Eric Barone has a problem: He wants to make his new game, Haunted Chocolatier, but he also has a deep love for his indie mega-hit Stardew Valley—and, more to the point, a seeming inability to stop working on it. It's a tough spot alright, one he's talked about before, but speaking to PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon at GDC recently, Barone said he's got a plan, or at least an idea: Run away into the forest and stay there until it's done.
Barone's continued to work on the "vertical slice" of Haunted Chocolatier, while at the same time "trying to stay relaxed and stress free," and avoid rushing too much. But the pressure of Stardew Valley is always hanging overhead: Even though the game has been out for nine years and remains massively popular, he just can't stop. Barone said last year that he could work on Stardew Valley "for the rest of my life" and it sure doesn't seem like he was kidding.
