My Time At Portia

LIVING THE POST-APOCALYPTIC DREAM

- Martin Kitts

Set in a distant post-technological future where a rural idyll sits atop the buried ruins of the old world, this is a Harvest Moon-alike infused with the current trend for crafting. Instead of a farmer growing crops, you’ll be a handyman building everything from furniture to civil architecture.

Not that it doesn’t feature a little farming, too, along with numerous other pastimes that will swiftly overwhelm your short, short days. My Time At Portia is notable for the sheer amount of stuff it contains, with a bustling town full of people delivering side-quests faster than they can possibly be completed.

For a typical mission, you’re given a blueprint showing all of the various components required. Some of the parts might just be raw materials like stone or wood, but more often than not there are several steps to go through before you arrive at the required item. For example, hardwood planks require a better ax to cut down big trees, for which you’ll need bronze, for which in turn you’ll need to build a furnace and feed it with copper and tin, which must be mined elsewhere. Then you’ll need a cutter to produce the planks, which means building another machine to manufacture the saw blades, etc.