I Believe I Already Have Top Pick of 2026.

Having experienced more than 200 recent games this year, I am officially wrapping things up on 2025. My best-of compilation is out in the world, and I feel content with the ultimate rankings, even knowing numerous fantastic releases probably slipped under the radar. Now, there's job is to except relax, disconnect briefly, and maybe enjoy a nice walk in the— oh no, stumbled upon a great game. There go my plans!

An Early Favorite Surfaces

In my more laid-back sessions, typically earmarked for a few oddball curiosities, I've encountered potentially my initial top game of 2026. Sol Cesto is a peculiar procedural dungeon crawler for Windows PC that deconstructs a classic dungeon crawler into a chance-driven game of significant risk peril and prize. Consider this a hipster's insider tip: If you take pride being aware of a game before it's cool, give Sol Cesto a try so you can punch a hole in your gaming budget.

A Strategic Dungeon-Crawling Innovation

Sol Cesto is a tactical roguelike that's different from everything I've ever played. The premise is that you must venture into a dungeon, descending floor after floor to find the sun, which has vanished from the fantasy world. In practice, this results in some recognizable genre framework. Select a character who has stats and abilities, defeat enemies on every stage of enemies, pick up some passive buffs (represented as teeth), and defeat a few stage-ending champions. Straightforward, right!

The Unique Gameplay Loop

The way you actually clear a area, is unique. Whenever you start another stage, you see a 4x4 grid of boxes. Each square either contains a monster, a treasure chest, a trap, or a healing strawberry. To explore a room, you just select on one of the horizontal lines, but which square you end up on is a matter of probability.

You may face a row with a pair of enemies, a strawberry, and a treasure chest in it. You initially will have a 25% chance of selecting a specific tile in a row.

Then, you'll probabilities change. The question becomes: Do you press your luck, or do you opt on a different row first and aim for more cautious selections early? This is the tension between chance and safety at play in Sol Cesto, and it's engrossing after you develop its rhythm.

Manipulating Probability

The meta-layer is that your probabilities can be influenced during an attempt by collecting teeth that change what things you're drawn toward. To illustrate, you could acquire a perk that will reduce the probability of landing on a trap, but will concurrently lower the odds of getting a treasure chest too.

• Creating a build is about manipulating math as best you can to have a higher chance at selecting the optimal square.
• In one run, I invested my power boosts toward physical attack/defense and picked as many teeth I could that would boost my chances of attracting me toward monsters aligned with that strength.
• On a different attempt, I built my character around loot caches and paired that with a perk that would debuff nearby foes whenever I claimed a reward.

The build options are limited, but there's enough to engage with to allow you to tweak the odds the way you want.

A Constant Gamble

Unsurprisingly, at its heart, it's a game of chance. There remains the chance that you have an 80% chance to land on the preferred space but end up landing a foe that would eliminate your final hit point. Every move is a gamble, so there's a constant tension as you navigate a level and choose whether to continue selecting or to proceed to the following level instead of risking it all.

Consumables including destructive ordnance help cut down the chance, similar to some character abilities. One hero's unique ability, powered up by making four moves, allows players to click on a vertical column in place of a horizontal row for that move. If you play your cards right, you can reserve that option for a crucial point to avoid a risky decision. You'll find an astonishing degree of depth in the simple act of clicking.

Future Development

Sol Cesto is remaining in early access, and it has at least one more update to go before the final game is released. Another playable adventurer and a additional end-level foe are expected to drop before the conclusion of January. The official version may not be much later, but the game's developers haven't announced a final date yet.

A Parting Thought

No matter when it's fully released, you should consider put Sol Cesto on your radar. For the past week, I've been positively obsessed with it, uncovering each of hidden nuances and saving my accumulated currency per attempt to access a constant flow of meta progression rewards, featuring new characters and items purchasable while playing. As of now, I am yet to found the deepest level, and I have a sense I will remain attempting that goal when the full version launches. Sign me up for the complete journey.