🔗 Share this article

Following my time with well over 200 recent games this year, I'm formally turning the page on 2025. My annual roundup is out in the world, and I feel content with the concluding selections, accepting that numerous fantastic releases likely fell under the radar. At this point, it's nothing for me to do other than unwind, unplug a little, and maybe enjoy a pleasant stroll in the— well, shoot, found another amazing experience. And just like that, goodbye to my intentions!

A Surprising Front-Runner Appears

During my off-hours play, typically earmarked for a selection of unusual games, I've come across potentially my initial top game of 2026. Sol Cesto is an unusual procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that breaks down a traditional dungeon crawler into a luck-based game of high stakes danger and payoff. View this a preview for the in-the-know: If you relish in knowing about a game before it hits the mainstream, give Sol Cesto a try so you can make a dent in your indie credit card.

A Strategic Roguelike Twist

Sol Cesto is a tactical roguelike that's unlike anything I've previously experienced. The premise is that you are tasked with descending into a dungeon, going down level by level in search of the sun, which has vanished from the fantasy world. In practice, that makes for some recognizable genre framework. Select a character with their own parameters and powers, clear floor after floor of foes, acquire some permanent upgrades (which are teeth), and defeat a few biome bosses. Straightforward, right!

The Unique Central System

The method by which you effectively complete a area, is unique. Whenever you begin a fresh level, you see a sixteen-square board of boxes. Each square features a monster, a reward cache, a trap, or a health-restoring fruit. To explore a room, you just select on one of the four rows, but the specific tile you select is determined by luck.

You could encounter a row with multiple foes, a strawberry, and a treasure chest in it. You initially will have a one-in-four probability of selecting any given square in a row.

Then, you'll probabilities change. So do you press your luck, or do you opt on a safer line first and try to make safer moves early? This is the tension between chance and safety on display in Sol Cesto, and it's engrossing when you acquire its rhythm.

Manipulating Probability

The procedural hook is that your percentages can be shaped over the course of a session by collecting teeth that alter which objects you're more likely to land on. As an instance, you might get a perk that will lower your chances of hitting a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of finding a reward too.

• Creating a build is about influencing the statistics to the utmost to have a higher chance at landing where you want.
• In one run, I put all my stat upgrades toward brute force and picked as many teeth I could that would improve my probability of being drawn to monsters of that variety.
• In another run, I built my character around loot caches and coupled it with a perk that would debuff nearby foes every time I secured loot.

The customization choices are somewhat constrained, but there's enough to experiment with to let you manipulate the odds to your preference.

A Constant Tension

Unsurprisingly, it remains a game of chance. There's always the chance that you have an 80% chance to select the square you want but wind up hitting a monster that would deplete your last bit of health. All selections is a gamble, so there's a constant tension as you work through a stage and choose whether to continue selecting or when to move on to the next floor instead of pushing your luck.

Items like destructive ordnance help cut down the chance, similar to some character abilities. One hero's unique ability, powered up by selecting four tiles, allows players to click on a column in place of a horizontal row for that move. If you play your cards right, you can save that move for the right moment to avoid a risky decision. It's a surprising level of strategy in the simple act of clicking.

Future Development

Sol Cesto is remaining in development, and it has at least one more update planned before the complete edition is released. An additional hero and a fresh guardian are planned for release before the conclusion of January. The 1.0 release may not be far behind, but the studio haven't announced a specific release window yet.

A Final Recommendation

No matter when it's fully released, you might want to put Sol Cesto on your wishlist. I have been completely engrossed with it, finding all of hidden nuances and storing my run rewards every session to access a constant flow of persistent upgrades, such as new characters and items I can buy during a run. I still haven't found the deepest level, and I have a sense I'll still be working on that task when 1.0 finally hits. I'm committed for the long haul.