Haunted Chocolatier Festival Wish List

As the second game by Stardew Valley developer Eric Barone, Haunted Chocolatier has high expectations to live up to. It’s a fine line that Barone must walk when making sure the game feels familiar to fans of his previous work while also retaining its own identity. One way this might be achieved is through the festivals that might be included in Haunted Chocolatier.

Eric Barone has proven himself as a fiercely dedicated developer by continuing to add updates to his surprise hit 8 years after its release. While Stardew Valley fans rejoice each time new content is added, Barone has admitted that his work on updates does take time away from the development of Haunted Chocolatier. In a recent interview with Eric Barone, he explained that he will always remain dedicated to Stardew Valley, but is now turning his full attention to his next title. Although Haunted Chocolatier is still a long way off, Barone’s renewed dedication has opened discussions about what to expect when the game is finally ready. One inclusion that feels inevitable is new festivals for Haunted Chocolatier, ideally ones that will push the identity of the game farther into its own niche.

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By LB Beistad

Which Festivals Should Appear in Haunted Chocolatier?

A Delicious Valentine’s Day

One way that Barone could distance Haunted Chocolatier from Stardew Valley is by including festivals that focus more on the delicacies that the player will be making. The Flower Dance in Stardew Valley is meant to be an analog to Valentine’s Day, offering players a chance at romance with the datable character of their choice. While this type of festival feels right at home in a small community like Pelican Town, it might not fit into Haunted Chocolatier’s more urban setting. A proper Valentine’s Day celebration would be a way for players to still have a celebration dedicated to romance, but also a way for them to show off their chocolate-making skills by crafting the perfect recipe for their romantic pursuit and the city’s other residents.

Halloween or Spirit’s Eve

Between the focus on chocolate and the mysterious ghosts, Haunted Chocolatier feels like a game made to celebrate Halloween, so it would simply feel incomplete to leave the holiday out of the festival rotation. It’s still unclear if this game will take place in the same world as Stardew Valley, but one way that this information might be hinted at is if the holiday is given the name “Spirit’s Eve” like in Stardew Valley. Haunted Chocolatier could represent Halloween in a few ways, given the spooky themes that it seems primed to tackle. One way could be a typical city-wide party that involves a version of trick-or-treating that the player would provide candy for. Alternatively, this could be a chance for the ghosts in the shop to have a spotlight. Some believe that on Halloween, spirits can freely mingle among the living, which could let the game’s ghostly residents have a holiday all their own.

A Version of the Desert Festival

Stardew Valley’s Desert Festival was one of the best additions in the 1.6 update. A multi-day festival in a distinct location with slight changes on each day, the Desert Festival belongs in Haunted Chocolatier in some form. It’s still unknown if the game will have a version of Stardew Valley’s desert, a distant location where players can travel for experiences outside the main town, but if it does, a celebration dedicated to this spot would be the perfect analog. Offering unique shopping experiences, free decorations, special quests, and more, there isn’t another holiday in Stardew Valley quite like the Desert Festival, and Haunted Chocolatier deserves a similar event. Because so little is known about the game, speculation on what this festival would be like is difficult, but Stardew Valley has provided a great blueprint.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Haunted Chocolatier might borrow a few popular festivals from Stardew Valley, but it should avoid treading on overused material. Unique festivals in Haunted Chocolatier would help the game stand out and retain its identity as separate from the game that came before it.

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