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Having experienced in excess of 200 new releases this year, I am officially turning the page on 2025. My annual roundup is published, and I feel content with the final results, despite being aware plenty of excellent games may have dropped under the radar. At this point, it's nothing for me to do except relax, unplug a little, and perhaps take a pleasant stroll in the— ah crap, found another great game. And just like that, goodbye to my plans!

A Surprising Contender Emerges

In my more off-hours play, typically earmarked for a selection of unusual games, I've encountered what might become my initial top game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a peculiar procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that breaks down a conventional dungeon crawler into a probability-fueled game of major consequence peril and prize. Consider this an early adopter's heads-up: If you enjoy discovering a game before it hits the mainstream, give Sol Cesto a try so you can punch a hole in your gaming budget.

A Calculated Roguelike Twist

Sol Cesto is a strategy-focused dungeon crawler that's different from everything I've previously experienced. The concept is that you must venture into a dungeon, progressing deeper and deeper in search of the sun, which has vanished from the fantasy world. In practice, this results in some familiar roguelike structure. Pick a hero with their own parameters and powers, defeat enemies on every stage of enemies, collect some stat improvements (represented as teeth), and overcome a few area guardians. Easy to grasp!

The Unique Gameplay Loop

The way you effectively complete a area, is unique. Every time you start another stage, you see a four-by-four matrix of boxes. All spaces holds a monster, a reward cache, a trap, or a health-restoring fruit. To proceed, you choose on one of the four rows, but the specific tile you end up on is a matter of probability.

You might see a row with a pair of enemies, a strawberry, and a treasure chest in it. You begin with a one-in-four probability of hitting a specific tile in a row.

After that, the odds shift. So do you go for it, or do you opt on a different row first and attempt some safer moves early? This is the push-your-luck gameplay in action in Sol Cesto, and it's engrossing once you get its rhythm.

Influencing Chance

The roguelike twist is that your percentages can be shaped over the course of a session by gathering teeth that change what things you're drawn toward. As an instance, you may obtain a perk that will reduce the probability of encountering a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of landing on a reward too.

• Developing a strategy is about manipulating math optimally to have a improved likelihood at selecting the optimal square.
• On a particular session, I focused my stat upgrades toward brute force and selected all the teeth possible that would boost my chances of attracting me toward monsters aligned with that strength.
• On a different attempt, I built my character around treasure chests and combined that with a perk that would debuff nearby foes whenever I claimed a reward.

The strategic possibilities are not endless, but they are sufficient to work with to let you manipulate numbers according to your strategy.

An Ever-Present Tension

Unsurprisingly, it remains a game of chance. You constantly face the risk that you have an 80% chance to land on the preferred space but end up landing a foe that would take out your final hit point. Every move is a gamble, so there's a constant tension as you clear a floor out and decide when to keep clicking or when to move on to the following level rather than testing fate.

Tools such as destructive ordnance assist in minimizing the chance, just like some hero powers. One hero's unique ability, charged after making four moves, allows players to click on a column instead of a row on a turn. Should you use your cards right, you can hold that ability for a crucial point to sidestep a dangerous choice. There's a shocking degree of depth in the seemingly straightforward task of clicking.

The Road to 1.0

Sol Cesto is currently in early access, and it has at least one more update scheduled before the final game is unleashed. An additional hero and a additional end-level foe are expected to drop by the end of January. The 1.0 release may not be long after, but the studio haven't set a concrete launch day yet.

A Parting Thought

No matter when the complete game arrives, you should consider put Sol Cesto on your radar. I've been completely engrossed with it, discovering its hidden nuances and storing my run rewards per attempt to reveal a continuous trickle of permanent unlocks, featuring additional heroes and items I can buy mid-attempt. To this day, I have not completed the dungeon, and I suspect I'll still be attempting that goal when the official release drops. Count me in for the complete journey.