I Think I've Already Found Favorite Game of 2026.
Having experienced more than 200 fresh titles this year, I am officially turning the page on 2025. My year-end list is published, and I am at peace with the ultimate rankings, accepting that plenty of stellar titles likely fell by the wayside. Now, there's nothing for me to do other than unwind, unplug a little, and perhaps take a pleasant stroll in the— ah crap, stumbled upon a amazing experience. And just like that, goodbye to my plans!
A Surprising Front-Runner Appears
During my laid-back sessions, usually reserved for a few oddball curiosities, I've come across potentially my first favorite game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a peculiar procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that breaks down a classic dungeon crawler into a chance-driven game of high stakes risk and reward. Take this as a hipster's insider tip: If you relish discovering a game before it's cool, test out Sol Cesto so you can burn a spot in your wallet for unique titles.
A Calculated Roguelike Twist
Sol Cesto is a strategy-focused dungeon crawler that's unlike anything I've ever played. The concept is that you need to explore a dungeon, descending floor after floor to find the sun, which has vanished from this mythical realm. In practice, that makes for some familiar roguelike structure. Choose an adventurer who has parameters and powers, fight through each level of enemies, collect some stat improvements (which are teeth), and defeat a few stage-ending champions. Straightforward, right!
The Unique Gameplay Loop
How you truly navigate a dungeon room, is unique. Every time you enter a new floor, you're shown a sixteen-square board of boxes. Every tile features a monster, a reward cache, a trap, or a life-giving berry. To proceed, you choose on one of the four rows, but which square you end up on is up to chance.
You might see a row with two monsters, a strawberry, and a reward box in it. You begin with a quarter likelihood of hitting any given square in a row.
After that, the odds shift. So do you go for it, or do you choose on a safer line first and attempt some less risky choices early? Herein lies the push-your-luck gameplay at play in Sol Cesto, and it's absorbing once you get a feel for it.
Manipulating Probability
The meta-layer is that your percentages can be shaped over the course of a session by collecting teeth that alter which objects you're more attracted to. As an instance, you might get a perk that will reduce the probability of encountering a trap, but will similarly reduce the odds of landing on a treasure chest too.
- Creating a build is about manipulating math to the utmost to have a improved likelihood at landing where you want.
- In one run, I invested my power boosts toward physical attack/defense and picked as many teeth I could that would improve my probability of attracting me toward monsters with that damage type.
- During a separate session, I developed my adventurer around loot caches and coupled it with a perk that would weaken adjacent enemies every time I claimed a reward.
The customization choices are limited, but they are sufficient to work with to enable you to influence numbers the way you want.
A Persistent Risk
Unsurprisingly, it's still a game of chance. You constantly face the possibility that you have an 80% chance to select 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 clear a floor out and decide when to continue selecting or to proceed to the subsequent stage as opposed to risking it all.
Consumables including enemy-killing bombs aid in reducing the chance, as do some character abilities. One hero's unique ability, powered up by clearing four squares, enables you to click on a vertical line in place of a row during that action. If you play your cards right, you can reserve that option for the right moment to circumvent a perilous selection. There's a shocking amount of nuance in the seemingly straightforward task of clicking.
Looking Ahead
Sol Cesto is currently in its preview phase, and it has another update scheduled before the complete edition is launched. Another playable adventurer and a new boss are planned for release by the end of January. The full launch probably isn't far behind, but the game's developers haven't announced a concrete launch day yet.
A Parting Endorsement
Whenever it's fully released, you ought to put Sol Cesto in your sights. I've been thoroughly captivated with it, finding all of small details and saving my accumulated currency every session to unlock a steady stream of permanent unlocks, such as additional heroes and items purchasable while playing. I still haven't found the deepest level, and I suspect I'll still be working on that task when 1.0 finally hits. Count me in for the entire experience.