Game: Sol Cesto
Genre: Indie, Strategy
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer|Publisher: Tambouille, Gerald Zucchini, Chariospirale | Goblinz Publishing, Maple Whispering Ltd.
Controller Support: Yes
Steam Deck: Playable
Price: US $12.99 | UK £9.99 | EU € 12,99
Release Date: May 27th, 2025
Review code provided with many thanks to Thinky Games
Sol Cesto – A Rough Start Turns Compelling
Sol Cesto is one of those games that doesn’t immediately win you over. In fact, if you’d asked me during my first hour with it, I probably would’ve said I wasn’t enjoying myself very much at all. It felt harsh, confusing, and more than a little punishing. And yet… I kept going back. Again and again.
That persistence paid off, because Sol Cesto soon reveals itself to be something genuinely different within the roguelite space. It’s not about fast reflexes or mastering complex inputs. Instead, it’s about luck, probability, and living with the consequences of your decisions. It’s a game that dares you to take chances, then watches as things go either very right or very wrong.
A Dark Goal With Simple Stakes
The setup is straightforward: the sun has gone out, and you descend into a dark dungeon to restore it. There’s no heavy exposition or long backstory to digest. The game trusts its systems to do the talking, and that’s largely where the tension comes from.
You’ll unlock new characters over time, each with their own stats and abilities. Your first unlock arrives fairly quickly, but others demand patience and persistence. That slow trickle of progress becomes part of the motivation, pushing you to attempt just one more run to see how far you can get.
A Grid Built on Risk
The core gameplay is where Sol Cesto truly stands apart. Each dungeon screen is presented as a 4×4 grid. Instead of choosing a specific tile, you choose a row. Once selected, your character lands on a random tile within that row.
That single decision is the heart of the game.
Tiles can contain enemies, treasure chests, healing strawberries, or traps. Combat is resolved instantly based on your stats versus the enemy’s, with outcomes clearly previewed beforehand. Hovering over a row shows your odds of landing on each tile, how much damage you might take, or whether you’ll escape unharmed.
The twist is that even “winning” often comes at a cost. Early on, defeating enemies still hurts you, forcing you to constantly balance survival against progress. You’re not aiming for flawless victories. You’re aiming to survive long enough to reach the next screen.
Each area requires several selections before you can move on, and every choice feels weighted. Do you chase gold to prepare for later upgrades? Do you hunt for healing? Or do you take the safer path just to stay alive?
Learning to Bend the Odds
As you progress, the game opens up its deeper systems. Gold can be sent back to the surface via special pots, letting you unlock new features between runs. These include vendors, new mechanics, and the game’s most interesting tools: cursed and magical teeth.
These teeth modify the rules of probability itself. One might reduce your chances of landing on enemies, but also lower your odds of finding treasure. Another might increase rewards while introducing dangerous side effects. Nothing is ever a straight upgrade.
This constant push and pull is what gives Sol Cesto its identity. You’re not eliminating risk; you’re reshaping it. The game regularly forces you to accept trade-offs, and those decisions often come back to haunt you.
Tension at One Hit Point
Some of Sol Cesto’s best moments happen when you’re barely holding on. One health left. A row with a healing tile… and a monster right next to it. You take a breath, select the row, and watch the outcome unfold.
Sometimes you land exactly where you hoped. Other times, you’re one tile away from safety and staring at the defeat screen. Those moments are brutal, but also memorable. Few games capture that quiet, sinking feeling of “I knew I shouldn’t have taken that risk” quite as effectively.
A Grim Yet Inviting Presentation
Visually, Sol Cesto leans into a dark, folkloric style. It’s moody and unsettling without being excessive. The art feels medieval and slightly grotesque, but not to the extent that you’ll get nightmares. Monster designs are a highlight, and bosses lean even further into that unsettling tone.
The soundtrack reinforces the sense of dread, using eerie themes that make each descent feel ominous. You genuinely feel like you’re venturing somewhere you shouldn’t be, and the game’s atmosphere does a lot of heavy lifting in selling that idea.
Conclusion: Shining Light in the Dark
Sol Cesto isn’t a game that holds your hand, and it’s not one that immediately shows its best side. The opening hours can feel unforgiving, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for bouncing off it early. But for players willing to stick with it, there’s something very special here. Impressive, still: the game is still only in Early Access.
It offers a fresh take on the roguelite formula by stripping controls down to their simplest form and focusing entirely on choice, probability, and consequence. You don’t need fast reactions or complex strategies. You just need the courage to make a decision and accept what follows.
This is exactly the kind of experimentation I love seeing from indie developers. Sol Cesto may not be welcoming at first (or ever, depending on how you view it), but once it gets under your skin, it’s very hard to forget.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up
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