Haunted Chocolatier: all the key details on the followup to Stardew Valley

Haunted Chocolatier is the eagerly-awaited next outing from Stardew Valley creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone, which you could probably tell from a quick glance. While there's a strong resemblance with the beloved farm life sim, Haunted Chocolatier's ditching the farm business for sweeter pastures: It's chocolate shop sim time. Also, there are ghosts.

Barone revealed Haunted Chocolatier with a surprise announcement back in 2021. While the unveiling immediately sent the frothing masses of Stardew fans into a frenzy of excitement, Barone quickly retreated back behind the curtain to work on the life sim in secret. Can't blame him, really. Frothing masses can be a lot. Still, we've gotten a few brief glimpses at what to expect from the Stardew successor. Here's everything we know about Haunted Chocolatier.

Is there a Haunted Chocolatier release date? 

Unfortunately, we don't have an expected release date or even an expected release year for Haunted Chocolatier yet. ConcernedApe announced in April 2023 that he was taking a break from Haunted Chocolatier to focus on rolling out the 1.6 update for Stardew Valley which has since been released—so hopefully development on Chocolatier has resumed.

Alongside the release of an early gameplay trailer, Barone shared that "While the video I put together may look like the game is at an advanced stage of development, there is still a ton of stuff to do." We haven't received an in-game look since 2021, but the screenshots we have seen since then suggest that development is going well.

The latest Haunted Chocolatier trailer

ConcernedApe's Haunted Chocolatier -- Early Gameplay - YouTube

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The first trailer for Haunted Chocolatier looks incredibly similar to Stardew Valley in terms of environment and character design, but instead of tending to a farm you're decorating a shop and crafting sugary treats instead of animal products. The trailer also shows off a pretty detailed look at combat with new gear like shields and bows, and how that plays into collecting resources to make your chocolate. We're also seen some interactions with a few of the townsfolk, who ConcernedApe has confirmed you'll be able to pursue romance with.

Since the gameplay trailer, our only updates have come from the occasional surprise reveal of new Haunted Chocolatier screenshots shared by ConcernedApe (which you can check out further down.) Once again, these are pretty limited in what they reveal about the game, but they have still fuelled the anticipation toward the eventual release.

Haunted Chocolatier gameplay

So what kind of game is Haunted Chocolatier?

Instead of a farming simulation, Chocolatier is a shop sim where you'll be creating chocolate and selling it in your store. Like Stardew, Chocolatier has a local town full of stores and NPCs with their own stories that you'll get to know as you grow your shop.

"I’m not sure how best to describe it," Barone said in his announcement blog post, "but at its core, the gameplay loop involves gathering ingredients, making chocolate, and running a chocolate shop."

One thing that Barone has gone a little deeper on is the combat, which he says is a greater focus in his next game. Chocolatier will have shields, which you can use to block attacks and stun enemies as a result. Barone says there will be other off-hand items as alternatives to shields to complement different play styles.

The reveal trailer also showed a player using a bow and arrow. Neat!

We haven't gotten much explanation on exactly how running your chocolate shop works, but there are some snippets to catch in the reveal trailer. You can spot a player choosing from different countertop styles, setting out different types of chocolate on the counters in their shop, and a crowd of characters walking around the shop while it's open as your ghost friends carry chocolate over their heads.

There will be romance

Barone also mentioned in an interview with VGKami that Chocolatier will have romantic relationships again. "There will be relationships like in Stardew Valley. I haven’t decided exactly how the system will work, yet. And I expect to approach some things differently this time around."

Haunted Chocolatier will have boss fights

Casually revealed in a livestream back in April 2022, Haunted Chocolatier will, evidently, feature boss fights in its combat. Surprise! Barone joined the composing software developers at Reason Studios to talk about the soundtrack process for Stardew Valley. Along the way, Barone debuted a track for a bossfight in Haunted Chocolatier—no, we didn't know there were any.

The track in question, judging from the title "beeboss," indicates that there'll be a boss fight against a bee enemy. Probably encountered while gathering honey. For chocolate. Barone also revealed some of the game's general background music, with a more somber track called Pristine Snow.

Haunted Chocolatier will be bigger than Stardew Valley

A post made by Barone on X confirmed that the world of Haunted Chocolatier will be larger than Stardew Valley. I wish I could expand on that for you, but that's all Barone tweeted out. No accompanying screenshots, videos, or details. Just a "The world of Haunted Chocolatier is larger than Stardew Valley," then a tweet drought.

Although, what we can work out from this is that yes, Haunted Chocolatie will take place across a pretty substantial area, as Stardew Valley's world is already quite big. We can also surmise that some of this land mass might be made up by the different realms you traverse to gather chocolate ingredients.

Haunted Chocolatier screenshots

Earning a response like it was a rare gift from a benevolent but distant god, after months without sign or symbol of Haunted Chocolatier, Barone descended to Twitter in September 2023 to bestow a blessing on this weary world. By which I mean he uploaded a Haunted Chocolatier screenshot, followed by four more in early October. Here they are:

Image 1 of 6

While there are no hauntings or chocolates pictured, the old man bears a strong resemblance to the player's Grandpa in Stardew Valley, as do the later screenshots of the countryside. This has ignited theories about a connection between the two games. A sequel? A prequel? A sidequel? An AU? We'll have to wait and see.

As you might expect, the first screenshot also generated discussion about Barone's infrequent development updates. Responding in a Tweet, Barone said "there's plenty more that I haven't revealed, I just like to work in secret mainly."

But wait, there's (one) more

After having a go at "Gamer journalists," on X for writing "an article every time i tweet", ConcernedApe then posted a very autumnal screenshot of Haunted Chocolatier, forcing gamer journalists to write an article about one of his tweets. How could ConcernedApe do this?

In all seriousness, the screenshot does look pretty beautiful. And after a fan asked about the status of fishing below the picture, ConcernedApe confirmed that you can fish in Haunted Chocolatier. Something that'll either thrill, or despair, Stardew Valley players. (Fishing is hard, y'all.)

Here's the latest screenshot:

Haunted Chocolatier characters

You can check out our dedicated Haunted Chocolatier characters page for even more details and speculation. But at a glance, here's all of the cast of characters in Haunted Chocolatier that we know about so far:

• Lily - She lives in a neon, plant-filled home, and as seen within the reveal trailer, sends you an invitation of some sort. Ooo, mysterious.
• Burk - He appears to be a blacksmith, as he runs a forge and shop that sells weapons.
• Maddie - A dark-haired villager who remains a bit of a mystery for now.
• Jett - Works in a research lab for Dr. Tungsten.
• Dr. Tungsten - A spikey grey-haired doctor who works in a lab.
• Nigel - A local bartender in what looks like an underground bar.
• An unnamed old man - Only referred to as '???' so far, all we know is that this old man tells you about a "terrbile dream" he had.

More Haunted Chocolatier info