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Having experienced well over 200 new releases this year, I am officially closing the book on 2025. My best-of compilation is live, and I am at peace with the final results, even knowing plenty of excellent games probably slipped through the cracks. Now, there's nothing for me to do other than unwind, unplug a little, and maybe enjoy a refreshing hike in the— oh no, stumbled upon a great game. And just like that, goodbye to my intentions!

An Early Front-Runner Appears

With my casual gaming time, usually reserved for a selection of unusual games, I've encountered what could be my initial top game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a distinctive procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that reimagines a classic dungeon crawler into a chance-driven game of major consequence risk and reward. Consider this a preview for the in-the-know: If you take pride being aware of a game before it's cool, give Sol Cesto a try so you can make a dent in your indie credit card.

A Strategic Roguelike Twist

Sol Cesto is a tactical roguelike that's unlike anything I've previously experienced. The concept is that you are tasked with descending into a dungeon, progressing deeper and deeper to find the sun, which has disappeared from this mythical realm. Mechanically, this creates some familiar roguelike structure. Choose an adventurer possessing unique stats and abilities, defeat enemies on every stage of monsters, collect some permanent upgrades (in the form of teeth), and vanquish a few area guardians. Easy to grasp!

The Distinctive Core Mechanic

The method by which you effectively complete a dungeon room, though. Whenever you begin a fresh level, the game presents a sixteen-square board of boxes. Every tile features a monster, a loot box, a trap, or a healing strawberry. To proceed, you choose on one of the horizontal lines, but which square you select is determined by luck.

You might see a row with two monsters, a strawberry, and a reward box in it. You begin with a one-in-four probability of hitting a specific tile in a row.

Then, you'll odds shift. So do you press your luck, or do you click on a safer line first and aim for less risky choices early? This is the push-your-luck gameplay on display in Sol Cesto, and it's engrossing when you acquire an understanding of it.

Influencing Chance

The roguelike twist is that your probabilities can be influenced through a run by picking up teeth that alter which objects you're drawn toward. To illustrate, you may obtain a perk that will reduce the probability of encountering a trap, but will also decrease the odds of getting a reward too.

• Creating a build is about influencing the statistics to the utmost to have a improved likelihood at selecting the optimal square.
• During one attempt, I focused my attribute improvements toward melee prowess and picked as many teeth possible that would improve my probability of landing on monsters aligned with that strength.
• During a separate session, I constructed my hero around treasure chests and combined that with a perk that would reduce the power of surrounding monsters whenever I claimed a reward.

The customization choices are limited, but they are sufficient to experiment with to let you manipulate numbers to your preference.

An Ever-Present Gamble

Unsurprisingly, it's still a game of chance. There remains the possibility that you have a high probability to select the square you want but end up landing on an enemy that would take out your last bit of health. Each click is a gamble, so you feel ongoing pressure as you navigate a level and decide when to keep clicking or when to move on to the following level rather than testing fate.

Consumables including explosive devices help cut down the chance, as do some hero powers. An adventurer's unique ability, charged after selecting four tiles, enables you to click on a column instead of a horizontal row for that move. By employing this move wisely, you can hold that ability for an optimal time to avoid a risky decision. You'll find an astonishing amount of nuance in the simple act of clicking.

Future Development

Sol Cesto is remaining in development, and it has a final update planned until the full version is released. A new character and a new boss are scheduled to arrive before the conclusion of January. The full launch likely won't be far behind, but the creators haven't committed to a specific release window yet.

A Final Recommendation

No matter when its 1.0 launch occurs, you should consider put Sol Cesto on your radar. I have been completely engrossed with it, discovering its small details and saving my accumulated currency every session to reveal a continuous trickle of permanent unlocks, featuring new characters and items I can buy mid-attempt. As of now, I am yet to completed the dungeon, and I have a sense I will remain working on that task when the official release drops. I'm committed for the complete journey.