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In slice of life games likeMy Time at Sandrock, your new town always has a surprising number of young, attractive singles, somehow. Sandrock offers a wide variety of interesting characters, with about half the town available to date, and with plenty of ways to woo them, too.
Complete commissions to curry favor, stop by for daily chats, play card games, and give them their favorite gifts until you can begin inviting your favorites out on dates. With a well-timed confession (from youoryour beloved), you’ll find your special someone in Sandrock, and your happily ever after can begin.
Updated on Jul 27, 2025:Now that we’ve fallen in love and settled down with one of the 21 eligible romance options, we’re back to update our Romance Guide to include instructions on how to get married in My Time at Sandrock.
How Does Romance Work?
Romance in My Time at Sandrockfunctions a lot like friendships, but with additional content like dates, proposals, and marriages factored in as you advance the relationship.
There are20 total romance optionsin My Time at Sandrock, the majority of which you’ll meet when you move to town (although somedo arrive later).
They’re denoted withred backgroundson their portraits in the Relationships tab instead of blue, as well ashearts below their namesinstead of the stars given to platonic relationships.
Be sure tochat with them every dayfor easy relationship points, but you’ll need togive gifts and spend timewith your special someone, too.
Giving Good Gifts Is Imperative To Making Progress
Although all the townsfolk enjoy receiving gifts,giving the right giftsis your fast track toearning the most relationship pointswith your dearly beloved for that day.
Each character has a list of items theylove, like, dislike, or feel neutral about, and the romance options in My Time at Sandrock have some of the most varied interests of all.
Sometimes, they’lltell you outrightwhat items they’d like to receive when you chat with them, and other times, it’s aguessing gameon what they’ll enjoybased on their personality, hobbies, and line of work.
As long as they don’t openly dislike a gift, be sure togive a gift every dayto continuously increase your relationship!
Play Critters Often
Though it’s far from the most complicated aspect of My Time at Sandrock, Critters is a simple card game that serves as aquick and easy way to earn bonus relationship pointswith your beloved for the day.
Really, you’re able to play with just about anyone, but you’llearn some relationship points no matter your score, although doing better and beating your opponent does yield far more than losing.
You can gainup to 15 additional relationship points each daydepending on how well you’ve played your cards, so be sure to always play Critters for an easy relationship boost.
Go On Play Dates (And Real Dates)
A little different from traditional dates, play dates with the romance candidates in My Time at Sandrock is a great way to build their affinity for you.
These become availableonce you’re acquaintances, and can be started from therubber ducky iconin the socialization options.
During these playdates, you’ll haveseveral unique social interactionsto perform with your date. The other person willfollow you around, allowing you to lead them to activities such as:
you may see how many actions you have left on a play date with the single of your choice based onhow many boot iconsare in the top-right corner.
You’ll also see a meter onhow much your date is enjoying themselves. Be sure to keep this in the green withconstant activity and interactionto result in a good date.
Once you’ve reached a romantic relationship with this character, though, you’ll be able to go onactual, romantic dates. These function much like play dates, but with romantic intent.
Confess Your Love (To More Than One Person, If You Want)
Confess With A Heart Knot, Or Be Confessed To
When it comes time to declare your interest in your partner in My Time at Sandrock, you’ll need to keep an eye out fordialogue marked with a heartwhen interacting with them as the game progresses.
These can crop up in eitherstory missions or side missions, primarily when you’re doing a good amount of talking to your special someone.If you want to date this character, choose these options whenever possible.
Sometimes, this can lead to what’s called aReverse Confession, which is where your love interesttells you they like you first.
Failing to choose these options may result in a character who can confess to you first not doing so, so always choose the heart option if you’re intending to romance this character.
The more traditional way to declare your love, though, is bygiving your beloved a Heart Knot. These are available atBy the Stairs, but youneed a good relationshipwith that NPC in order for them to accept your confession.
It’s worth noting thata character may reject your advance if they have something of their own planned.
There are elaborate cutscenes of characters asking you out or proposing to you, and if your character has one, they may reject your gifts.
If this should happen to you,wait a few daysto see if something elaborate happens, or if they’ve genuinely rejected you - in which case,keep tryingto woo them if your heart is set.
