My Time at Portia, Featuring NVIDIA Highlights, Is Available Now

It’s only March, yet 2019 has already produced some great indie games. Astroneer, Wargroove, and PC Building Simulator have been wowing gamers since their release. And more are on the way, like Untitled Goose Game, Sea of Solitude, and Children of Morta. 2019 is shaping up to be a good one for indie games!

This month we’re going to take a look at My Time at Portia.

In My Time at Portia, players will need to bring prosperity back to the town of Portia. The only way to do that is to restore your Pa’s workshop to its former glory and become the number one builder in the town. Players will have a number of tasks to help them accomplish this, things like fulfilling commissions, growing crops, raising animals, and befriending the inhabitants of Portia. Along your journey, the player will meet the civil corps and help them out with their work as they uncover the secrets that are buried deep beneath the town.

Crafting is what you’ll spend the majority of your time doing and gathering the needed materials will take players all over the lands surrounding Portia. Players will be tasked with fulfilling commissions to make things from dee stops (like bus stops) to water wheels to furnaces but you will also be able to make furnishings for their own house like tables and chairs – these home improvements also give the player awesome stats bonuses too. There are many more blueprints to find that will help the player advance the story.

Players will explore reefs, deserts, highlands, marshlands, and ancient ruins to find the different materials needed. The ancient ruins provide specific materials such as computer chips or engines which are used in crafting some of the more complicated blueprints. In addition the player may collect some weapons and armor they can’t get anywhere else.

When not gathering crafting materials, players can also interact with the different inhabitants they come across throughout their journey. Players can go on dates with the townspeople, go on picnics, play on the swings, get some food or just star gaze. There are lots more things to do and as players get to know the different characters they will learn more about them. Some of the unique stories involve helping with training for an important event or realising their dream of owning their own business.

There are loads of fun moments in the game that can be captured with NVIDIA Highlights, allowing players to share these moments with their friends.   You can capture things like introductions to key characters in the game, victories in boss battles, and key moments like fulfilling important commissions and building key items.

Response to the game has been extremely positive, with over 10,000 positive user reviews on Steam. This is an indie darling for sure. The press have also fallen in love with the game:

• The Sixth Axis gave the game a 9/10 and said “more than a worthy alternative to Stardew Valley and one of the first must have games of 2019”
• Gamereactor gave the game a 9/10 and said “a game that we'd wholeheartedly recommend for anyone who enjoys a splash of colour and the thrills of crafting and exploration. We loved building our reputation as a fledgling builder in the gorgeous town of Portia and had a great time as we expanded our workshop, made lasting relationships, and undertook commissions from our friends and neighbours ”
• The Digital Fix gave the game a 9/10 and said “an achievement in indie game production. The intriguing world, compelling systems, and simple gameplay all makes it a fantastic experience”

My Time at Portia is now available on Steam, GoG. and the Epic Games Store.

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A few other indie titles have released the past few months of 2019:

• Ape Out - From Devolver Digital, Ape Out is a wildly intense and colorfully stylized smash ‘em up about primal escape, rhythmic violence, and frenetic jazz.
• Project Winter - The perfect game to back-stab your friends. Project Winter is an 8 person multiplayer game focusing on social deception and survival.

Several of the above games were part of our indie game developer program, NVIDIA Indie Spotlight. If you are an indie game developer, apply today!