Pathea Games left Early Access with My Time at Sandrock on 2 November 2023, moving the Portia formula into a desert town where water is rationed and the last workshop just closed. You collect a Builder License from Matilda at City Hall, then take commissions from Yan at the Commerce Guild while Mi-an competes for the same board. Progress runs through machines rather than through farming: a Recycler breaks down scrap, a Furnace smelts bars and glass, a Grinder makes gears and rivets and a Processor cuts planks, all feeding an Assembly Station that rebuilds the town.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Commission board and workshop ranking
After registering your workshop at City Hall during Becoming Official, the Commission Board inside the Commerce Guild opens up. Yan posts jobs from townsfolk and from other city-states in the Alliance, and Mi-an takes the ones you leave. Your workshop ranking rises with completed commissions, which is what gates later story missions.
Machine chain from scrap to parts
The Recycler turns salvaged scrap into usable materials, the Furnace smelts ore into bars, bricks and glass, the Grinder produces pipes, wires, gears and rivets, the Processor cuts planks, plates and boards, and the Blender mixes medicine, sandfishing bait, cooking ingredients and fertiliser. The Assembly Station sits at the end and cannot be upgraded by interacting with it directly, you use the Construction Junction catalog or Home Editing Mode.
Data Discs and the Research Center
Data Discs pulled out of ruins are spent at the Research Center to unlock blueprints and machine upgrades. The Ore Refinery costs 10 Data Discs and converts ores into rarer materials and crystals, and the Dew Collector costs 8 and produces one Dew every eight in-game hours. Research order matters more than raw money in the first thirty days.
Stamina, water and sandstorms
Sandrock rations water, which is why Burgess and Water World exist as a plot point rather than a background detail. Stamina limits how much salvaging and mining you can do in a day, and sandstorms close parts of the map and interrupt outdoor work. Planning a day around one ruin run plus one machine reload is more productive than trying to do both badly.
Relationships and Civil Corps missions
Every named resident has a relationship track fed by gifts, conversation and mission choices, and several are romanceable. The Civil Corps, with Justice as sheriff alongside Unsuur and Pen, runs the combat missions into hazardous ruins. Those missions are where the better weapon blueprints and the story beats around the town's bandit problem come from.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our My Time at Sandrock combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commission specialist | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Salvage and ruin diver | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Machine automation engineer | A | Spend every Data Disc as it arrives, and expand the yard footprint before expanding the house. | Research points first, then power and water supply, then machine count |
| Farm and ranch supplier | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Museum and relationship completionist | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
Machine automation engineer (A-Tier): Focuses Data Discs on machine upgrades rather than on weapons or furniture, so that each machine runs longer per load and produces more per material. The Ore Refinery at 10 Data Discs and the Dew Collector at 8 are the first two targets.
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our My Time at Sandrock builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Pickhammer | The core tool rather than a weapon, and the gate on which ruin layers you can strip. | Mining copper, tin, chromium, magnesium and nickel across every ruin |
| Bronze Sword and Shield | One of the easiest strong weapons to acquire, either crafted at a forging station or bought at Hammer Time once The Show Must Go On is finished. | Early Civil Corps missions and The Breach Hazardous Ruins |
| Motivational Hammer | A common find that hits slowly and heavily, which makes it the best weapon in the game for dropping an enemy's Break Bar. | Breaking armoured and heavy enemies before switching weapons |
| Bee-wing Blade | The strongest dagger in the game, found by diving to the third level of the Dead Sea Ruins and clearing waves of monsters. | Damage windows after a hammer stagger, and late game ruin clearing |
| Solarflare | The most powerful weapon in My Time at Sandrock, sitting on the final level of the Dead Sea Ruins. | Endgame combat once the Dead Sea Ruins are cleared |
Pickhammer: The core tool rather than a weapon, and the gate on which ruin layers you can strip. An upgraded Pickhammer clears nodes in fewer swings, which directly converts into more stamina left for a deeper layer.
Bronze Sword and Shield: One of the easiest strong weapons to acquire, either crafted at a forging station or bought at Hammer Time once The Show Must Go On is finished. The shield makes it the forgiving option for a player's first hazardous ruin.
Motivational Hammer: A common find that hits slowly and heavily, which makes it the best weapon in the game for dropping an enemy's Break Bar. The slow swing is a real liability against fast enemies, so it is a stagger tool rather than an all rounder.
Bee-wing Blade: The strongest dagger in the game, found by diving to the third level of the Dead Sea Ruins and clearing waves of monsters. Daggers are held in each hand, which makes them the fastest weapon class and the highest critical damage option.
Solarflare: The most powerful weapon in My Time at Sandrock, sitting on the final level of the Dead Sea Ruins. Getting there means fighting through everything above it, so it is an endgame reward rather than a progression step.
Full breakdowns in our My Time at Sandrock weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Sandrock | Available from day one | Builder License, the Commission Board, research access and every relationship track |
| Eufaula Salvage | Unlocks with Picking Up the Slack | Copper and tin ore, power stone nodes, Data Discs and relics across eleven layers |
| Gecko Station | Unlocks with In Trusses we Trust | Tin, chromium, magnesium and nickel ore in varying quantities |
| Breach Valley | Mid game, combat required | Combat loot, gecko clearing progress toward Gecko Station |
| Dead Sea Ruins | Endgame, deepest ruin | Bee-wing Blade on level 3 and the Solarflare on the final level |
Sandrock: The town itself, holding City Hall where Matilda issues the Builder License, the Commerce Guild where Yan posts commissions, Owen's Blue Moon Saloon, Fang's clinic, Qi's Research Center and Burgess at Water World. Almost every mission chain starts inside these few streets.
