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Following my time with more than 200 recent games this year, It's time to wrapping things up on 2025. My best-of compilation is out in the world, and I am at peace with the ultimate rankings, accepting that a host of excellent games probably slipped by the wayside. Currently, my only plan is to but sit back, unplug a little, and maybe enjoy a refreshing hike in the— ah crap, stumbled upon a amazing experience. And just like that, goodbye to my intentions!

A Surprising Contender Emerges

During my casual gaming time, usually reserved for a handful of quirky titles, I've come across what could be my initial top game of 2026. Sol Cesto is an unusual procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that deconstructs a traditional dungeon crawler into a probability-fueled game of major consequence peril and prize. Take this as a hipster's insider tip: If you relish discovering a game before it's popular, give Sol Cesto a try so you can burn a spot in your indie credit card.

A Strategic Dungeon-Crawling Innovation

Sol Cesto is a thought-provoking procedural game that's unlike anything I've ever played. The concept is that you are tasked with descending into a dungeon, descending floor after floor to find the sun, which has vanished from its world. In practice, this results in some standard crawl progression. Pick a hero with their own parameters and powers, defeat enemies on every stage of enemies, pick up some stat improvements (in the form of teeth), and vanquish a few biome bosses. Straightforward, right!

The Unique Gameplay Loop

The way you truly navigate a area, though. Whenever you enter a new floor, you're shown a sixteen-square board of boxes. All spaces holds a monster, a treasure chest, a trap, or a life-giving berry. To proceed, you just select on one of the four rows, but which square you select is a matter of probability.

You may face a row with a pair of enemies, a strawberry, and a reward box in it. You initially will have a 25% chance of landing on a specific tile in a row.

After that, the odds shift. The question becomes: Do you go for it, or do you click on a alternative option first and attempt some safer moves early? That's the risk-reward dynamic at play in Sol Cesto, and it's captivating after you develop its rhythm.

Manipulating Probability

The procedural hook is that your odds can be manipulated over the course of a session by picking up teeth that modify the types of squares you're drawn toward. For example, you might get a perk that will lower your chances of hitting a trap, but will concurrently lower the odds of finding a treasure chest too.

• Developing a strategy is about tweaking the numbers as best you can to have a higher chance at getting your desired outcome.
• In one run, I focused my attribute improvements toward brute force and chose every teeth I could that would improve my probability of attracting me toward monsters with that damage type.
• In another run, I developed my adventurer around reward boxes and paired that with a perk that would reduce the power of surrounding monsters each time I opened a chest.

The customization choices are somewhat constrained, but it provides ample to engage with to let you manipulate numbers the way you want.

A Persistent Gamble

Unsurprisingly, at its heart, it's a game of chance. You constantly face the possibility that you have a likely outcome to land on the desired tile but ultimately choose a monster that would take out your last bit of health. Each click is a gamble, so a persistent nervousness exists as you work through a stage and determine if to keep clicking or to proceed to the following level as opposed to testing fate.

Consumables including explosive devices help cut down the chance, just like some character abilities. A particular character's signature move, charged after clearing four squares, allows players to select a column rather than a horizontal line on a turn. If you play your cards right, you can reserve that option for the right moment to circumvent a perilous selection. There's a shocking degree of depth in the seemingly straightforward task of clicking.

Future Development

Sol Cesto is still in development, and it has a final update planned until the final game is released. An additional hero and a new boss are planned for release by the end of January. The 1.0 release likely won't be far behind, but the creators haven't set a final date yet.

A Parting Thought

No matter when its 1.0 launch occurs, you ought to put Sol Cesto on your radar. For the past week, I've been positively obsessed with it, uncovering each of hidden nuances and storing my run rewards per attempt to access a constant flow of persistent upgrades, including additional heroes and items available for acquisition mid-attempt. As of now, I am yet to reached the bottom, and I suspect I'll continue pursuing that objective when 1.0 finally hits. I'm committed for the complete journey.