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Following my time with well over 200 recent games this year, I am officially wrapping things up on 2025. My year-end list is published, and I'm satisfied with the concluding selections, accepting that numerous stellar titles probably slipped under the radar. At this point, it's plan is to but sit back, unplug a little, and maybe enjoy a nice walk in the— well, shoot, stumbled upon a great game. So much for my plans!

An Early Favorite Surfaces

In my more casual gaming time, typically earmarked for a selection of unusual games, I've encountered what might become my earliest beloved game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a distinctive roguelike for Windows PC that breaks down a traditional dungeon crawler into a chance-driven game of significant risk risk and reward. View this a preview for the in-the-know: If you take pride being aware of a game before it hits the mainstream, give Sol Cesto a try so you can burn a spot in your gaming budget.

A Strategic Roguelike Twist

Sol Cesto is a tactical roguelike that's different from everything I'm familiar with. The setup is that you must venture into a dungeon, going down level by level in search of the sun, which has vanished from this mythical realm. In practice, this results in some familiar roguelike structure. Pick a hero who has stats and abilities, clear floor after floor of monsters, pick up some permanent upgrades (in the form of teeth), and overcome a few stage-ending champions. Straightforward, right!

The Novel Core Mechanic

The way you effectively complete a chamber, though. Every time you begin a fresh level, you're shown a four-by-four matrix of boxes. Each square holds a monster, a reward cache, a trap, or a health-restoring fruit. To make a move, you choose on one of the four rows, but the specific tile you land in is up to chance.

You could encounter a row with a pair of enemies, a strawberry, and a reward box in it. You initially will have a one-in-four probability of landing on a particular space in a row.

Subsequently, your probabilities change. The question becomes: Do you go for it, or do you opt on a safer line first and aim for safer moves early? This is the risk-reward dynamic in action in Sol Cesto, and it's engrossing once you get a feel for it.

Influencing Chance

The roguelike twist is that your percentages can be shaped through a run by collecting teeth that modify the types of squares you're drawn toward. For example, you may obtain a perk that will lower your chances of hitting a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of landing on a treasure chest too.

• Crafting a loadout is about tweaking the numbers as best you can to have a higher chance at selecting the optimal square.
• In one run, I focused my stat upgrades toward melee prowess and picked as many teeth I could that would increase my odds of being drawn to monsters aligned with that strength.
• In another run, I developed my adventurer around loot caches and coupled it with a perk that would weaken adjacent enemies whenever I claimed a reward.

The customization choices are limited, but it provides ample to engage with to enable you to influence probabilities to your preference.

A Persistent Gamble

Unsurprisingly, it's still a game of chance. There remains the risk that you have a likely outcome to land on the square you want but ultimately choose a monster that would deplete your remaining life. All selections is a gamble, so you feel ongoing pressure as you clear a floor out and determine if to keep clicking or to advance to the next floor rather than risking it all.

Consumables including destructive ordnance aid in reducing the chance, just like some special skills. One hero's special power, charged after selecting four tiles, enables you to click on a vertical line instead of a horizontal row on a turn. By employing this move wisely, you can reserve that option for the right moment to avoid a risky decision. There's a shocking amount of nuance in the simple act of clicking.

Future Development

Sol Cesto is currently in development, and it has a final update to go until the final game is unleashed. An additional hero and a additional end-level foe are scheduled to arrive by the end of January. The full launch probably isn't far behind, but the creators haven't set a final date yet.

A Parting Recommendation

No matter when its 1.0 launch occurs, you should consider put Sol Cesto on your radar. I have been thoroughly captivated with it, discovering its little secrets and storing my run rewards in each run to access a constant flow of permanent unlocks, featuring additional heroes and items available for acquisition during a run. I still haven't completed the dungeon, and I suspect I'll still be working on that task when 1.0 finally hits. Count me in for the complete journey.