I Think I Already Have Must-Play Title of 2026.
Having experienced well over 200 new releases this year, I am officially closing the book on 2025. My best-of compilation is out in the world, and I'm satisfied with the ultimate rankings, even knowing numerous stellar titles likely fell through the cracks. Now, there's plan is to other than unwind, unplug a little, and maybe enjoy a nice walk in the— well, shoot, found another amazing experience. There go my plans!
An Early Contender Emerges
During my casual gaming time, usually reserved for a selection of unusual games, I've discovered what might become my earliest beloved game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a peculiar procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that deconstructs a classic dungeon crawler into a luck-based game of major consequence risk and reward. Take this as a preview for the in-the-know: If you take pride in knowing about a game before it's popular, test out Sol Cesto so you can punch a hole in your wallet for unique titles.
A Calculated Roguelike Twist
Sol Cesto is a tactical roguelike that's a departure from all I'm familiar with. The premise is that you must venture into a dungeon, descending floor after floor on a quest for the sun, which has disappeared from the fantasy world. When you play, this results in some familiar roguelike structure. Select a character possessing unique attributes and skills, defeat enemies on every stage of enemies, pick up some passive buffs (represented as teeth), and vanquish a few biome bosses. Simple enough!
The Unique Core Mechanic
How you actually clear a area, is unique. Every time you enter a new floor, the game presents a sixteen-square board of boxes. All spaces features a monster, a treasure chest, a trap, or a life-giving berry. To make a move, you just select on one of the horizontal lines, but the exact space you land in is up to chance.
You might see a row with two monsters, a strawberry, and a treasure chest in it. You begin with a quarter likelihood of hitting a particular space in a row.
Subsequently, your odds shift. So do you press your luck, or do you opt on a safer line first and attempt some less risky choices early? That's the risk-reward dynamic on display in Sol Cesto, and it's captivating once you get its rhythm.
Manipulating Probability
The meta-layer is that your percentages can be shaped during an attempt by picking up teeth that change what things you're drawn toward. As an instance, you may obtain a perk that will decrease your odds of hitting a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of landing on a treasure chest too.
- Developing a strategy is about tweaking the numbers as best you can to have a better shot at getting your desired outcome.
- On a particular session, I focused my stat upgrades toward brute force and selected all the teeth possible that would increase my odds of being drawn to monsters with that damage type.
- In another run, I constructed my hero around treasure chests and coupled it with a perk that would weaken adjacent enemies every time I claimed a reward.
The build options are somewhat constrained, but they are sufficient to engage with to enable you to influence the odds to your preference.
A Constant Gamble
Naturally, it remains a game of chance. There's always the possibility that you have an 80% chance to land on the desired tile but end up landing on an enemy that would deplete your final hit point. All selections is a gamble, so a persistent nervousness exists as you navigate a level and decide when to press onward or when to move on to the next floor as opposed to pushing your luck.
Items like enemy-killing bombs aid in reducing the chance, similar to some hero powers. An adventurer's special power, powered up by clearing four squares, enables you to choose a column in place of a row on a turn. If you play this move wisely, you can save that move for a crucial point to circumvent a perilous selection. It's a surprising amount of nuance in the simple act of clicking.
Future Development
Sol Cesto is still in its preview phase, and it has at least one more update planned before the full version is launched. Another playable adventurer and a new boss are expected to drop sometime in January. The official version may not be long after, but the creators haven't announced a specific release window yet.
A Final Thought
Regardless of when it's fully released, you should consider put Sol Cesto on your radar. I have been positively obsessed with it, finding all of little secrets and storing my run rewards in each run to access a constant flow of meta progression rewards, featuring fresh adventurers and items available for acquisition while playing. As of now, I am yet to completed the dungeon, and I get the feeling I'll still be attempting that goal when the official release drops. Sign me up for the complete journey.
