Haunted houses are a common trope both within and beyond the horror genre. Any franchise – from Silent Hill to Pokemon – could have its own haunted house, adding to the game world and making it more interesting. Haunted Chocolatier, despite not being a horror game in the traditional sense, is yet another title where this trope might apply. Though instead of just a haunted house, the players might get an entire haunted mansion to explore.
Haunted Chocolatier is not yet out and there’s no estimated release date yet, but fans of Stardew Valley are already excited to see what it’ll bring to the table. Given its spookier theme and the presence of ghosts in its gameplay, it wouldn’t be farfetched to think that Haunted Chocolatier might incorporate its own haunted house mechanic.
A Haunted Mansion in Haunted Chocolatier
As shown in the Haunted Chocolatier early gameplay trailer, the player seems to have acquired a large mansion connected to a chocolate shop in a yet unnamed town. Its interiors are large, with the entire structure being much bigger than the humble farmhouse in Stardew Valley. It’s unclear how or why the player now lives in the mansion, but it’s likely where most of the chocolate-making will take place.
Another thing worthy of note is the general mood around the mansion of Haunted Chocolatier. In the gameplay trailer, the inside of it is dark. Many of the spaces are comfortably dim, with only a few light sources illuminating key areas of the home. Though this makes the mansion more cozy than gloomy, it still sets it up for the haunted house trope. This is especially true considering that the player employs ghostly entities to help out in the chocolate shop.
Haunted houses don’t necessarily have to be scary. They can, instead, be more atmospheric, like the Old Château in Pokemon Diamond & Pearl or the seemingly haunted home in indie game Gone Home. Neither of these haunted houses in games was overtly scary (minus some creepy moments), and that was exactly what the games needed. Gone Home, in particular, doesn’t make the haunted house the main focus of the game, instead using it to build on the characters and serve as an interesting backdrop for the primary story.
Similarly, a haunted house mechanic in Haunted Chocolatier could serve to elevate the setting, without being too scary. The player could start noticing strange occurrences in their newly acquired mansion, eventually leading to confirmation that the place is haunted. From there, things could play out similarly to the Junimo situation in Stardew Valley. Perhaps the friendly ghosts of Haunted Chocolatier’s mansion are looking for something to appease their souls, and the player needs to find it.
This could spur the player to explore the mansion more, and maybe even look for clues about what happened to the friendly ghosts. It’d be a cool haunted house mechanic wrapped up in a mystery, adding an extra layer to Haunted Chocolatier’s overall story. It could also tie into the title’s potential gameplay loop of creating chocolate dishes and selling them to the townspeople.
Of course, this is only speculation. The community has no way of knowing what ConcernedApe has planned for Haunted Chocolatier, and that’s for the best. It controls people’s expectations and prevents fans from overhyping the game. Though while the developer works on the upcoming game, fans have free rein to theorize what new features might be in Haunted Chocolatier – a haunted house mechanic being one of them. If anything, fan predictions like these only go to show just how highly anticipated ConcernedApe’s new game is.
Haunted Chocolatier is currently in development.