Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone, the single developer behind the hugely successful RPG farming sim Stardew Valley, has just announced a new game — Haunted Chocolatier. Although development began back in 2020, ConcernedApe says that the game won’t be ready for a while.
Writing on his website, ConcernedApe says that that the title, Haunted Chocolatier, just came to him:
Why chocolate? I’m not sure. It just kind of came to me. I think sometimes the best ideas just appear in a flash, instead of being cleverly thought out. That’s how I like to work, anyway. What’s important is the execution. And after 10 years of practice, I feel more confident than ever in being able to bring an idea to life.”
Unlike Stardew Valley, which focused on the simple, mundane life where your character rebuilds your deceased grandfather’s farm, Haunted Chocolatier explores the fantastical — somehow incorporating a haunted castle and haunted ghost chocolate. Instead of operating a family farm, ConcernedApe says that this new game’s gameplay loop will involve procuring ingredients, making chocolate, and running your own chocolate shop.
The developer says he’s working alone on this game, and he doesn’t have plans to involve anyone else right now. Also unlike Stardew Valley, ConcernedApe will be self-publishing Haunted Chocolatier. (British studio Chucklefish was the publisher behind Stardew Valley.) ConcernedApe says the new game will be certainly be available on PC, but he also has the intention of bringing it to every major platform eventually.
If Haunted Chocolatier is anything like Stardew Valley, you can expect raving reviews from critics and hundreds of hours of gameplay. Since Stardew Valley was originally released in 2016, it has sold more than 15 million copies.
