Eric Barone says Stardew Valley was about 'the fundamentals of human sustenance,' while Haunted Chocolatier is about 'what's next': 'There's another realm of the human experience'

After spending much of last year dedicated to Stardew Valley's big 1.6 update, Eric Barone is ready to buckle down on Haunted Chocolatier. Though he's not ready to talk too many hard details about his next game, in a recent interview with PC Gamer Barone said that what he's interested in exploring with Haunted Chocolatier has "evolved with the game" over the last few years.

"One thing lately that I've been interested in is intuition," he said. "You might even say a spiritual aspect. You have the left brain, which is the mechanical engineering thing, and then you have this kind of intuitive, psychic, paranormal side. I feel like games are very left brain-focused, like: 'Here's your ingredients, now engineer the perfect chocolate.'"

You can certainly see what Barone is talking about reflected in most games with crafting systems, including Stardew Valley—input X components and you'll always get Y result. One piece of wood and two pieces of sap in Stardew is guaranteed to make a torch.

With Haunted Chocolatier, he's exploring the idea of making baking less concrete.

"Instead I'm thinking, well, what if you do intuitive chocolate making?" he said. "What if it's not such a mechanical process and it's more creative? You have to let go of your designer to engineer the perfect chocolate, and just accept there's a mystery and a whimsy. Maybe that's an important part of being human that needs to be explored a little bit more. I don't even know if it needs to be, but it's something that I'm interested in doing right now."

Barone's rumination on intuition and spirituality feels in line with the concept the game has had from the beginning, though it seems like he's still figuring out exactly what the "haunted" in Haunted Chocolatier will entail. In the real world chocolatiers might make plain chocolate or elaborate truffles; in Haunted Chocolatier, you might make "ghost chocolates" or "paranormal chocolates."

"Stardew Valley was a very grounded game—it's about growing things in the earth. These are the basics, the fundamentals of human sustenance and existence, and something I care about deeply. But with Haunted Chocolatier, I wanted to explore what's next. We have our basic needs met with Stardew Valley. Now let's take it beyond, into the realm of the ethereal and the creative. You might even say luxury—things that are beyond the very basics. I think it's another realm of the human experience which I'm interested in exploring."

I had to ask Barone what his go-to is when it comes to eating plain ol' non-ghost chocolate, and like all people of good taste, he said dark chocolate—though he's not actually a "huge chocolate guy."

"I think [dark chocolate] is healthy in moderation. I worry about that with Haunted Chocolatier: am I going to ruin the teeth of a whole generation with this? I'm trying to think about that. I'm thinking about doing it so you can only eat two chocolates per day and it fills up your stomach, and then you have the system work around that… Maybe there needs to be a dentist in town. I want to have healthy chocolates, too, like superfood, ashwagandha, maca root chocolate. Special stuff."

Haunted Chocolatier will, at least in the macro view, still be "similar to Stardew Valley in many ways," Barone said—it's a life sim, which is the kind of game he likes to make.

"But I'm really interested in really cranking up the imagination, the creativity," he said. "I want to go all-out doing weird, interesting things… Stardew Valley is very sunny and bright and lush. Haunted Chocolatier is more dark and mysterious, a little bit paranormal. You're not sure what this is all about, but it's exciting your imagination."