Whereas Haunted Chocolatier is being considered by many as a Stardew Valley sequel, the connections between the 2 video games are somewhat extra difficult than that.
Haunted Chocolatier is the second main mission from solo developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, following up on the key success of his first recreation, Stardew Valley.
The title will see gamers taking up a haunted mansion the place they are going to open a confectionary store, spending their days gathering elements, battling monsters, growing relationships with fellow townspeople, and (after all) making chocolate.
Haunted Chocolatier Stardew Valley Connections Defined
Haunted Chocolatier will not be technically a sequel to Stardew Valley, regardless that it might look the half.
The upcoming title from solo developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone will likely be his first main launch since Stardew debuted in 2016. Whereas it’s not Stardew Valley 2 by title, the 2 video games share some key connections.
Each titles appear to be structured equally, with gamers settling right into a gameplay loop of gathering sources, crafting items with mentioned sources, after which promoting these items. They’re like Minecraft if gamers may then earn cash on the diamond pickaxes they made in-game.
Nevertheless, as an alternative of operating a farm in Haunted Chocolatier, gamers will arrange store in a haunted mansion, crafting and promoting chocolate with the assistance of the spirits that inhabit the home.
Barone straight addressed the similarities and variations between his two video games in an FAQ on his official web site, clarifying how his upcoming mission will differ from the one which put him on the map.
In that back-and-forth with followers, he wrote, “In some methods” gameplay between the 2 will likely be related, however in different methods, it won’t be:
Q: “Is the gameplay just like ‘Stardew Valley?'”
A: “In some methods, sure, however in some ways, no. Like ‘Stardew Valley,’ ‘Haunted Chocolatier’ is one other ‘city recreation,’ the place you progress to a brand new city and take a look at your hand at a brand new way of life. You may get to know the townspeople, obtain your targets and make progress in some ways. All of that’s just like ‘Stardew Valley.'”
He posited that whereas Stardew was a extra laid-back Harvest Moon-esque expertise, Haunted Chocolatier will likely be “extra of an action-RPG:”
“Nevertheless, the core gameplay and theming are fairly a bit completely different. ‘Haunted Chocolatier’ is extra of an action-RPG in comparison with ‘Stardew Valley.’ And as an alternative of a farm being the point of interest of your endeavors, it is a chocolate store.”
This may be seen within the recreation’s solely trailer to this point, displaying off a way more fantastical world than that of Stardew, with a heavier deal with fight and exploration (one thing that was solely a small a part of the Stardew Valley expertise).
One other widespread purpose followers appear to suppose the chocolate-making RPG is a direct Stardew sequel is the 2 titles’ related look. Each video games characteristic this beautiful fashionable pixel artwork look that harkens again to 16-bit classics like Chrono Set off, the unique Harvest Moon, and Earthbound.
That is merely the results of the sport being labored on by the identical particular person, utilizing related instruments and abilities to craft each titles. Nevertheless, regardless of the same look, each video games (maybe surprisingly) don’t use the identical engine underneath the hood.
Barone wrote in that very same Q&A that Haunted Chocolatier is utilizing “a brand new engine” from Stardew Valley, nevertheless it does use a number of the identical code:
Q: “Is it the identical engine as ‘Stardew Valley?'”
A: “No, it’s a brand new engine written in C#/Monogame… nonetheless there are some areas the place I can reuse code from ‘Stardew Valley,’ so that’s good.”
Sadly, it nonetheless could also be a while earlier than followers get the prospect to expertise these variations first-hand.
Regardless of the sport being first revealed again in 2021, there nonetheless appears to be loads of work left to be finished. Barone himself not too long ago talked about taking a break on growth, that means the can will likely be stored getting kicked down the highway for no matter eventual launch he might have deliberate.
In a December 2024 weblog put up on the sport’s web site, Barone shared, “I haven’t been in a position to work on Haunted Chocolatier shortly,” as he had shifted his focus to the large 1.6 replace to Stardew Valley:
“I do know it has been some time since I final posted right here. As you might already know, I have never been in a position to work on ‘Haunted Chocolatier’ shortly. It’s because I began engaged on new stuff for the ‘Stardew Valley’ 1.6 replace. The 1.6 replace was initially deliberate to be a technical, ‘underneath the hood’ replace to broaden ‘Stardew’s’ modding capabilities, finished by others in order that I may deal with ‘Haunted Chocolatier.’ However then I obtained concerned, including somewhat bit of recent content material to the replace, and it sort of snowballed into a reasonably substantial quantity of recent content material. And even after 1.6 got here out on PC, I’ve been closely concerned with bug fixing, porting, and extra. This has all pulled me away from ‘Haunted Chocolatier’ growth.”
Hopefully, this back-and-forth growth between Stardew Valley and Haunted Chocolatier will profit each video games, as Barone can take what he has discovered from every to make the opposite higher.
Haunted Chocolatier has no identified public launch date.
