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Why Haunted Chocolatier’s Combat Focus Could Be Great News for Stardew Valley

3 months ago
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Highlights

  • Haunted Chocolatier will put a significant emphasis on combat, setting it apart from Stardew Valley.
  • Stardew Valley’s future updates could focus on non-combat features while Haunted Chocolatier shines in combat.
  • Both games can coexist and excel with unique mechanics, avoiding a copy-paste approach.



Few games have had a similar trajectory as Haunted Chocolatier. Coming from the sole developer of Stardew Valley, the surprise success of its predecessor has meant that there is a huge amount of pressure on ConcernedApe after just one game. However, all signs are pointing to a repeat of the critical and commercial acclaim, as the next title was revealed with some promising features and interesting new ideas.

Haunted Chocolatier looks similar in style to Stardew Valley but likely won’t be a copy of its core mechanics and progression loop, which means the latter still has sufficient breathing room to continue to flourish as it has over the last eight years. The combat-heavy focus of Haunted Chocolatier is a huge opportunity for ConcernedApe’s first game to continue building on its already amazing foundations.


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Haunted Chocolatier Has One Big Advantage Over Its Cozy Sim Genre Competition

Haunted Chocolatier is the next project from Stardew Valley developer ConcernedApe, and as such there may not be as much pressure on it.

Haunted Chocolatier Should Compliment, Not Replace Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley may have released in 2016, but it has seen an impressive number of updates in the years that have followed. Many of which have included substantial new features and improvements, showing the developer’s willingness to support the product as it continues to gain traction among both seasoned and casual gamers. It has capitalized on its full potential, and in doing so, has become one of the few games that gets more rewarding the higher the hour-count. To simply cut this progression off and switch all attention to Haunted Chocolatier would be a shame, as the pair could easily compliment each other with their approach.


As confirmed by ConcernedApe, Haunted Chocolatier will place a heavier emphasis on combat, and in doing so it will strive to set itself apart from what has come before, while also taking some cues (certainly with its visuals) from Stardew Valley. The differences could be highlighted further by continuing updates for Stardew Valley‘s ket areas of real strength, instead of trying to merge the two together using deliberately similar gameplay mechanics.

“Haunted Chocolatier has a greater focus on combat, so it needs to be very fun, satisfying, and engaging, while also appropriately fitting into the big picture. You can rest assured that I’m not “copying and pasting” Stardew’s combat. On the contrary, almost everything in Haunted Chocolatier, including the combat, is completely coded (and drawn) from scratch.” – Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone

Haunted Chocolatier Could be ConcernedApe’s Combat Crucible


Stardew Valley‘s battle mechanics are thin, and do little to challenge the player, but this feels like it’s by design. It’s not intended to be the main focus of the experience, and thus the gameplay is simplistic and easy to overcome, provided the player is conscious of their health and energy. Different weapon types and subtle stat buffs help to make it feel somewhat customizable, and certain farm types added in later updates specifically cater to those wanting to spend most of their time fighting off enemies, which makes the basic mechanics feel engaging, but Haunted Chocolatier could be the game that really brings it together.

If Haunted Chocolatier features the higher complexity of combat that some have wanted for a while, it would free up Stardew Valley to develop upon more of its core ideas. Farming, foraging, and socializing are the pillars of the game, and having Haunted Chocolatier go in one direction means Stardew Valley can stretch its legs in the other. More characters, additional crops, and farming equipment would make the already great game even better, instead of trying to ‘fix’ the simple combat that is perfectly fine for what it sets out to do.


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