My Time at Portia is a building/crafting game available on most platforms. I have played it on GamePass on Xbox Series X.
In this game, you come to Portia and inherit your Pa’s house/workshop. Essentially you have to recreate the legacy of your Pa.
The game has always felt like it was targeted at a younger age but I think gamers of all ages will appreciate the building system and the quirky friendship system. I think there is a whole sub-genre of people that enjoy watching what the NPCs do on their own after you befriend them.
Here are some tips and tricks for those just starting with My Time at Portia:
Keep your furnaces going at all times
If you don’t have anything that is needed for a specific quest then make sure your furnaces are making something. There will be future commissions that will require things like hardwood planks, charcoal, or different ores. If you already have those items in your inventory it will save you a lot of grind time and you can just use what is in your stash instead of having to wait and craft them.
Collect wood, then collect some more
Always be collecting wood. If you think you have enough then collect some more. If you are going to run those furnaces all day long you will need a lot of wood. Most of your furnaces require wood to fuel them.
The other reason you will need a lot of wood is to make charcoal. Charcoal is not something that is obvious early in the game but later on in the game you will need it to make Carbon Steel a whole bunch of Carbon Steel. Also occasionally you will get a commission that they will ask for charcoal so it helps to have extras on hand.
While you’re collecting wood, get some more stone
Stone is a useful resource to collect plenty of so you can get extra gols by turning in your stone into Grinders and other craftable items. You can also trade all the extra stone in for wood (see the previous tip for why you need wood).
The stone items you craft can be sold to Mars or Paulie. This can be a good money maker in the beginning of the game.
Use up your stamina every day
Early in the game make sure you use up all of your stamina if possible. Above we talked about collecting wood and collecting stone. But any resource that you can collect before you pass out is less you have to worry about when your commissions actually come up.
You can wait until the absolute last minute to pass out and chop wood or pick up stones or other tasks. Make the most of your day and don’t waste leftover stamina.
Also to note if you run out of stamina early you can eat apples to replenish your stamina. This is a good early game tip to help you get that one or two more tasks done before you are fully out of stamina.
Pay attention to prices
The markets fluctuate highly in the game. Some days your market rate is high and sometimes it is low. Use this to your advantage when selling things. If the market is down you may want to hold off for a day until the market rate goes back up.
So if you are selling then sell when the market is high and if you are buying wait until the market is down. This is like waiting for a sale at your local store. Be wise in your finances.
Keep your storage tidy
With all the wood and stone you are collecting you will need a lot of storage. Start off by making several storage boxes and having plenty of storage space. But having all these boxes may start to be a pain in finding items. Label them correctly.
Use one box for wood and label it wood, use another box for stone and label it stone. Keep your ores separate and label that box as ores. This way you can quickly identify what is in the box without having to check all of them if you forget.
You may label one “junk” or “sell” to keep any items you plan on selling in one spot so that when the market hits the right condition you can grab them quickly and sell them.
You can also access the storage in your Workshop from any other storage chest. Use this to your advantage to quickly find the items you need.
Pay attention to timed missions
Some of the missions are on a timer so be mindful of how quickly you need to complete them. That is why I recommended earlier that you have plenty of the easy items built and ready for those timed missions.
For the untimed missions, you can take your time and use that extra time to gather your wood or stone, or craft items and keep your furnaces going.
If you get a commission from the commerce guild I would recommend taking care of those quickly. You can only do one commission at a time so if you want to maximize rewards there then do those fast. You will want to do these because they pay you gols and you will need that money later in the game to buy your land and upgrades.
Save often
One thing that I notice is the game crashes often. To avoid this I find it best to save often and then every few days in the game I save and reload the game. I think there may be a memory leak or some other issue that causes this frequent crashing but saving often has saved me a time or two.
This doesn’t seem to be an issue on the PC version but more of an issue with the Switch and other console versions.
Upgrade your workbench early
Upgrading your workbench lets you build better and higher-level pickaxes, swords, and other items that are given as gifts to the other villagers. If you wait to upgrade you may hit some missions really quick that need this upgrade and then you are wasting time trying to upgrade and could potentially miss the timed mission.
To upgrade your workbench you head left to the community center and you will find a store there. You will find Gust and Albert in this store working. There is a table where you can interact with to upgrade pretty much anything in your workshop.
You’ve got a friend in NPCs
Be friends with everyone. The benefits of having friends cannot be overstated in this game, it is one of the core mechanics that will get you far if you use it right.
Having friends means they will give you perks and discounts. For example, Gale will give you discounts on land if you are a good friend, and Gust and Albert will offer you discounts on item upgrades in their store.
Topaz is a good gift that most NPCs will accept and can be obtained easily. And make sure to talk to all your friends once a day as it gives you friendship points.
You can use birthdays and holidays to get even more affinity with the NPCs you want to be friends with. There is a calendar you can look at in-game so you can prepare gifts ahead of time and then give it to the NPC on their birthday or on a holiday.
Some NPCs can give you attack or defense bonuses for being their friend. Arlo can give you an attack bonus and Remington gives you a defense bonus.
Pick up animal feces/poop
If you see poop just laying around pick it up. You can use it for fertilizer and you have a chance to get some seeds out of it. It can also be gifted. Although I don’t know of too many NPCs that would appreciate getting poop but it is useful.
If you are looking to find poop you can find it early in the game right next to your workshop. There are some llamas close to your workshop where you can find animal feces
Hopefully, this guide will serve you well. If you see any other tips that we missed drop them in the comments. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel for more gaming guides and walk-throughs.