Haunted Chocolatier, and I'm starting to believe that he'll be able to one-up his massive farming sim success. While Haunted Chocolatier was announced years ago, Stardew Valley has received multiple major updates since, so it hasn't been the sole focus of development in that time. The title looks like it will share some similarities, but aside from the switch from farming to chocolate-making, Haunted Chocolatier is also leaning into a more spectral atmosphere.
To date, Stardew Valley remains ConcernedApe's only commercially-released game, making the task of a follow-up even more daunting. By the sound of it, though, the developer has learned a lot from his experience with Stardew Valley, and his focus on applying those lessons to Haunted Chocolatier seems like reasonable cause for optimism.
ConcernedApe Would Have Done Stardew Valley Differently
From Character Development To The Storyline
ConcernedApe — or Eric Barone, properly —spoke with PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon about his thoughts on Stardew Valley, and the full interview has a lot of interesting insights. As he shares in the interview, the longer he worked on Stardew Valley, the more his ambitions grew in tandem with the skills he developed. He didn't have high expectations for the game, however. Self-doubt would creep in, making him think his game was awful and that nobody would like it.
“I Have Ideas”: ConcernedApe Shares What He Would Have Done Differently In Stardew Valley
In a new interview with PC Gamer, creator of Stardew Valley ConcernedApe, shares that he wished he had spent more time on the characters.
Barone mentioned how surprised he was at how quickly his game gained traction on Steam, but he didn't have much time to relish in his success as he was determined to provide needed updates and bug fixes. When talking about what he would have done differently with the game, he states that he would have spent more time on the characters.
This is something I actually have mixed feelings about, because some of the character storylines, they're kinda like left as cliffhangers almost. There's no resolution to certain things, like Mayor Lewis and Marnie's secret relationship. - Eric Barone
He goes on to talk about the arc for Linus and Clint, where their stories aren't exactly explained. Barone says he has ideas about how he could answer those questions, but he's conflicted on whether he should. Answering those questions will feel like closing the book on Stardew Valley, which he isn't ready to do yet. He likes how it's open-ended and left up to interpretation, making it unique to each player.
That isn't the full extent of his reflection on questionable choices —he also wishes he had developed the fishing in Stardew Valley a bit differently, for example — and his discussion of regrets lays an interesting foundation for his future work. With Stardew Valley's enormous popularity, it's received both an enormous amount of praise and a smaller portion of criticism. Being able to sift through that kind of response to arrive at his own nuanced takes on what could be better can't be easy, but it bodes very well for Haunted Chocolatier.
Like Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier Has Incredible Potential
Fans Of Stardew Valley Should Like Haunted Chocolatier
Everything we know about Haunted Chocolatier shows that ConcernedApe has grown as a game developer over the last 15 years. He's clearly learned a lot from creating Stardew Valley, and he seems eager to apply those skills to make Haunted Chocolatier great. He cites no longer having to worry about a 9-5 job as an opportunity for him to think about things and productively channel his imagination more, a sentiment that most people can likely understand.
"The Man Deserves A Break": Stardew Valley Fans Think ConcernedApe Is Long Overdue For A Vacation After Working Tirelessly
Stardew Valley fans believe that solo developer ConcernedApe deserves a long vacation after all of his hard work on bug fixes and patches.
Considering he has more time to work on the game compared to Stardew Valley, he can focus on the little details to help perfect the game before it releases, and I'm fascinated to see how much depth and nuance the game could already have at launch. By the sound of it, things have been changing a lot throughout its development so far. Barone's feelings shifted as he became more focused on the "intuition" part of the game. Creating chocolate can be a "mechanical process," and he wants to push the limits to make it more of a creative experience.
He hints about the kinds of chocolates you may be able to create in his game from the base chocolate, such as ghost chocolates or paranormal chocolates, an interesting turn from the relatively grounded nature of Stardew Valley. While Stardew Valley has some supernatural elements, Barone emphasizes the foundation of human existence and sustenance. Most cozy games tend to strike a similar balance, and I'm interested to see where he could take Haunted Chocolatier to liven up the formula.
In general, Barone says that Haunted Chocolatier is similar to Stardew Valley, as it's still a life-sim game at the end of the day. However, he wants to "crank up the imagination and creativity," which sounds like a perfect evolution to me. He seems to be striving to bring Stardew Valley fans' fantasies to life, but perhaps more importantly, he sounds excited about it himself. Barone's proven time and time again that he can seize good creative opportunities when they arise, and if he thinks Haunted Chocolatier has interesting opportunities to explore, I feel confident about them coming to fruition.
Haunted Chocolatier Isn’t Coming Anytime Soon
Just Like Making The Perfect Chocolate, It Takes Time
While there is speculation about whether Haunted Chocolatier will release in 2026, when it comes to this new game, ConcernedApe doesn't want to rush it, sharing that he wants to remain "relaxed and stress-free" as much as he can while developing the game. Considering he still has Stardew Valley to be concerned about, it does take away some of his time from developing Haunted Chocolatier.
ConcernedApe Is Still Working On Haunted Chocolatier, But Stardew Valley Being Such A Hit Has Put A Pause On Development
Developer of the highly acclaimed cozy title Stardew Valley, ConcernedApe, has given fans an update on the progress of his title.
Even as he moves forward, Barone doesn't want to abandon his first success or the fans of it. When asked about a cut-off point for Stardew Valley, he mentions that it's currently pretty settled after the 1.6 update. Since the major bug fixes have been completed for Stardew, ConcernedApe claims that he is committed to not working on that game until he is done with Haunted Chocolatier.
He briefly mentions the temptation of going off the grid for a couple of years to solely focus on his new game so he can finish it. While Eric Barone doesn't explicitly state that it will take another two years to finish the game, from his statement, it can be assumed that Haunted Chocolatier won't release any time soon. I might love to see it sooner, but if it takes a couple more years for the game to fully realize its potential, I'm happy to wait and see what Haunted Chocolatier can bring to the table.
Source: PC Gamer
Haunted Chocolatier
- Released
- 2025
- ESRB
- e
- Developer(s)
- ConcernedApe
- Publisher(s)
- ConcernedApe
- Engine
- MonoGame
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