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Having experienced well over 200 new releases 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 concluding selections, even knowing numerous excellent games may have dropped by the wayside. Currently, my only plan is to except relax, unplug a little, and possibly go for a pleasant stroll in the— oh no, discovered one more great game. There go my plans!

A Surprising Favorite Surfaces

With my laid-back sessions, often set aside for a few oddball curiosities, I've discovered what might become my earliest beloved game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a peculiar roguelike for Windows PC that deconstructs a conventional labyrinth explorer into a luck-based game of significant risk peril and prize. Consider this a preview for the in-the-know: If you relish discovering a game before it's popular, test out Sol Cesto so you can make a dent in your indie credit card.

A Strategic Genre Subversion

Sol Cesto is a tactical roguelike that's different from everything I've previously experienced. The concept is that you are tasked with descending into a dungeon, going down level by level in search of the sun, which has gone missing from the fantasy world. Mechanically, this creates some familiar roguelike structure. Choose an adventurer possessing unique stats and abilities, clear floor after floor of foes, acquire some stat improvements (which are teeth), and defeat a few stage-ending champions. Straightforward, right!

The Distinctive Core Mechanic

The method by which you effectively complete a dungeon room, however. Each instance you enter a new floor, you're shown a four-by-four matrix of boxes. Every tile either contains a monster, a reward cache, a trap, or a life-giving berry. To make a move, you choose on one of the horizontal lines, but the exact space you land in is up to chance.

You may face a row with multiple foes, a strawberry, and a treasure chest in it. You start with a one-in-four probability of landing on any given square in a row.

After that, the probabilities change. So do you go for it, or do you opt on a alternative option first and attempt some more cautious selections early? This is the push-your-luck gameplay on display in Sol Cesto, and it's captivating after you develop a feel for it.

Influencing Chance

The meta-layer is that your probabilities can be influenced during an attempt by gathering teeth that alter which objects you're drawn toward. As an instance, you could acquire a perk that will lower your chances of encountering a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of landing on a treasure chest too.

• Crafting a loadout is about influencing the statistics optimally to have a higher chance at selecting the optimal square.
• In one run, I invested my power boosts toward melee prowess and selected all the teeth I could that would boost my chances of attracting me toward monsters of that variety.
• On a different attempt, I constructed my hero around loot caches and combined that with a perk that would reduce the power of surrounding monsters whenever I claimed a reward.

The build options are limited, but it provides ample to experiment with to let you manipulate probabilities to your preference.

An Ever-Present Tension

Naturally, it remains a game of chance. There remains the risk that you have a high probability to hit the desired tile but end up landing on an enemy that would deplete your remaining life. Each click is a gamble, so there's a constant tension as you work through a stage and decide when to continue selecting or when to move on to the following level as opposed to testing fate.

Consumables including enemy-killing bombs aid in reducing the chance, as do some special skills. One hero's signature move, charged after making four moves, lets gamers to choose a column rather than a horizontal line on a turn. By employing this strategically, you can reserve that option for a crucial point to sidestep a dangerous choice. It's a surprising amount of nuance in the simple act of clicking.

Looking Ahead

Sol Cesto is remaining in its preview phase, and it has at least one more update to go until the complete edition is released. A new character and a fresh guardian are expected to drop sometime in January. The full launch probably isn't much later, but the studio haven't set a final date yet.

A Parting Thought

No matter when the complete game arrives, you ought to put Sol Cesto on your wishlist. I have been completely engrossed with it, finding all of little secrets and storing my run rewards every session to reveal a continuous trickle of persistent upgrades, including new characters and items purchasable during a run. As of now, I am yet to found the deepest level, and I have a sense I'll still be pursuing that objective when the official release drops. Count me in for the entire experience.