Having experienced in excess of 200 new releases this year, I'm formally closing the book on 2025. My year-end list is out in the world, and I am at peace with the concluding selections, even knowing numerous fantastic releases may have dropped by the wayside. At this point, it's job is to other than unwind, unplug a little, and possibly go for a pleasant stroll in the— ah crap, found another great game. So much for my intentions!
In my more casual gaming time, often set aside for a selection of unusual games, I've encountered potentially my initial top game of 2026. Sol Cesto is an unusual procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that reimagines a classic dungeon crawler into a chance-driven game of significant risk peril and prize. Consider this an early adopter's heads-up: If you enjoy being aware of a game before it hits the mainstream, give Sol Cesto a try so you can punch a hole in your gaming budget.
Sol Cesto is a tactical roguelike that's unlike anything I'm familiar with. The setup is that you need to explore a dungeon, going down level by level on a quest for the sun, which has gone missing from its world. When you play, that makes for some standard crawl progression. Choose an adventurer who has stats and abilities, fight through each level of foes, pick up some permanent upgrades (which are teeth), and overcome a few area guardians. Easy to grasp!
The way you truly navigate a chamber, however. Each instance you enter a new floor, you see a 4x4 grid of boxes. Each square holds a monster, a loot box, a trap, or a healing strawberry. To make a move, you choose on one of the horizontal lines, but which square you select is a matter of probability.
You could encounter a row with multiple foes, a strawberry, and a reward box in it. You start with a quarter likelihood of landing on a specific tile in a row.
Subsequently, your probabilities change. The question becomes: Do you press your luck, or do you opt on a different row first and try to make less risky choices early? Herein lies the risk-reward dynamic on display in Sol Cesto, and it's captivating when you acquire its rhythm.
The procedural hook is that your percentages can be shaped during an attempt by gathering teeth that alter which objects you're drawn toward. To illustrate, you may obtain a perk that will decrease your odds of hitting a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of getting a reward too.
The customization choices are somewhat constrained, but they are sufficient to engage with to allow you to tweak probabilities to your preference.
Of course, it remains a game of chance. There remains the risk that you have a likely outcome to hit the square you want but ultimately choose on an enemy that would take out your final hit point. All selections is a gamble, so there's a constant tension as you clear a floor out and choose whether to press onward or to advance to the subsequent stage instead of risking it all.
Consumables including explosive devices help cut down the chance, as do some special skills. A particular character's unique ability, charged after clearing four squares, enables you to choose a vertical column rather than a horizontal row during that action. If you play this strategically, you can hold that ability for the right moment to sidestep a dangerous choice. There's a shocking level of strategy in the seemingly straightforward task of clicking.
Sol Cesto is still in development, and it has a final update to go before the complete edition is launched. Another playable adventurer and a new boss are scheduled to arrive before the conclusion of January. The 1.0 release probably isn't far behind, but the game's developers haven't set a final date yet.
No matter when it's fully released, you ought to put Sol Cesto on your wishlist. For the past week, I've been positively obsessed with it, discovering its hidden nuances and storing my run rewards every session to unlock a steady stream of meta progression rewards, featuring fresh adventurers and items I can buy while playing. I still haven't reached the bottom, and I have a sense I'll still be pursuing that objective when the full version launches. Sign me up for the complete journey.
Elara is a seasoned writer and digital storyteller with a passion for exploring diverse literary genres and empowering others through words.
