There are a whole slew of Stardew Valley-style games in the works right now. There's Witchbrook, the magical, halloweeny take on the genre, and now Neverway, an eerie Lovecraftian RPG life sim hybrid that has absolutely earned a spot on my wishlist. But the one we're all waiting for is, of course, Haunted Chocolatier, the next game from life sim pioneer and Stardew creator Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone. We've seen some screenshots, and we know that it's more combat-driven than its predecessor, and now we know the rough size of its map.
With the life game's predecessor.
The post is simple: "The world of haunted chocolatier is larger than Stardew Valley." In the 25 minutes that said post has been live, it's garnered 10k likes. According to the Stardew Valley Wiki, the Standard Farm map has 3,427 tillable tiles and 235 buildable tiles, with locations like the Riverside Farm and Wilderness Farm clocking in a bit lower (the Four Corners Farm is the second biggest, if you're interested).
We have, of course, seen Stardew Valley mods expand out various locations but, presuming ConcernedApe is referring to Stardew's base map, we can assume Haunted Chocolatier will have over 3,662 tiles - and that's not taking into the rest of the world's visitable locations like Pelican Town, the Witch's Swamp, and Ginger Island.
The post largely comes out of nowhere, with ConcernedApe's last X comment dating back to May 16. Does this mean we're any closer to getting a release window? Well, given Summer Game Fest has come and gone, Gamescom would feel like the most likely contender. However, right now is a great time for games like Stardew Valley, with the hype around the aforementioned Witchbrook at a high, and Day of the Devs giving us a first look at Neverway. Stardew fans rise up, we're going to be eating good over the next few years.
If you're looking for something equally as cozy to wile away the hours with, check out our list of the best management games.
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