Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone, the creator of Stardew Valley, is working on a brand-new game called Haunted Chocolatier. Although it may look a lot like ConcernedApe's previous title on the surface, Haunted Chocolatier differs from it considerably in some ways. Unlike Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier is not a farming sim, at least not in the traditional sense. In this title, players are granted the keys to a confectionery store that's located within a haunted castle. Not only do they have to maintain the store, they also need to collect ingredients to make chocolates and forge relationships with the local NPCs. Despite its low-stakes premise, Haunted Chocolatier will have a greater emphasis on combat compared to Stardew Valley, as well.
The road to Haunted Chocolatier's release so far has been a long and bumpy one, to say the least. Even though it was announced nearly four years ago, the game is still nowhere close to being finished, and it apparently may not be out until 2030 or later. ConcernedApe temporarily paused development on the game last year, in fact, in order to focus on getting Stardew Valley's 1.6 update out the door on consoles. Regardless of when it eventually comes out, though, Haunted Chocolatier likely won't have nearly as much content or depth as Stardew Valley at launch, but that shouldn't be much of a problem in the long run.
Stardew Valley Has Evolved a Lot in the Years Since Its Release
Stardew Valley is widely considered to be one of the greatest indie games of all time. It is basically the poster child for the modern-day farming sim, and it singlehandedly revived the genre after the Harvest Moon series lost its luster during the 2000s and 2010s. For as great as Stardew Valley is, though, it's easy to forget that the original version of the game was very different from what it currently is today. Stardew Valley was pretty rough around the edges when it first launched, but thanks to consistent free updates, it evolved into something far greater than the sum of its parts.
The First Major Update for Stardew Valley Brought With it a Bunch of New Content
After working on it for approximately four years, ConcernedApe released Stardew Valley on Windows PCs in February 2016. Stardew Valley's core gameplay loop was pretty much established at the time, but the game was missing some key features. For example, Mayor Lewis' Divorce Book, a book that lets players break up with the person they married, did not exist at all in the original version of Stardew Valley. It was later added as part of the 1.1 update in October 2016. The ability to marry Emily, brew coffee, and purchase a mill were also added in the same update, along with a smorgasbord of other content.
Many of Stardew Valley's Biggest Features, Like Multiplayer Support, Were Added Post-Launch
The more recent updates to Stardew Valley have made some other changes worth highlighting, as well. In 2018, ConcernedApe added multiplayer support to the PC version of the game as part of the 1.3.27 update. Then, in 2020, he released an entirely new endgame area in the game called Ginger Island, which was filled with tons of new locations, quests, NPCs, and puzzles. This was arguably the biggest piece of content that ConcernedApe added to Stardew Valley in the years since its debut.
Ginger Island was one of the many things that were introduced in Stardew Valley's 1.5 update. This update also brought with it some new farm features, the ability to enchant tools and weapons, quality-of-life changes, more pets, and a bunch of new items.
Even if It Doesn't Initially Surpass Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier Could Improve a Lot With Post-Launch Updates
Despite the fact that Stardew Valley has a ridiculously large amount of content, Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone intends to make Haunted Chocolatier an even larger and better game. While ConcernedApe's ambition is commendable, some may be skeptical of the idea that the game will live up to such a high standard. Even if Haunted Chocolatier ends up being inferior to Stardew Valley at launch, however, ConcernedApe will likely still update the game for years to come. With enough added content, Haunted Chocolatier could end up looking a lot different five to six years after its release.
- Developer(s)
- ConcernedApe
- Publisher(s)
- ConcernedApe
- Engine
- MonoGame
WHERE TO PLAY
Haunted Chocolatier is an upcoming adventure game from Stardew Valley creator ConcernedApe (Eric Barone). The game is currently set to feature a lush explorable world, chocolate making and cooking, a spooky theme, and more. There is currently no release date or time period for the game.
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Simulation
