The Best Bachelors in My Time at Sandrock

As with any farming sim, My Time at Sandrock has a plethora of NPCs for you to romance, toy with, and potentially marry over the course of the game's storyline. And, naturally, that means we have to go through and rank them all, from worst to best.

If you're looking for the best bachelorettes in My Time at Sandrock, check out our other list of marriage candidates.

As a note, there will not be main story spoilers included in this list and it will only list the bachelors currently available in game.

Miguel

Miguel is the WORST bachelor and also the worst character in all of Sandrock. He’s boorish and rude and his crazy, religious fanaticism strikes a little too close to home these days, albeit, as it is meant to. He’s insubordinate to his boss in a slimy and obsequious way, only daring to complain about Matilda behind her back, whilst he also looks down on all of the other residents of Sandrock for not sharing his religious devotion. He’s also kinda icky looking, refuses to give any quarter in an argument, and wears a hideous shade of yellow everywhere.

Unlike Pen, who’s just self-absorbed but has good intentions, Miguel doesn’t seem to care if his intentions are good or not, and he defaults to just being insufferable. Added to which he tries to guilt trip you about doing things for the Church, even if you’re not involved, and whenever you level up your friendship and there’s a new event with him, he uses it as an excuse to moralize while making you weed the Church flowerbeds. It’s like picking flowers with Gandhi, only worse. While I know that different strokes for different folks applies in dating, it’s hard to imagine anyone playing this game and thinking Miguel is genuinely the best bachelor.

Pen

Ah, Pen. I’m beginning to think every town has a guy like Pen. We all know the Pen. He’s the guy who thinks he’s a superhero. He thinks everyone else loves him as much as he loves himself. He’s oblivious, a narcissist. He’s the Gaston. And unfortunately, he’s also single, for very obvious reasons. Guys like him usually are.

Pen’s self-involvement leads him to think he’s doing the best for the town and its people when he’s either making an extraordinary nuisance of himself or doing literally nothing. The few times he attempts to help the Civil Corps in apprehending Logan, he fails miserably, leaving the others to pick up the slack, and he’s more often than not found grandstanding and proclaiming his own greatness. His one saving quality is that he’s completely oblivious to his own personality, so he’s not doing any of this out of malice and instead thinks he’s a boon to the town, but that’s not saying much.

Arvio

If you had asked me to make this list at the start of the game, Arvio would have been near the top. He’s a little egocentric, sure, but he’s a kind person, he’s nice to his sister and he does a pretty good job running the general store. Unfortunately, in both his and his sister’s storylines, Arvio goes from being good natured yet annoying to self-inflated and completely egotistical extremely quickly, and it becomes harder and harder to like him.

Arvio only thinks of himself, and occasionally his sister, despite how he professes to value the player as a friend and confidante. He’s a narcissist and doesn’t think how his actions affect his sister or anyone else, landing both her and the player in hot water as the storylines progress. He’s completely thoughtless, which shows through most vividly when he ends up tricking the player into a romantic encounter, going completely over the top with it all and stepping over several boundaries along the way. He does this even if you have had a completely platonic relationship up until that point. It comes across as downright skeevy at best, and verges on predatory at worst.

Qi

Sandrock’s resident scientist and specialist on all old-world technology, Qi manages the research lab with precision and competence. That’s partly because all of his competence points were used on science and left none for social skills, which is his major downfall. On the plus side, he’s knowledgeable, willing to help the town with technology-associated problems, enthusiastic about robots, and very helpful when it comes to researching new machines and new upgrades for the builder.

Qi’s negative column is shorter, but unfortunately extremely stacked against his favor. He has absolutely no social skills and is continuously rude and boorish towards both the player and Sandrock’s other residents, simply for not being on his intellectual level. He has no patience for pleasantries or casual conversation, and the only person he’s shown actually enjoying a conversation with is his old friend Mint, from Portia, who is an engineer and can talk technical details.

Even after you raise your friendship with Qi, he’s still inadvertently rude, asking things like why does the player never have any good conversations with him and remaining completely oblivious towards any and all of his own faults. He harbors no ill will towards the player or other townspeople, but his lack of care about other people and their feelings grates on you very quickly.

Burgess

Burgess is the supervisor of the water tower in Sandrock and a devoted member of the Church of Light. He takes his responsibilities and duties very seriously, always reminding people to conserve water and yelling at you if you cut down any trees or cacti within the town’s borders. That’s the complete extent of his aggression, however, as the rest of the time he is the town’s resident doormat. Comparing him to a golden retriever would be somewhat accurate, if vaguely insulting to the golden retriever.

Much like Unsuur, Burgess lacks in the brains department, but he chooses to make up for it with smothering enthusiasm and care for everyone in town and the town itself, always keeping a bright and cheery demeanor no matter what’s going on and no matter what havoc Logan has wrought. A sheep of the highest order, he obeys the Church of Light without question and will do just about anything that anyone asks of him. It’s quite telling that he’s pretty much the only person in town willing to put up with Pen’s narcissism, and even kowtows to it on numerous occasions. While he’s not exactly a bad person, Burgess is the epitome of the well-meaning bystander who does nothing and in doing so, allows evil to succeed.

