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Having experienced well over 200 new releases this year, I am officially closing the book on 2025. My annual roundup is live, and I am at peace with the ultimate rankings, accepting that a host of stellar titles likely fell by the wayside. At this point, it's job is to but sit back, disconnect briefly, and perhaps take a refreshing hike in the— ah crap, found another brilliant title. And just like that, goodbye to my peaceful respite!

A Premature Favorite Surfaces

With my laid-back sessions, typically earmarked for a few oddball curiosities, I've discovered potentially my first favorite game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a peculiar roguelike for Windows PC that breaks down a classic dungeon crawler into a luck-based game of significant risk danger and payoff. Take this as a hipster's insider tip: If you enjoy in knowing about a game before it's popular, test out Sol Cesto so you can make a dent 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 need to explore a dungeon, going down level by level in search of the sun, which has disappeared from the fantasy world. In practice, this results in some familiar roguelike structure. Select a character who has stats and abilities, fight through each level of monsters, collect some passive buffs (which are teeth), and defeat a few stage-ending champions. Straightforward, right!

The Distinctive Gameplay Loop

The way you actually clear a dungeon room, however. Whenever you begin a fresh level, you see a 4x4 grid of boxes. Every tile either contains a monster, a loot box, a trap, or a health-restoring fruit. To explore a room, you just select on one of the horizontal lines, but which square you select is up to chance.

You may face a row with multiple foes, a strawberry, and a reward box in it. You initially will have a quarter likelihood of selecting any given square in a row.

Subsequently, your odds shift. 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 push-your-luck gameplay on display in Sol Cesto, and it's engrossing when you acquire a feel for it.

Manipulating Probability

The roguelike twist is that your odds can be manipulated through a run by gathering teeth that change what things you're drawn toward. To illustrate, you might get a perk that will lower your chances of encountering a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of finding a treasure chest too.

• Crafting a loadout is about influencing the statistics as best you can to have a better shot at landing where you want.
• In one run, I focused my attribute improvements toward physical attack/defense and picked as many teeth I could that would boost my chances of attracting me toward monsters with that damage type.
• On a different attempt, I built my character around reward boxes and coupled it with a perk that would reduce the power of surrounding monsters every time I claimed a reward.

The strategic possibilities are somewhat constrained, but there's enough to engage with to let you manipulate probabilities the way you want.

An Ever-Present Gamble

Naturally, it's still a game of chance. You constantly face the risk that you have a likely outcome to land on the square you want but wind up hitting on an enemy that would take out your remaining life. Each click is a gamble, so there's a constant tension as you clear a floor out and determine if to keep clicking or to advance to the subsequent stage as opposed to pushing your luck.

Consumables including destructive ordnance aid in reducing the chance, similar to some hero powers. One hero's signature move, powered up by clearing four squares, lets gamers to click on a column instead of a horizontal line for that move. By employing this move wisely, you can save that move for a crucial point to sidestep a dangerous choice. You'll find an astonishing degree of depth in the seemingly straightforward task of clicking.

The Road to 1.0

Sol Cesto is still in development, and it has at least one more update scheduled until the complete edition is launched. A new character and a additional end-level foe are expected to drop before the conclusion of January. The 1.0 release likely won't be far behind, but the creators haven't committed to a concrete launch day yet.

A Final Endorsement

Regardless of when its 1.0 launch occurs, you should consider put Sol Cesto on your wishlist. For the past week, I've been thoroughly captivated with it, finding all of little secrets and saving my accumulated currency every session to access a constant flow of permanent unlocks, such as new characters and items I can buy while playing. I still haven't completed the dungeon, and I suspect I'll continue attempting that goal when 1.0 finally hits. Count me in for the entire experience.