Today in video game news: Pixelated ghosts who carry artisan chocolates. Game designer Eric Barone, who works under the alias ConcernedApe, announced Thursday that the game was in development, releasing a trailer and several colorful screenshots. Barone describes the game as being about "magical haunted ghost chocolate." Barone describes the game as being about "magical haunted ghost chocolate." Details on the project are scarce, but the gameplay video shows a mysterious castle filled with moody lighting and a chocolate shop attended by little ghost employees shaped like bonbons, carrying actual chocolate bonbons over their heads.

Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone, aka "ConcernedApe," has made a surprise unveiling of his next game, Haunted Chocolatier. It has the same pixelated SNES look as Stardew, with characters, set-pieces and themes that are similarly cute and quirky. "In this game, you will play as a chocolatier living in a haunted castle. In order to thrive in your new role, you will have to gather rare ingredients, make delicious chocolates, and sell them in a chocolate shop," according to Barone's blog on the new website. The video shows characters heading out into into a town, the castle, a mountain and other scenarios to seek ingredients and fend off creatures. It's Barone's first game since Stardew Valley launched in 2016, but so far it's not a lot more than a demo.