Honestly, this game took me by surprise. I did not play My Time at Portia, but I thoroughly enjoy playing this one. The overall artstyle, the mixed desert/western and ruined civilization theme, and the general gameplay loop make My Time at Sandrock a solid purchase. There is quite a bit to do and the game seems to have enough varied content to appeal to several types of people. This game holds my interest far greater than other social sims/RPGs like it. It's insanely satisfying to take on the role of a builder and aid the town through economic turmoil by taking on commissions and helping out individuals. Using water as a scarce, critical resource is a fantastic idea (while admittedly not original) for this type of game and setting. Many of the characters are interesting enough to want to build up your relationship stat with them day-to-day. Mi-an, the fellow builder who also recently moved into Sandrock, is a great character and her addition really helps remind you of your role through good will and some friendly rivalry. It's easy to become invested in this world.

The game is very clearly Early Access, however. Performance is an issue and crashing is inevitable. You can tell some features haven't been fully implemented. The characters aren't all consistently fully voice-acted and will repeat the same 3 lines of dialogue for day-to-day interaction. The skill tree needs more than 10% changes to abilities. The devs seem to know what they are aiming for in the finished product, however, and I only wish I waited to play this at full release.