Sometimes games come out of nowhere, and they dazzle us. It is not hard to say, but I think this week’s game has a spot at the table when discussing Game of the Year.

This week is Sol Cesto.

Sol Cesto is a tactical, dungeon-crawling roguelike from Chariospirale, Géraud Zucchini, Tambouille, and published by Maple Whispering and Goblinz Studio. The game was released on 1.0 on April 10th on the PC and retails for $14.

Another week, another thank you to the developer and publisher (and pressengine) for the key! I didn’t think I’d like a game about percentages as much as this.

Sol Cesto boils down the narrative like it has boiled down its gameplay. The sun has been stolen, retreating into a seemingly endless, well-like dungeon, and it is up to a hero like you to venture forth and find the lost star. You will be slaying monsters big and small, collecting lots of treasure, and pulling your teeth out to upgrade your character’s stats and abilities.

Sol Cesto is laid out bare in front of the player. Each floor is dissected into a 4×4 grid, and the game plan is clear: kill, loot a certain number of spaces before the door to the next room opens. Sounds easy, but as you look more, you will see a percentage tied to each block. Movement is tied to selecting a row and randomly landing on a space in the row. This is where LUCK peers its gross head and becomes the main component of Sol Cesto. At the start of the game, each space in a row has a 25% chance to land on one of the spots, then 33% for three, and 50% when it becomes just two. Easy to digest, icredibly difficult to master.

IT’S ALL RISK V. REWARD

I am, for sure, a greedy player and think that my 47% chance of hitting the chest will work out, and, though it never really does, Sol Cesto really never has me feeling like it was the game’s fault. JUST ME BEING GREEDY.

There will always be risky plays, and Sol Cesto levels the playing field with teeth, items that provide passive buffs to the player. The passives provide a way to alter the odds so you feel better about a 60% chance for that chest instead of 47%. A boost in health may come with a boost in seeing a certain type of monster, or a boost in seeing a type of monster may lower the chances of another. Sol Cesto lets the player tailor their run to the character’s stats, indicated by a number attached to strength and magic. Slaying baddies rewards the player with gold to spend at the shop to buy items that can alter the odds even more. Bombs that blow up everything in a row, an ice cube that weakens all enemies, potions, and even a slingshot that stuns bad guys.

I had that sensation of beating Lady Luck once, and I’ve been chasing it ever since.

All things, items, and passives assist the player in their chance of landing on a spot that they want, but it is still never certain, and this is where character-specific abilities come into play. After clearing a certain number of spots, an ability can be used. For instance, the knight can jump to any vertical line as opposed to horizontal, and the warrior can move one space up or down. The abilities add a nice layer of strategy, especially when risky plays don’t go the player’s way, and they need a way out.

The roguelike stuff comes into play in the form of bringing coins back up to spend them on permanent upgrades. Stuff like more teeth to choose from, fountain choices, items in the shop, and character unlocks. Simple, and the unlocks have noticeable weight to them when going back in.

Sol Cesto isn’t anything new, it just lays everything out for the player to see, and it does a phenomenal job at it.

I do not know who thought of selling the art style of Sol Cesto (it’s CharioSpirale), but let me tell you about how much I enjoy it. That gloom and doom fantasy look has me feeling a certain way, some of it wonder how they got those little guys, like the wolves and hounds, so spooky looking, how they got the crabs, slimes, bees, and egg, so cute, and genuinely grossed out by the large, boss enemies that take up the whole screen.

I am still playing Sol Cesto; I cannot put it down. The game is so simplistic, but the added depth from the characters’ abilities and items makes the game so much better. I AM LOCKED IN WHEN I PLAY THIS GAME. I completed a run and could not recall the moment-to-moment to my wife. Nothing short of a fantastic game if it has me locking in like that. Sol Cesto has a unique look and a unique take on the roguelike genre, and is up there as one of my favorite games so far this year.

9/10