Pablo

Pablo is Sandrock’s resident hairdresser and fashion expert, and extremely queer-coded. An odd and colorful duck in a pseudo-wild west town, Pablo let’s his true colors shine through no matter what everybody else thinks, though truth be told his judgements of other people’s fashion gives them more to worry about than him.

A little rough around the edges, Pablo speaks almost exclusively in terms of style and fashion, and it’s how you eventually earn his respect and friendship. He loves anything pretty and anything that’s “in,” and once you get him to open up, he’s chatty and kind, happy to have a friend to talk to about things that he’s actually interested in. He’s also friends with Amirah, another artistic type, and hopefully more of his backstory will be revealed in game soon.

Unsuur

Charitably, Unsuur could be described as a lovely fella. Uncharitably, he could be described as being dumb as a rock. Honestly, he could be described in both ways. The third in command at the Sheriff’s office, behind the office cat, Unsuur is a strong believer in the law and willing to help out Justice with whatever he needs. Unfortunately, his complete and utter lack of brains stands in his way of effectively carrying out his mission most of the time, to Justice’s frustration.

To quote the internet, Unsuur “has the spirit,” he just doesn’t have the rest of it. Still, he’s a kind guy and a stand-up citizen, and your protagonist builder could do a lot worse than him in the bachelor department. I’m sort of hoping that the updates add more storylines for Unsuur, but it seems difficult to find a direction to go with his character.

Ernest

At first, Ernest is a pretty unassuming choice. He’s a reporter from Atara who is in town on assignment, sent to cover Logan’s shenanigans, but he doesn’t interact with the town much and can be difficult to even find, since he stays in his room for most of the time. He doesn’t really make much of an impression on you other than “Ah, he’s a reporter,” until you get into some of his storyline.

A typical rich kid, Ernest decided to set off into the world on his own and make his own living as a reporter, and he’s very passionate about his writing and what he does. He can be a bit of an airhead due to his upbringing, but it’s more sweet than annoying. His passion for writing and his determination when seeking out a story are both great qualities, and seeing him gently integrate into the Sandrock community is heartwarming.

Justice

Ignoring for a bit the fact that Justice becomes your boss throughout the course of the story, he’s an excellent marriage candidate for your Sandrock Builder. Like Owen, Justice is one of the calmer and more level-headed of the villagers, though he’s prone to get overexcited at times, particularly when the excitement involves outlaw Logan. And, while he may not be the best Sheriff that Sandrock could ask for, Justice has a strong sense of, well, justice, and it’s clear that he's doing the best he can at a job he didn’t really want himself. Besides, if he weren’t Sheriff, we’d be stuck with Unsuur, and that would be a Class-A disaster.

As befitting his job, Justice has the grit and bravery to face whatever the wilderness and outlaws can throw at the town, not backing down from a challenge. Again, he might not be the smartest apple in the pie, but his heart is in the right place and his head knows how to play catch-up. Even as a friend to the Builder, he’s a great guy, supportive, and kind, and it’s these traits that make him one of the best bachelors in Sandrock.

Fang

Fang is one of the most enigmatic characters in Sandrock. The town physician, he’s continually accompanied by his talking raven, X, and until you start pursuing his storyline, he barely says three words to you. He comes across as a little spooky and off-putting at first by just being so darn silent, but there is a hidden heart of gold for you to uncover beneath it all. He’s a deep, layered character and there’s much more to him than first appears.

Possibly one of the best character arcs of the entire game, Fang develops immensely as a character, not just in relation to the protagonist but in relation to the rest of the town as well. He and X make several friends among the other NPCs and he gains an incredible amount of courage in a well-written, tightly plotted storyline. No longer spooky and mysterious, Fang transforms into a kind, caring young man ready to help the village take on its next problem and ready to care for all of the residents to the best of his ability.

Owen

Owen is hands down one of my favorite Sandrock characters, bachelor or otherwise. He’s handsome, he’s charming, and he’s level-headed, staying collected in a crisis when everyone else seems to lose their heads. He genuinely cares about the town and the people in it, and his events go out of the way to show him as being kind and generous to everyone, not just the builder and not just his close friends. In a game that takes place after the end times, Owen being a shining example of kindness and humanity really stands out amongst the bleak post-apocalyptic hellscape of the world.

On a personal bias, I love that he’s a great storyteller as that really resonates with me. He’s also a fantastic chef who’s willing to share his recipes and help you out when he can. Owen is a positive and bright person, like if you took a bit of the desert sun and stuffed it in an outfit and added a ragged cape, you’d have Owen. Even if you decide to pursue other bachelors or bachelorettes, Owen is sweet and supportive even just as a friend. He appreciates you and isn’t shy about telling you once you get to advance your relationship further, which is the cherry on top of the Sand Jujube Cake.

So, those are our choices for the bachelors of My Time at Sandrock! What do you think? Do you agree with our choices or strongly disagree? Let us know in the comments below!