Can You Date Multiple People In My Time At Sandrock?
You can safelywoo as many people as you’d likewhen playing My Time at Sandrock, but just be careful once you’ve actuallyconfessedthat you like someone and have entered a relationship!
When your builder issingle, they can flirt and have play dates withas many romance options as you wantthem to. It’s always a decent idea to explore your options, right?
Butonce you’ve given someone a Heart Knot, received one from them, or one of you accepted the other’s confession,your partner gets jealous if they see you on a date with someone else.
You’lllose relationship points with your date and the person who caught you, so be wary when you’re being unfaithful after confessing your feelings!
How To Get Married
Once you’ve found your special someone in Sandrock and have spent some time together, you’ll be able topropose marriage.
To do this, you’ll need to have reachedthe Lovers rankin their relationship. To prove you’re settled into Sandrock, you also need to havereached level five in yourWorkshop Ranking.
To propose, you first need anEngagement Ring. These can be purchasedfrom the Mysterious Manwhen he visits town, and you’re able to buy it early and keep it on you until the time comes.
For some reason, even if you’re romancing him, Pen will not accept an Engagement Ring. Everyone else, though, is open to the idea.
You can eithergive the ring as a gift on a dateto make it into a special occasion or, if flair isn’t your style, you can also justgift the Engagement Ring as a normal giftwhen socializing.
You and your new spouse areimmediately considered to be marriedonce they’ve accepted the Ring, but you canchoose to have a wedding ceremony within a weekafter giving them the Engagement Ring.
Getting Married Cancels All Other Romantic Relationships
Once you and your special someone have tied the knot, if you were romancing any of the other bachelors in Sandrock,all other romantic relationships revert to friendships.
You’ll either beAssociates or Buddies again, and you’ll need to work on rebuilding the relationship as a friendship from scratch.
Your Spouse Helps Around The Workshop
Once you’ve gotten married in My Time at Sandrock, your spouse willmove intoyour Workshop homewith youimmediately.
In addition tooccasionally giving you gifts, from here, they’ll perform a number ofchores or helpful tasks, depending on what youassign to them at the Home Assessment Board:
All Romance Options In My Time At Sandrock
With a staggering21 available singlesin the full version of My Time at Sandrock, we’ve kept track of everyone’sbirthday, typical locations, preferred gifts, and more. They’re listed below inalphabetical order.
Different romance options have different amounts of content available.These are usually tasks related to their store that help advance your relationship with that character, so do these content missions often to boost your relationships!
Between these content variations and how involved the gifts they like can be, the singles in Sandrock also havedifficulty levelsinvolved with dating them, which we’ve measured up for you.
If you see someone’s name hyperlinked in the table below, it means we’ve got a full romance guide for that character. Keep checking back for more details on your favorite Sandrock singles!
Arvio
Autumn 6
By the Stairs, wandering through town by Cit Hall, or at home at Ceramic Gate
Church or Light, or patrolling the Oasis
Ernest *
Spring 25
By the train station at first, then in his apartment at the Old Town Lodge when he moves to Sandrock
At his clinic, or at the cemetery
Grace
Spring 17
At the Blue Moon Saloon, either behind the counter inside or standing out on the porch
Cook and Student
Construction Junction, or at her family’s home by Tailor Made
At the school that unlocks as Sandrock grows
Patrolling through town, or at the Civil Corpse
Patrolling, or at his home or lair
Mi-an
Autumn 20
Either at her house, or in the field past Eufala Salvage by the fishing spot
Church of the Light, or the surrounding area
At the Blue Moon Saloon, or walking around the Oasis
Chef and Bartender
At his salon near City Hall
Pen
Summer 8
Typically, outside of City Hall, but he’ll regularly go on patrol around Sandrock
“Protector of Sandrock”
The Research Center, or in his apartment just above it
Patrolling around town, or at the Civil Corps headquarters
Venti
Summer 12
In the desert area between your house and Eufala Salvage, occasionally going inside the Eufala Salvage building at night
Low
Medium
- Any character marked with an asterisk by their name is not available from the beginning of the game, and you’ll need to trigger their arrival in Sandrock by progressing the main story.
