Stardew Valley and Haunted Chocolatier may have “some shared Lore.”
Eric Barone, Stardew valley creator (ConcernedApe), is hard at work on his next game Haunted Chocolatier. Barone has yet to release his next game, but he took to Twitter to show some of his progress and answer some fan questions.
People want to know how Chocolatier compares to Stardew. The answer is simple: looks can be deceiving. Barone is determined to make his next game unique, despite similarities in style and aesthetic. On Twitter, the developer answered some burning questions about Haunted Chocolatier. Most of them were about Stardew Valley. But his thoughts about story elements shared between the settings are the most notable.
Barone responded that Haunted Chocolatier would have “its own game with a self-contained identity…it’s not Stardew 2″. There might be some common lore.” But don’t expect to see a complete follow-up story for 2016’s farm sim.
Barone’s Q&A session included an informal look at the game’s progress. This is the only screenshot he has shared, but it still shows the early assets he shared last January for the game’s reveal. It’s cute enough that I’m hooked, even though it’s not a sequel to farming.
Barone stated that it should not cost more than Stardew Valley and may be priced at the same level. For US residents, it’s about $14.99 on Steam. The creator claims that progress on the game is “pretty good”, but he’s still making it from scratch. Although it does not have the Stardew asset that is “rarely re-used”, this is a fairly common (and fair!) practice in game development. Let’s not let the occasionally shared asset be a reason to draw boundaries between worlds.
Barone continued to ask more questions and noted that Haunted Chocolatier “feels very different”, even though there are some gameplay similarities in this reveal trailer. Another element is similar to the Community Center in Stardew Valley, but it’s not “directly analogous.” Our only clue now is that it may have something to do with the old castle we teased in the early teases.
Haunted Chocolatier seems a long way off. Barone did mention that Stardew Valley is his main focus. Although the clamouring for every detail may seem strange to some of those not affected by the farming bug hard, Barone’s original game is still very much loved. The creator mentioned Stardew Val is selling better than ever in a recent interview. The book is six years old and sold over 20 million copies. I am easily half of them on multiple systems.
Although I am a little disappointed that there are no major crossovers, I believe it is for the better. I have had plenty of playthroughs, so it is time to move on the same way Barone seems to be ready. We have suggestions for hats to keep you over. They will scratch the same itch.
