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Having experienced in excess of 200 recent games this year, I'm formally turning the page on 2025. My year-end list is out in the world, and I'm satisfied with the final results, even knowing numerous stellar titles likely fell through the cracks. Now, there's nothing for me to do except relax, take a short break, and maybe enjoy a nice walk in the— ah crap, found another great game. There go my plans!

A Premature Front-Runner Appears

In my more laid-back sessions, typically earmarked for a selection of unusual games, I've discovered potentially my initial top game of 2026. Sol Cesto is an unusual procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that deconstructs a classic labyrinth explorer into a probability-fueled game of significant risk risk and reward. Take this as an early adopter's heads-up: If you enjoy being aware of a game before it's cool, give Sol Cesto a try so you can burn a spot in your wallet for unique titles.

A Strategic Roguelike Twist

Sol Cesto is a strategy-focused dungeon crawler that's a departure from all I've previously experienced. The premise is that you must venture into a dungeon, descending floor after floor on a quest for the sun, which has vanished from this mythical realm. When you play, that makes for some recognizable genre framework. Choose an adventurer who has attributes and skills, clear floor after floor of monsters, acquire some stat improvements (in the form of teeth), and overcome a few area guardians. Easy to grasp!

The Novel Gameplay Loop

How you effectively complete a dungeon room, however. Whenever you enter a new floor, you're shown a sixteen-square board of boxes. Each square holds a monster, a treasure chest, a trap, or a life-giving berry. To explore a room, you choose on one of the horizontal lines, but the specific tile you end up on is determined by luck.

You may face a row with a pair of enemies, a strawberry, and a treasure chest in it. You initially will have a one-in-four probability of hitting any given square in a row.

After that, the chances are recalculated. The question becomes: Do you go for it, or do you click on a alternative option first and try to make more cautious selections early? That's the risk-reward dynamic in action in Sol Cesto, and it's engrossing once you get its rhythm.

Shaping the Odds

The meta-layer is that your percentages can be shaped over the course of a session by picking up teeth that alter which objects you're drawn toward. For example, you might get a perk that will decrease your odds of encountering a trap, but will also decrease the odds of landing on a reward too.

• Crafting a loadout is about manipulating math to the utmost to have a improved likelihood at selecting the optimal square.
• In one run, I put all my power boosts toward physical attack/defense and chose every teeth possible that would increase my odds of attracting me toward monsters of that variety.
• During a separate session, I constructed my hero around treasure chests and paired that with a perk that would debuff nearby foes each time I claimed a reward.

The customization choices are not endless, but there's enough to experiment with to let you manipulate the odds according to your strategy.

A Persistent Tension

Unsurprisingly, it's still a game of chance. There remains the risk that you have a high probability to hit the desired tile but wind up hitting a foe that would eliminate your final hit point. Each click is a gamble, so a persistent nervousness exists as you navigate a level and determine if to continue selecting or to advance to the next floor rather than risking it all.

Consumables including destructive ordnance assist in minimizing the chance, similar to some special skills. A particular character's signature move, charged after selecting four tiles, enables you to click on a column rather than a horizontal row during that action. If you play this move wisely, you can save that move for a crucial point to sidestep a dangerous choice. It's a surprising amount of nuance in the simple act of clicking.

Future Development

Sol Cesto is currently in development, and it has another update to go until the full version is unleashed. An additional hero and a additional end-level foe are planned for release before the conclusion of January. The full launch likely won't be far behind, but the game's developers haven't set a final date yet.

A Parting Recommendation

No matter when the complete game arrives, you might want to put Sol Cesto on your radar. I've been completely engrossed with it, uncovering each of small details and storing my run rewards per attempt to unlock a steady stream of persistent upgrades, including additional heroes and items available for acquisition while playing. To this day, I have not completed the dungeon, and I have a sense I will remain attempting that goal when 1.0 finally hits. I'm committed for the complete journey.