My Time at Portia Kickstarter

Can you believe that this was actually the first time that I checked out a Kickstarter project? You see, I saw some info on the casual sandbox RPG that is My Time at Portia. Maybe it was the introduction to the game, that said they were inspired by Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley mixed with Dark Cloud 2 and Steambot Chronicles. Now I don’t know the last two games, but every reference to the first three really gets my attention.

Checking out the website at Kickstarter got me very enthusiastic, as this game will have everything I value in a game all wrapped up in a visually good looking package. You can play as a boy or a girl, and customize your little hero to look just like you want. The world of Portia is a post-apocalyps world, but not the somber affair you see in movies like The Thunderdome. No, this world is more vibrant and a happy friendly place to be.

Running a workshop

You inherit a workshop at the start of the game, and by collecting resources and completing commissions for the townspeople you try to grow your workshop. It’s your home too, and can be upgraded into a bigger house, adding more rooms to hold all the furniture you manage to collect. The key to succeeding will be your relationship to the townspeople.

It’s all about relationships

The people of Portia will all have their unique behaviors and will go to school, have a job and have fun. The relationship you form with them will determine what missions you can go on, the price of the goods you need and such. It can even lead to marriage and maybe even children, opening up more story lines.

Farming, mining, fishing and cooking

You can farm in the game, but not the kind were you have to water your crops everyday. Like in HM: an Innocent Life you’ll be able to use a semi-automatic irrigation system. I like that, no need to make the farming so time consuming. You can mine in abandoned dungeons and forage for the other stuff you need in your workshop. There’s fishing too, in rivers, swamps and even on a tropical island. All this farming and fishing comes in handy because the game will have cooking too.

Fighting included!

But it’s not all about the sim-life: the game has enemies too in Hazardous Dungeons with boss battles on every level. You can toughen yourself up by sparring with your neighbors, although I don’t know it’s a good idea to beat up the elderly lady in town. And, in Animal Crossing style, the game will have several holidays and events throughout the year. For instance, the Day of the Bright Sun, when presents are dropped from an airship.

Will they reach their goal?

Can you tell I’m enthusiastic? Of course I realize that’s it’s not sure yet that this game will eventually come true. The Kickstarter funding will only happen when the game manages to have $ 100.000 pledged by backers by Wed, October 11 2017 4:04 PM CEST. And as by now, $86,104 has been pledged, it’s going to be a close call with only 5 days to go.

Still, there’s good news too. Recently Team17, the publishing label renowned for the Worms and Escapists series, Overcooked has partnered up with Pathea Games to bring My Time at Portia to PC and consoles worldwide. The Switch version might just come true!

You know, I’d never funded a Kickstarter before, but this time I put in my two cents (well, a bit more then that lol). Of course, if the project doesn’t get funded I won’t have to pay, but I have my fingers crossed that it does. If you want to check out the campaign and the rewards for funding, you can find it here, along with more background info.

Free demo in Steam

The team at Pathea has created an alpha demo which is free to download and includes 6-8 hours of gameplay. It is just a small taste of what they want to create, but it’s a nice indication. If you want to try the demo (I can’t, as it’s not on a Mac yet) you can find it by clicking this image below.

6 comments

  1. Thanks for the tip!
    It looks and sounds great!
    I’ve played Dark Cloud many many years ago, but i remenber i loved it!
    Hope they make it and the game come’s to the switch!

    Absolutely love the Switch by the way. 🙂
    I almost finished ‘Mario & Rabbits Kingdom Battle’ (i’ts great!!) and downloaded Stardew Valley.
    I was surprised by the price, 14 euro. Same as a puzzle game for example and i think you’ll get your money’s worth.

    1. It feels as if Portia wants to put everything into one game that I love! I’m following their progress, so I’ll keep you updated!
      If you start Stardew Valley, hang in there for a couple of game days. The game really opens up after that!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *