My Time at Portia

My Time at Portia is a life-simulation game set in a charming post-apocalyptic land where you've inherited your father's neglected workshop and are tasked with restoring it to its former glory. The world has clearly been through something — old ruins dot the landscape, technology from a previous era hides in dungeons — but the present is warm, peaceful and built around small-town community life. Inspired by the magic of Studio Ghibli, the marketing notes, and the comparison fits.

The workshop loop is the central activity. Gather materials, work through daily commissions and villager requests, slowly turn the derelict workshop into the best in Portia. The crafting tree is deep, covering everything from basic furniture to elaborate machinery, and the resources you need range from simple wood and stone up to rare materials found only in specific dungeons.

Farming and animal husbandry sit alongside crafting. Grow and nurture crops, raise animals, convert the empty woodland around your workshop into a working farm. The farming system is innovative for the genre, with planter boxes and semi-automatic irrigation reducing the manual labor previous farm sims required. Take your horse or llama for rides around town when you need to cover distance quickly.

The community is the heart. Portia is filled with a vibrant cast of unforgettable characters — people who go to work, eat at restaurants, exercise, and interact with each other in lots of small ways. Build friendships, exchange gifts, complete personal quests, go on dates, and let romance blossom if you want to. Combat extends through ancient ruins where you grab a pickaxe, scan for relics, and fight off creatures while mining for resources and treasures from the past. Festivals, mini-games, fishing, cooking — there's an enormous amount of optional content, and the design genuinely supports playing the game however you want.