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Having experienced well over 200 recent games this year, I'm formally wrapping things up on 2025. My annual roundup is live, and I'm satisfied with the concluding selections, despite being aware a host of excellent games likely fell by the wayside. Currently, my only nothing for me to do but sit back, take a short break, and perhaps take a refreshing hike in the— ah crap, found another amazing experience. And just like that, goodbye to my peaceful respite!

An Early Front-Runner Appears

In my more laid-back sessions, typically earmarked for a handful of quirky titles, I've discovered what might become my first favorite game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a peculiar procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that breaks down a traditional labyrinth explorer into a probability-fueled game of significant risk peril and prize. View this a hipster's insider tip: If you enjoy being aware of a game before it's cool, test out Sol Cesto so you can make a dent in your wallet for unique titles.

A Strategic Dungeon-Crawling Innovation

Sol Cesto is a tactical roguelike that's a departure from all I've ever played. The premise is that you must venture into a dungeon, progressing deeper and deeper to find the sun, which has disappeared from this mythical realm. In practice, this creates some standard crawl progression. Choose an adventurer who has stats and abilities, defeat enemies on every stage of enemies, acquire some passive buffs (in the form of teeth), and overcome a few stage-ending champions. Straightforward, right!

The Novel Gameplay Loop

How you actually clear a area, however. Whenever you start another stage, the game presents a four-by-four matrix of boxes. Every tile features a monster, a reward cache, a trap, or a health-restoring fruit. To proceed, you choose on one of the horizontal lines, but the specific tile you select is up to chance.

You may face a row with two monsters, a strawberry, and a treasure chest in it. You start with a one-in-four probability of selecting a particular space in a row.

Then, you'll odds shift. The question becomes: Do you press your luck, or do you opt on a safer line first and aim for less risky choices early? This is the tension between chance and safety at play in Sol Cesto, and it's absorbing once you get its rhythm.

Shaping the Odds

The procedural hook is that your percentages can be shaped through a run by collecting teeth that alter which objects you're more likely to land on. As an instance, you might get a perk that will reduce the probability of landing on a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of finding a treasure chest too.

• Developing a strategy is about manipulating math to the utmost to have a better shot at getting your desired outcome.
• In one run, I put all my attribute improvements toward melee prowess and picked as many teeth possible that would increase my odds of attracting me toward monsters aligned with that strength.
• In another run, I developed my adventurer around treasure chests and combined that with a perk that would weaken adjacent enemies each time I claimed a reward.

The strategic possibilities are not endless, but they are sufficient to experiment with to allow you to tweak the odds according to your strategy.

A Constant Risk

Unsurprisingly, it remains a game of chance. There remains the possibility that you have a high probability to select the square you want but ultimately choose on an enemy that would deplete your remaining life. Each click is a gamble, so a persistent nervousness exists as you navigate a level and determine if to press onward or when to move on to the subsequent stage as opposed to pushing your luck.

Items like enemy-killing bombs aid in reducing the chance, similar to some character abilities. One hero's special power, powered up by clearing four squares, allows players to click on a column instead of a horizontal row for that move. By employing this strategically, you can hold that ability for the right moment to circumvent a perilous selection. It's a surprising degree of depth in the seemingly straightforward task of clicking.

Looking Ahead

Sol Cesto is still in its preview phase, and it has a final update to go until the full version is launched. A new character and a new boss are planned for release sometime in January. The 1.0 release likely won't be long after, but the game's developers haven't announced a specific release window yet.

A Final Thought

Whenever its 1.0 launch occurs, you might want to put Sol Cesto in your sights. I have been completely engrossed with it, uncovering each of small details and saving my accumulated currency per attempt to unlock a steady stream of persistent upgrades, featuring new characters and items available for acquisition mid-attempt. As of now, I am yet to found the deepest level, and I get the feeling I will remain attempting that goal when the full version launches. I'm committed for the entire experience.