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Following my time with in excess of 200 fresh titles this year, I am officially turning the page on 2025. My best-of compilation is out in the world, and I am at peace with the ultimate rankings, accepting that plenty of excellent games may have dropped by the wayside. At this point, it's nothing for me to do except relax, disconnect briefly, and perhaps take a pleasant stroll in the— well, shoot, discovered one more brilliant title. And just like that, goodbye to my plans!

A Surprising Contender Emerges

During my laid-back sessions, usually reserved for a selection of unusual games, I've come across what might become my first favorite game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a peculiar roguelike for Windows PC that reimagines a traditional dungeon crawler into a luck-based game of significant risk danger and payoff. Take this as an early adopter's heads-up: If you take pride discovering a game before it's cool, sample Sol Cesto so you can burn a spot in your gaming budget.

A Tactical Roguelike Twist

Sol Cesto is a thought-provoking procedural game that's a departure from all I'm familiar with. The setup is that you must venture into a dungeon, progressing deeper and deeper on a quest for the sun, which has vanished from its world. In practice, this results in some familiar roguelike structure. Choose an adventurer who has stats and abilities, clear floor after floor of enemies, acquire some stat improvements (represented as teeth), and overcome a few stage-ending champions. Easy to grasp!

The Unique Central System

The way you truly navigate a dungeon room, is unique. Each instance you start another stage, you see a 4x4 grid of boxes. All spaces features a monster, a treasure chest, a trap, or a life-giving berry. To explore a room, you just select on one of the horizontal lines, but which square you select is determined by luck.

You could encounter a row with two monsters, a strawberry, and a reward box in it. You initially will have a 25% chance of landing on a specific tile in a row.

Subsequently, your chances are recalculated. So do you go for it, or do you opt on a alternative option first and try to make less risky choices early? That's the push-your-luck gameplay on display in Sol Cesto, and it's absorbing once you get a feel for it.

Manipulating Probability

The meta-layer is that your probabilities can be influenced through a run by gathering teeth that modify the types of squares you're more attracted to. For example, you could acquire a perk that will reduce the probability of landing on a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of finding a treasure chest too.

• Creating a build is about manipulating math as best you can to have a better shot at landing where you want.
• On a particular session, I invested my stat upgrades toward physical attack/defense and picked as many teeth possible that would increase my odds of landing on monsters aligned with that strength.
• On a different attempt, I developed my adventurer around loot caches and combined that with a perk that would debuff nearby foes whenever I secured loot.

The strategic possibilities are somewhat constrained, but they are sufficient to experiment with to let you manipulate the odds according to your strategy.

A Persistent Risk

Of course, at its heart, it's a game of chance. There's always the risk that you have an 80% chance to hit the preferred space but ultimately choose a monster that would take out your remaining life. All selections 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 following level as opposed to testing fate.

Tools such as explosive devices aid in reducing the chance, similar to some hero powers. An adventurer's signature move, charged after clearing four squares, lets gamers to choose a vertical column rather than a horizontal line on a turn. If you play your cards right, you can reserve that option for an optimal time to sidestep a dangerous choice. You'll find an astonishing level of strategy in the seemingly straightforward task of clicking.

Looking Ahead

Sol Cesto is still in its preview phase, and it has at least one more update planned until the full version is released. Another playable adventurer and a new boss are planned for release before the conclusion of January. The 1.0 release probably isn't far behind, but the studio haven't committed to a specific release window yet.

A Parting Recommendation

Regardless of when its 1.0 launch occurs, you should consider put Sol Cesto in your sights. I've been positively obsessed with it, uncovering each of hidden nuances and banking my earned gold in each run to access a constant flow of persistent upgrades, including fresh adventurers and items available for acquisition while playing. As of now, I am yet to completed the dungeon, and I suspect I will remain pursuing that objective when the official release drops. I'm committed for the long haul.