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Having experienced more than 200 new releases this year, I'm formally wrapping things up on 2025. My annual roundup is out in the world, and I'm satisfied with the ultimate rankings, accepting that a host of excellent games may have dropped under the radar. Currently, my only nothing for me to do but sit back, unplug a little, and possibly go for a pleasant stroll in the— oh no, discovered one more great game. There go my plans!

An Early Front-Runner Appears

During my laid-back sessions, typically earmarked for a selection of unusual games, I've come across what might become my first favorite game of 2026. Sol Cesto is an unusual roguelike for Windows PC that breaks down a conventional labyrinth explorer into a luck-based game of high stakes peril and prize. Consider this a hipster's insider tip: If you enjoy in knowing about a game before it hits the mainstream, give Sol Cesto a try so you can make a dent in your indie credit card.

A Calculated Dungeon-Crawling Innovation

Sol Cesto is a thought-provoking procedural game that's different from everything I've previously experienced. The premise is that you need to explore a dungeon, going down level by level in search of the sun, which has gone missing from the fantasy world. When you play, this results in some recognizable genre framework. Pick a hero with their own parameters and powers, fight through each level of enemies, collect some permanent upgrades (in the form of teeth), and vanquish a few stage-ending champions. Easy to grasp!

The Distinctive Central System

The method by which you effectively complete a dungeon room, is unique. Whenever you begin a fresh level, you see a sixteen-square board of boxes. Every tile holds a monster, a reward cache, a trap, or a healing strawberry. To explore a room, you just select on one of the horizontal lines, but the specific tile you land in is up to chance.

You could encounter a row with two monsters, a strawberry, and a reward box in it. You begin with a 25% chance of selecting a particular space in a row.

Then, you'll probabilities change. The question becomes: Do you go for it, or do you opt on a alternative option first and try to make less risky choices early? Herein lies the tension between chance and safety in action in Sol Cesto, and it's captivating once you get a feel for it.

Manipulating Probability

The procedural hook is that your odds can be manipulated over the course of a session by gathering teeth that change what things you're drawn toward. To illustrate, you may obtain a perk that will reduce the probability of encountering a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of finding a reward too.

• Crafting a loadout is about influencing the statistics to the utmost to have a higher chance at getting your desired outcome.
• On a particular session, I put all my power boosts toward melee prowess and picked as many teeth possible that would increase my odds of being drawn to monsters with that damage type.
• During a separate session, I built my character around loot caches and coupled it with a perk that would weaken adjacent enemies whenever I opened a chest.

The customization choices are somewhat constrained, but there's enough to work with to enable you to influence probabilities the way you want.

A Constant Gamble

Naturally, it remains a game of chance. There remains the chance that you have a likely outcome to hit the square you want but wind up hitting on an enemy that would take out your final hit point. All selections is a gamble, so a persistent nervousness exists as you navigate a level and decide when to continue selecting or to proceed to the subsequent stage rather than testing fate.

Items like destructive ordnance assist in minimizing the chance, similar to some character abilities. A particular character's signature move, powered up by selecting four tiles, enables you to choose a vertical line in place of a horizontal row during that action. Should you use your cards right, you can hold that ability for the right moment to circumvent a perilous selection. It's a surprising level of strategy in the seemingly straightforward task of clicking.

Looking Ahead

Sol Cesto is remaining in development, and it has a final update planned before the complete edition is unleashed. An additional hero and a additional end-level foe are expected to drop by the end of January. The official version may not be long after, but the studio haven't set a final date yet.

A Parting Endorsement

Regardless of when its 1.0 launch occurs, you might want to put Sol Cesto on your radar. For the past week, I've been positively obsessed with it, uncovering each of small details and storing my run rewards in each run to unlock a steady stream of persistent upgrades, featuring new characters and items purchasable while playing. To this day, I have not completed the dungeon, and I suspect I'll still be working on that task when the official release drops. I'm committed for the complete journey.