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After playing in excess of 200 new releases this year, I am officially turning the page on 2025. My best-of compilation is published, and I'm satisfied with the final results, despite being aware plenty of stellar titles may have dropped under the radar. Now, there's job is to but sit back, disconnect briefly, and maybe enjoy a refreshing hike in the— oh no, discovered one more great game. So much for my peaceful respite!

An Early Favorite Surfaces

During my off-hours play, often set aside for a selection of unusual games, I've encountered what might become my first favorite game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a distinctive roguelike for Windows PC that reimagines a traditional dungeon crawler into a probability-fueled game of major consequence risk and reward. Consider this a preview for the in-the-know: If you enjoy being aware of a game before it's popular, give Sol Cesto a try so you can punch a hole in your indie credit card.

A Calculated Genre Subversion

Sol Cesto is a thought-provoking procedural game that's unlike anything I've ever played. The premise is that you are tasked with descending into a dungeon, going down level by level in search of the sun, which has disappeared from its world. In practice, this creates some familiar roguelike structure. Select a character with their own parameters and powers, clear floor after floor of enemies, collect some permanent upgrades (in the form of teeth), and vanquish a few biome bosses. Easy to grasp!

The Novel Gameplay Loop

How you effectively complete a chamber, is unique. Each instance you begin a fresh level, the game presents a sixteen-square board of boxes. Every tile features a monster, a reward cache, a trap, or a life-giving berry. To proceed, you simply click on one of the horizontal lines, but the exact space you select is a matter of probability.

You might see a row with two monsters, a strawberry, and a treasure chest in it. You initially will have a 25% chance of landing on a specific tile in a row.

Then, you'll chances are recalculated. The question becomes: Do you go for it, or do you choose on a alternative option first and aim for safer moves early? Herein lies the risk-reward dynamic at play in Sol Cesto, and it's engrossing once you get its rhythm.

Influencing Chance

The procedural hook is that your odds can be manipulated over the course of a session by gathering teeth that alter which objects you're drawn toward. For example, you could acquire a perk that will reduce the probability of landing on a trap, but will also decrease the odds of finding a reward too.

• Crafting a loadout is about manipulating math optimally to have a improved likelihood at selecting the optimal square.
• During one attempt, I put all my attribute improvements toward melee prowess and picked as many teeth I could that would increase my odds of landing on monsters of that variety.
• On a different attempt, I constructed my hero around loot caches and paired that with a perk that would reduce the power of surrounding monsters every time I secured loot.

The strategic possibilities are not endless, but there's enough to work with to allow you to tweak numbers according to your strategy.

An Ever-Present Tension

Naturally, at its heart, it's a game of chance. There's always the risk that you have an 80% chance to select the preferred space but ultimately choose a monster that would eliminate your last bit of health. Each click is a gamble, so a persistent nervousness exists as you navigate a level and determine if to continue selecting or to proceed to the following level as opposed to pushing your luck.

Tools such as destructive ordnance assist in minimizing the chance, just like some character abilities. An adventurer's unique ability, powered up by making four moves, enables you to click on a column rather than a horizontal row for that move. Should you use this move wisely, you can hold that ability for an optimal time to sidestep a dangerous choice. It's a surprising level of strategy in the simple act of clicking.

Looking Ahead

Sol Cesto is still in early access, and it has another update scheduled before the complete edition is released. A new character and a additional end-level foe are expected to drop by the end of January. The full launch probably isn't far behind, but the studio haven't announced a final date yet.

A Final Thought

No matter when it's fully released, you ought to put Sol Cesto in your sights. I have been thoroughly captivated with it, finding all of little secrets and banking my earned gold in each run to access a constant flow of permanent unlocks, such as new characters and items purchasable mid-attempt. As of now, I am yet to completed the dungeon, and I get the feeling I'll continue attempting that goal when 1.0 finally hits. Sign me up for the long haul.