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Having experienced in excess of 200 fresh titles this year, I'm formally wrapping things up on 2025. My best-of compilation is out in the world, and I feel content with the final results, even knowing plenty of fantastic releases probably slipped under the radar. Now, there's nothing for me to do but sit back, unplug a little, and possibly go for a refreshing hike in the— well, shoot, found another amazing experience. There go my plans!

An Early Favorite Surfaces

With my laid-back sessions, often set aside for a few oddball curiosities, I've come across potentially my first favorite game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a peculiar procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that breaks down a classic labyrinth explorer into a luck-based game of high stakes risk and reward. Consider this an early adopter's heads-up: If you relish being aware of a game before it's popular, give Sol Cesto a try so you can punch a hole in your wallet for unique titles.

A Tactical Roguelike Twist

Sol Cesto is a tactical roguelike that's a departure from all I've ever played. The concept is that you must venture into a dungeon, progressing deeper and deeper in search of the sun, which has vanished from its world. In practice, this creates some familiar roguelike structure. Pick a hero who has stats and abilities, clear floor after floor of foes, pick up some passive buffs (which are teeth), and overcome a few stage-ending champions. Simple enough!

The Novel Gameplay Loop

The way you actually clear a dungeon room, though. Every time you start another stage, you're shown a 4x4 grid of boxes. Each square features a monster, a reward cache, a trap, or a life-giving berry. To explore a room, you simply click on one of the four rows, but the exact space you select is up to chance.

You could encounter a row with a pair of enemies, a strawberry, and a treasure chest in it. You initially will have a quarter likelihood of selecting a specific tile in a row.

Then, you'll chances are recalculated. The question becomes: Do you press your luck, or do you opt on a alternative option first and attempt some more cautious selections early? This is the push-your-luck gameplay in action in Sol Cesto, and it's absorbing after you develop a feel for it.

Shaping the Odds

The meta-layer is that your percentages can be shaped through a run by collecting teeth that change what things you're more attracted to. For example, you may obtain a perk that will decrease your odds of landing on a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of finding a treasure chest too.

• Crafting a loadout is about manipulating math optimally to have a higher chance at landing where you want.
• On a particular session, I focused my power boosts toward melee prowess and selected all the teeth possible that would boost my chances of attracting me toward monsters aligned with that strength.
• On a different attempt, I built my character around loot caches and paired that with a perk that would debuff nearby foes every time I opened a chest.

The build options are limited, but it provides ample to work with to allow you to tweak the odds to your preference.

A Constant Gamble

Naturally, it remains a game of chance. There's always the risk that you have an 80% chance to land on the preferred space but ultimately choose a monster that would take out your remaining life. Each click is a gamble, so a persistent nervousness exists as you work through a stage and choose whether to press onward or when to move on to the following level as opposed to testing fate.

Items like destructive ordnance help cut down the chance, just like some special skills. An adventurer's special power, activated once making four moves, enables you to click on a vertical line instead of a row for that move. If you play this move wisely, you can reserve that option for the right moment to avoid a risky decision. There's a shocking degree of depth in the seemingly straightforward task of clicking.

Looking Ahead

Sol Cesto is still in early access, and it has a final update scheduled until the full version is unleashed. Another playable adventurer and a additional end-level foe are scheduled to arrive by the end of January. The full launch may not be much later, but the game's developers haven't committed to a final date yet.

A Concluding Recommendation

Regardless of when the complete game arrives, you ought to put Sol Cesto in your sights. For the past week, I've been positively obsessed with it, discovering its hidden nuances and saving my accumulated currency in each run to reveal a continuous trickle of permanent unlocks, including fresh adventurers and items I can buy while playing. As of now, I am yet to reached the bottom, and I have a sense I will remain pursuing that objective when 1.0 finally hits. Count me in for the entire experience.