Highlights
- Stardew Valley's massive success created a boom in the cozy farming game genre, inspiring new titles like Haunted Chocolatier.
- Haunted Chocolatier could improve its multiplayer by taking notes from Palia and Animal Crossing, creating more engaging and equal gameplay experiences.
- The hunting and gathering elements in Haunted Chocolatier could be enhanced by incorporating the in-depth combat and leveling systems of games like Rune Factory and Harvestella.
Stardew Valley took the cozy game world by storm when it was released in 2016. While farming games were far from new, one had never truly caught widespread attention. Rune Factory and Story of Seasons were seeing success with their niche audiences, but Animal Crossing, which was also lesser known at the time, was the poster boy for the cozy genre. Stardew Valley released, and its cute art style, likable cast, and addicting life-sim elements gave it a wider audience than anyone could have anticipated and created a massive boom in the genre. Now its developer, ConcernedApe, is working on a new game, Haunted Chocolatier, and it needs to learn from the games that Stardew Valley inspired.
Haunted Chocolatier is ConcernedApe's follow-up to its smash hit Stardew Valley, which remains one of the coziest farming games available. Not much is known about Haunted Chocolatier at this time. Eric Barone, the lone wolf developer behind ConcernedApe, shares screenshots of the game on social media from time to time, but hasn't spoken much about what the game will entail. Based on what has been revealed, though, the new title appears to be leaning into the more fantastical elements of Stardew Valley, and it is possible that the two games exist in a shared universe. Barone has said that the game will be done when it's done and released accordingly, meaning it is likely still a few years away.
Haunted Chocolatier Needs Beefier Multiplayer
Stardew Valley added multiplayer about two years after its launch. One player is the main host and has the save file, while the other players are farmhands with less freedom in the world and are, in essence, not permanent residents. While the ability to play with friends is nice, and it can be used to maximize productivity, other games in the cozy genre have come a long way since Stardew Valley. Haunted Chocolatier could learn much from Palia and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which both feature more fleshed-out multiplayer offerings.
Palia is a cozy life sim MMO that features farming and resource gathering, not unlike that of Stardew Valley. Palia, however, has built more substantial systems around multiplayer. One of the best features is Flow Trees, which require multiple players to work in real-time to cut them down, while other tasks require multiple people. This could be implemented in Haunted Chocolatier to make multiplayer more engaging, and NPCs could be befriended and asked to help in single-player. Haunted Chocolatier could also borrow the island visitation system from Animal Crossing to let friends visit each other's worlds. Alternatively, multiplayer games could eschew having a primary player and give everyone equal priority. Changes in this vein would make the multiplayer feel more like it's everyone's save file.
Haunted Chocolatier Could Borrow From Harvestella and Rune Factory
Harvestalla and Rune Factory take the cozy genre and deck it out with JRPG combat and leveling. The Haunted Chocolatier reveal trailer showcased a player going through a painting into a wild area to hunt and gather. Rather than farming, this seems to be the way supplies for chocolate making are acquired. The trailer showed off a bow and arrow, and seemingly, the combat could have more depth than Barone's previous title. Taking the more in-depth gear and leveling systems of Rune Factory or Harvestella could help to make the hunting and gathering elements of Haunted Chocolatier feel more robust and engaging in the long term.
ConcernedApe is very secretive about his games, meaning that many of the details about Haunted Chocolatier, including the improvements it is making over Stardew Valley, will likely remain unknown until it is in the player's hands. Despite fans being left in the dark, Stardew Valley is still getting new content and quality-of-life enhancements, which shows Barone's commitment to making his games the best they can be. The developer has also said that on top of Stardew Valley getting new festivals, the next update will flesh out skill areas and add more crafting options. Haunted Chocolatier will hopefully continue its predecessor's legacy of extensive post-launch support.
Stardew Valley is currently available for Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS Vita, and Xbox One.
