Eric Barone says Haunted Chocolatier is still moving, and the slowdown is deliberate. In a new blog post, the Stardew Valley creator said he is still working on the game and is spending extra time on the details he wants to get right.
“Feels kinda dumb posting this same thing over and over, but that’s the reality,” he wrote in a post titled “Still here, still grinding…”. He added, “I know it’s taking a long time,” and said the game’s most frequently used parts need to be “perfect.”
UI And The Recipe Book
Barone pointed to the recipe book for making chocolates as one example of the UI work that is slowing him down. “This is a UI you will be using fairly often, so it has to be perfect,” he said, describing the goal as letting the player reach a result with the minimum number of clicks while still getting just the right amount of data in a form that is compelling, intuitive, and easy to read.
That kind of iteration is part of why the game has remained in development since 2021 without a release date. Barone said he is being very thoughtful about every aspect of the game, and that the work often takes several passes before he is satisfied with a system.
Still Here, Still Grinding
“To me, it’s not a simple task, as I torture myself over every last detail,” he wrote. He also said, “And it’s a big game,” adding that there are many things for him to fuss over and that this is what it will take to make a game he is satisfied with.
He compared the process to serving “a half-baked bread” versus “a fully baked bread,” and said he does not want to show parts of the game too early because they may evolve and change before release. He said he is in a position where he does not need to market the game, which gives him room to keep revising instead of rushing.
Haunted Chocolatier 2021
Barone’s update also places Haunted Chocolatier in a long runway that started with its 2021 announcement. He is not working directly on the Stardew Valley 1.7 update, and he has said that expanding his team a little bit should help him spend more time on Haunted Chocolatier.
For players waiting on the game, the message is plain: the project is alive, but Barone is still choosing polish over speed. As long as he keeps treating even the UI as something that has to be “perfect,” the release window stays on his side of the screen.
