Stardew Valley creator ignites new fan theories with five simple words: 'Here's a Haunted Chocolatier screen'

pcgamer.com:

«Here's a Haunted Chocolatier screen»: That's what you say if you're ConcernedApe, aka Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone, and it's apparently a slow Tuesday and you want to wind things up a little bit. And then you post the screen in question, and all your followers immediately go bananas.

That's literally it: A flex from the man responsible for the biggest indie game sensation since Minecraft, and a reminder of the awesome, terrible power he wields:

So, what are we looking at? A kindly-looking old man in a nightcap, snuggled up in bed, which is itself ensconced within the confines of a large, cozy bedroom filled with books and stars. But there are signs that perhaps all is not entirely well: Cobwebs in the corners, for instance, and what may be a layer of undisturbed dust on the floor. And who is that small person standing beside his bed? A child? An elf? A vestige of his terrible dream, determinedly resonating through his haunted, half-conscious mind?

One follower floated the theory that the man in bed is actually Grandpa, the character who gifts the farm to players at the start of Stardew Valley. Grandpa was in fact a bit of a local mogul, so the theory goes, and the chocolate shop is another business gifted to another grandchild. I have no idea how valid that theory might be, but at least one person on Twitter was prepared to give it consideration:

Barone didn't reveal anything more about what's happening in the Haunted Chocolatier image, but he did reassure everyone—because several of his followers asked—that he is still working on the Stardew Valley 1.6 update. "[I] just wanted to share a HC screenshot, I'm sitting on a lot of screenshots that I could share, just felt like it," he tweeted.

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