Sol Cesto

Sol Cesto is a roguelike dungeon crawler about defeating monsters using probability. You choose which row on a grid map to move to, but which square in the row is determined randomly. Winning requires a balance of strategy and luck.

Each dungeon level is a 4x4 grid. Some squares contain monsters that have either a magic attack or a strength attack; others contain money or health. Your character also has a magic attack and a strength attack. If you land on a monster and your attack is higher, you kill it; if it’s lower, you lose the difference in health.

Squares you’ve already moved to get locked off and can’t be moved to again. You must visit a certain number of squares in order to unlock the next level of the dungeon. The catch is that you can only control which row you move to, but the specific square is chosen randomly. Landing on the right squares is a numbers game.

Runs are quite long — 107 levels in total. In addition to combat levels, there are shops where you can buy items, forges that upgrade your attacks, and most importantly, statues with cursed teeth to pull out that change the probabilities in both good and bad ways. You also have the option to send money back to the surface, where you can unlock new characters and buy upgrades from a long, intricate metaprogression tree.

Sol Cesto has a unique hand-drawn art style that resembles pre-Columbian Mesoamerican art. It has lush production values, with lots of animation, expressive characters, and fun details for observant players. It earned two nominations in the third annual Thinky Awards.

This description was written by Gwen C. Katz. It is based on an Early Access build of the game.