze Axe
• My Time at Sandrock: All Gift Preferences
• My Time at Sandrock: Where to Get Tin
• My Time at Sandrock: How to Make a Refiner
• How to Get Quartz in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Get Marble in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Get Old Parts in My Time at Sandrock
• Best Gifts for Every Character in My Time at Sandrock
• How to Get The Drying Rack in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Romance Fang in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Get Petrified Wood in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Get More Blueprints in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Get Rubber Tubes in My Time at Sandrock
• How to Get The Feather Duster in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Romance Owen in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Unlock New Crafting Stations in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Get Bearings in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Get Granite in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Get Water in My Time at Sandrock
• How To Increase Inventory Space in My Time at Sandrock