{"id":1580799,"date":"2026-05-15T15:23:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bmnfrbdaLJEDU3mJu4d55g"},"modified":"2026-05-15T15:23:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:23:46","slug":"i-just-need-to-disappear-go-into-a-cabin-eric-barone-has-found-the-answer-to-haunted-chocolatiers-development-distractions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/i-just-need-to-disappear-go-into-a-cabin-eric-barone-has-found-the-answer-to-haunted-chocolatiers-development-distractions\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I just need to disappear, go into a cabin’: Eric Barone has found the answer to Haunted Chocolatier’s development distractions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fans have been clamouring for Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone’s next game, Haunted Chocolatier<\/a>, for a almost five years now, and while he’s largely kept a lid on its development he has revealed in a recent interview with GameInformer<\/a> that it’s not taking more of his time than Stardew Valley<\/a>. <\/p>\n

“It\u2019s kind of hard to switch gears sometimes, to be honest, but it\u2019s just what I\u2019ve got to do,” Barone says. “It\u2019s just another challenge, because I have two games that I\u2019m working on. I just have to do it. It\u2019s not my preference, but it\u2019s just what needs to be done.” Barone is now working on Haunted Chocolatier five days a week, with the remaining two being spent on Stardew Valley. <\/p>\n

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\"Haunted<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Eric Barone)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It\u2019s a lot harder than when I was making Stardew Valley,” Barone adds. “I\u2019ll be honest. [During the making of] Stardew Valley, I was a nobody. Nobody knew who I was. I didn\u2019t get fan mail. I didn\u2019t have business people asking me for this or that all the time. I could just literally lock in and work.<\/p>\n

“I need to just disappear, go into a cabin, and work without distraction. So it is very difficult and distracting, I\u2019ll be honest, to have Stardew Valley and have people sending me fan mail. I appreciate that people love the game so much. But it is true that it\u2019s difficult to juggle all those things and to be able to fully lock in.” <\/p>\n

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I want people to be delighted by things that are unexpected.<\/p>\n

Eric Barone<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Hopes have certainly been set high for Haunted Chocolatier, Stardew Valley isn’t exactly the easiest game to follow on from. But Barone isn’t pulling any punches: “It\u2019s way bigger than Stardew Valley, at least in terms of the amount of maps, the amount of monsters, the depth to the whole item system, and all the equipment slots and all the stuff like this. Everything is cranked up.”<\/p>\n

But unlike Stardew Valley’s cosy farming, Haunted Chocolatier will explore slightly different, more creepy themes. “The ghosts, the haunted nature, the castle, allows for a lot of interesting, creative things that I can do that are kind of creepy,” Barone says. “Not totally horrifying, but maybe slightly, you know, creepy stuff. I want people to be delighted by things that are unexpected and that they\u2019re kind of like, ‘Wow. Like, I have no idea what\u2019s going on, but I like it.’<\/p>\n

“There are other things I want to share, there are other ideas I have, there are other themes I want to explore, just to fully express myself as a creator. So that\u2019s why I feel like I need to make Haunted Chocolatier and beyond. It\u2019s part of my own need to fully express myself while I\u2019m on this earth.”<\/p>\n

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