Eufaula Salvage: The scrapyard run by Rocky and Krystal, and the gateway to the Eufaula Salvage Abandoned Ruins behind it. The ruins open after the Picking Up the Slack mission installs the Crane Lift, and they run eleven layers deep.
Gecko Station: Reached after clearing the geckos in The Breach, with its ruins and mine unlocking once In Trusses we Trust is complete. Electric fences are scattered through the interior and they will punish careless movement.
Breach Valley: The area west of town containing The Breach Hazardous Ruins, which are populated by enemies rather than by quiet salvage. This is the first place a player genuinely needs a weapon rather than a Pickhammer.
Dead Sea Ruins: The deepest and most dangerous ruin set in the game, holding the Bee-wing Blade on the third level and the Solarflare on the final level. Clearing it is an endgame project rather than something to attempt during the main story.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Spend Data Discs before hoarding them. The Ore Refinery at 10 Data Discs turns ordinary ore into rarer materials and crystals, and the Dew Collector at 8 produces one Dew every eight hours, which compounds across a whole save.
- Machines run while you are away from the yard, so the correct last action of every morning is loading all of them. A day spent salvaging with an idle Furnace throws away half the day's output.
- The Assembly Station cannot be upgraded by walking up to it. Use the Construction Junction catalog or enter Home Editing Mode, which catches out a lot of players who assume the interaction works like the other machines.
- Mi-an takes commissions you leave on the board. Check the Commerce Guild first thing in the morning, because the high value jobs do not sit there waiting for a convenient day.
- The Eufaula Salvage Abandoned Ruins hold explosive barrels and the Gecko Station Ruins hold electric fences. Both are avoidable hazards that will end a deep run instantly if you are running with low health.
- Hammers exist to drop the Break Bar, not to deal damage. Open a fight with the Motivational Hammer to stagger, then switch to a dagger such as the Bee-wing Blade for the actual damage window.
- Paradise Lost Hazardous Ruins can only be entered once and cannot be revisited after the associated mission ends. Strip it thoroughly on the single visit rather than assuming you can come back.
- The bronze sword and shield can be bought at Hammer Time after The Show Must Go On rather than crafted, which saves a full bronze production chain at the exact point in the game when bronze is scarce.
- Water is a genuine constraint in Sandrock, not flavour text. Burgess and Water World sit at the centre of that, and a Dew Collector removes a daily worry that otherwise eats commission time.
- Relationship gifts are cheap compared with their return. Several residents unlock recipes, discounts or mission access at higher relationship tiers, and Owen, Grace, Fang, Elsie and Unsuur all sit near the systems you use most.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating Sandrock as a farming game. Crops are a support economy for the Blender, and the actual progression runs through commissions, machines and Data Disc research.
- Leaving machines empty overnight. The Recycler, Furnace, Grinder and Processor all keep working while you are out, so an unloaded yard is a wasted in-game day.
- Diving deep into a ruin with no stamina food. Stamina, not health, is what usually ends a ruin run, and running out on layer eight means walking back up with an empty pack.
- Skipping the Crane Lift commission from Picking Up the Slack. Without it the Eufaula Salvage Abandoned Ruins stay closed, and those eleven layers are the main early source of Data Discs.
- Entering hazardous ruins with only a Pickhammer. The Breach and Gecko Station have real enemies, and a bronze sword and shield from Hammer Time solves the problem in one purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did My Time at Sandrock fully release?
Pathea Games released version 1.0 on 2 November 2023 after an Early Access period that began in 2022. It is the follow up to My Time at Portia rather than an expansion of it.
Who gives out commissions?
Yan runs the Commission Board at the Commerce Guild, posting jobs from townsfolk and from other Alliance city-states. You need the Builder License from Matilda at City Hall first, which happens during Becoming Official.
What is the best weapon in the game?
The Solarflare, found on the final level of the Dead Sea Ruins. The Bee-wing Blade on the third level of the same ruin is the strongest dagger, and the Motivational Hammer remains the best tool for breaking enemy Break Bars.
Which machines should I build first?
The Recycler for scrap and the Furnace for bars come first, then the Grinder for gears and rivets and the Processor for planks. Research the Ore Refinery at 10 Data Discs and the Dew Collector at 8 as soon as discs allow.
Does the game have co-op?
Pathea added a separate online co-op mode with its own save, distinct from the single player story campaign. The main commission and story progression is designed around the solo save.
More My Time at Sandrock Guides
- My Time at Sandrock Best Builds
- My Time at Sandrock Tier List
- My Time at Sandrock Walkthrough
- My Time at Sandrock Beginner's Guide
- My Time at Sandrock Tips & Tricks
- My Time at Sandrock Weapons Guide
- My Time at Sandrock Combat Guide
- My Time at Sandrock Boss Guide
- My Time at Sandrock Maps & Locations
- My Time at Sandrock Crafting Guide
- My Time at Sandrock Classes & Characters
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