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Following my time with in excess of 200 recent games this year, I'm formally wrapping things up on 2025. My best-of compilation is out in the world, and I am at peace with the ultimate rankings, accepting that a host of excellent games probably slipped through the cracks. Currently, my only nothing for me to do but sit back, unplug a little, and maybe enjoy a pleasant stroll in the— ah crap, discovered one more brilliant title. There go my intentions!

A Surprising Favorite Surfaces

During my casual gaming time, often set aside for a selection of unusual games, I've discovered what could be my initial top game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a distinctive procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that reimagines a classic dungeon crawler into a probability-fueled game of significant risk risk and reward. Consider this a preview for the in-the-know: If you enjoy being aware of a game before it's cool, give Sol Cesto a try so you can make a dent in your wallet for unique titles.

A Strategic Roguelike Twist

Sol Cesto is a strategy-focused dungeon crawler that's a departure from all I've previously experienced. The concept is that you are tasked with descending into a dungeon, descending floor after floor to find the sun, which has disappeared from this mythical realm. Mechanically, that makes for some standard crawl progression. Choose an adventurer possessing unique parameters and powers, defeat enemies on every stage of enemies, collect some permanent upgrades (represented as teeth), and overcome a few biome bosses. Simple enough!

The Distinctive Central System

The method by which you actually clear a chamber, however. Each instance you begin a fresh level, you're shown a four-by-four matrix of boxes. Every tile holds a monster, a treasure chest, a trap, or a healing strawberry. To proceed, you choose on one of the four rows, but which square 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 landing on any given square in a row.

After that, the chances are recalculated. So do you take the risk, or do you choose on a different row first and aim for more cautious selections early? That's the push-your-luck gameplay at play in Sol Cesto, and it's captivating once you get a feel for it.

Manipulating Probability

The procedural hook is that your probabilities can be influenced through a run by collecting teeth that modify the types of squares you're more attracted to. As an instance, you could acquire a perk that will lower your chances of encountering a trap, but will also decrease the odds of finding a reward too.

• Crafting a loadout is about tweaking the numbers optimally to have a better shot at selecting the optimal square.
• On a particular session, I focused my stat upgrades toward melee prowess and selected all the teeth I could that would improve my probability of landing on monsters aligned with that strength.
• In another run, I built my character around loot caches and paired that with a perk that would debuff nearby foes whenever I claimed a reward.

The customization choices are limited, but there's enough to engage with to allow you to tweak probabilities according to your strategy.

An Ever-Present Tension

Unsurprisingly, at its heart, it's a game of chance. There remains the risk that you have an 80% chance to select the square you want but end up landing a foe that would deplete your remaining life. Every move is a gamble, so there's a constant tension as you clear a floor out and choose whether to press onward or when to move on to the next floor rather than testing fate.

Items like enemy-killing bombs aid in reducing the chance, similar to some hero powers. One hero's signature move, charged after clearing four squares, lets gamers to select a vertical column instead of a horizontal row during that action. By employing this move wisely, you can reserve that option for a crucial point to circumvent a perilous selection. It's a surprising amount of nuance in the basic action of clicking.

Future Development

Sol Cesto is still in its preview phase, and it has at least one more update scheduled before the complete edition is unleashed. An additional hero and a additional end-level foe are scheduled to arrive sometime in January. The full launch may not be much later, but the studio haven't committed to a concrete launch day yet.

A Parting Thought

Whenever it's fully released, you might want to put Sol Cesto on your radar. For the past week, I've been positively obsessed with it, uncovering each of hidden nuances and saving my accumulated currency every session to access a constant flow of meta progression rewards, featuring additional heroes and items purchasable mid-attempt. To this day, I have not completed the dungeon, and I get the feeling I will remain working on that task when 1.0 finally hits. Sign me up for the long haul.