Free to play

It's just you and your ship.

Hollowstar is a competitive digital card game. You are the pilot in a dogfight, flying the starship you chose, with a loadout you fitted and a deck built for the way you fight. It is a game of tight maneuvers, bluffs and careful spending, played to outsmart the other pilot and live to fly again.

Play free How to play

Free to play, in the browser
Online, or against the computer
New challenges every day

Siege Driver

Heavy Weapon System · Mass Driver

:Attack.

:Add three +1 counters to this weapon.

Hotwire

Light Ship — Interceptor—

Once each round, after you discard 1 or more cards to empower a weapon, if you have 2 or fewer cards in hand, draw 1.

24HP

24 HP. Disciplines: Assault and Maneuver.

Evasive Roll

Interceptor Reaction

Dodge an attack.

"You can't hit what already left."

AC-REA-009 · C
ALPHA CARINAE · EN
© 2026 Hollowstar

The round

A round structure of its own

In Hollowstar, there are no resources to draw. Each player has five action points every round and alternates with the opponent when spending them, and the hardware in your bays stays face down until you bring it online.

Five action points

The same budget every round

Each player starts every round with five. Cards cost from zero to five action points each, and a weapon's shot has its own price. Nothing carries over, so no round is lost to a bad hand.

Face down

Systems start hidden

The four systems in your bays begin face down. The other player does not know what you brought. Bringing one online costs points and takes a turn, so a loadout comes online over several rounds, and the order is a decision.

Initiative

Actions alternate

Each round you take an action, then the other player does. When you are done for the round you disengage, and the first to disengage takes the token and gets to act first next round.

The ship

Your custom starship hotrod

The ship frame is what you start every build with. It comes with a ship class and a weight class, sets your total HP, and decides the disciplines your deck can contain. What goes in the bays is up to you, and so is the deck.

The ship

Hotwire

Light Ship — Interceptor—

Once each round, after you discard 1 or more cards to empower a weapon, if you have 2 or fewer cards in hand, draw 1.

24HP

24 HP. Disciplines: Assault and Maneuver.

Four bays, your loadout

Bay 1
Thumper
Light Weapon System · Blaster
2
:Attack. You may add 1 heat counter to this weapon. If you do, its Critical chance + until the next Refresh.
Critical : +2
AC-SYS-002
ALPHA CARINAE · EN
© 2026 Hollowstar
Bay 2
Cinder Sparker
Light Weapon System · Plasma
1
:Attack. You may discard a card for +2.
AC-SYS-001
ALPHA CARINAE · EN
© 2026 Hollowstar
Bay 3
Driftworks Queuejumper
Sensor System
:Ready another system you control.
"Queues are for people who plan on getting there."
AC-SYS-027
ALPHA CARINAE · EN
© 2026 Hollowstar
Bay 4
Slipstream Screen
Defense System
React:Shield 3.
"Driftworks doesn't sell shields. It sells being somewhere else already."
AC-SYS-039
ALPHA CARINAE · EN
© 2026 Hollowstar

The deck

Knock Knock

Tactic

Attack with a ready light weapon you control. That attack gets +3.

AC-TAC-001 · C
ALPHA CARINAE · EN
© 2026 Hollowstar

Jink

Reaction

Dodge an attack of 3 or less.

AC-REA-019 · C
ALPHA CARINAE · EN
© 2026 Hollowstar

Longshot 4.1

Program

This weapon gets +2.

AC-UPG-001 · C
ALPHA CARINAE · EN
© 2026 Hollowstar

40cards

Tactics · Reactions · Programs

Two players running the same ship could have different loadouts selected, and neither knows what the other brought until systems start coming online.

Classes

Weight, then class

Some systems have a weight requirement, and every ship is classified as a certain weight. Set 01 has one ship class for each weight.

Thumper

Light Weapon System · Blaster

:Attack. You may add 1 heat counter to this weapon. If you do, its Critical chance + until the next Refresh.

Critical : +2

Light weight weapons

Cheap to play, cheap to activate. Not a lot of firepower in a single shot, but light guns can often be chained into several attacks in one round.

Mounted by the Interceptor.

Prototype Particle Lance

Medium Weapon System · Beam

Cloak

:Attack.

"Meridian calls it a field trial. You're the field."

Medium weight weapons

A solid shot every round at a fair price. The middle of the road, and the widest choice of guns in the set.

Mounted by the Lancer.

Siege Driver

Heavy Weapon System · Mass Driver

:Attack.

:Add three +1 counters to this weapon.

Heavy weight weapons

Expensive to activate and slow to set up, but the biggest single hit in the game. A heavy round is built around one shot.

Mounted by the Bastion.

Heavy class · KH-3 Juggernaut

Bastion

The heaviest frame and the biggest guns.

A Bastion pilot wants one big shot and the frame to wait for it. Heavy weapons hit hardest and cost the most to fire, so a Bastion round is one large decision instead of three small ones. Two screens and the most HP in the game buy the time to make it. Bastion decks shut down what threatens them, bank damage on a heavy gun, and fire when the other pilot cannot answer.

HP27–29MountsHeavyLength27–30 m

Heavy weapon mounts. Two guns and two screens is the standard.

Light class · Hotwire

Interceptor

The smallest frame, and the fastest to bring online.

An Interceptor pilot wants to set the pace and finish early. Light weapons cost the least to fire, so an Interceptor gets more shots out of five points than any other class. It has the least HP, which means every round asks whether to press or to keep a point back for defense. Interceptor decks care about initiative and second shots, and they aim to end the fight before a heavier ship has its loadout online.

HP22–24MountsLightLength10–14 m

Light weapon mounts. Two guns, a screen and a utility bay is the usual fit.

Medium class · Vanguard 500

Lancer

The medium frame with the widest choice of loadouts.

A Lancer pilot wants options and the room to change plans mid-fight. Medium mounts take medium guns, and a Lancer can run two guns and two screens, or one screen and three bays of mines, drones and sensors. It trades blows when the other pilot is open and holds when they are not. Lancer decks build an edge over a few rounds, then spend it in one.

HP24–26MountsMediumLength19–22 m

Medium weapon mounts. Anything from two guns and two screens to one gun and three utility bays.

Disciplines

Flying these machines takes discipline

A discipline is a way of fighting. Cards carry disciplines, and a frame dictates the disciplines it takes to pilot it, so the ship you choose decides which cards you can bring.

A · Assault

Pressure and firepower

The pilotAn Assault pilot would rather end a fight than manage one. They count damage, not cards, and accept that a hot gun sometimes burns them.

The cards. Weapon boosts, heat a gun can push through, attacks that grow with every other attack this round, and Programs that make a gun bigger.

In play. Assault decks try to win before the other pilot finishes setting up. They spend on damage and dare the opponent to spend on defense.

Thumper

Light Weapon System · Blaster

:Attack. You may add 1 heat counter to this weapon. If you do, its Critical chance + until the next Refresh.

Critical : +2

Void the Warranty

Tactic

Add two +1 counters to a weapon you control. Draw 1.

AC-TAC-007 · R
ALPHA CARINAE · EN
© 2026 Hollowstar

Siege Protocol

Program

This weapon gets +4. Attacking with it or activating it costs 1 more.

AC-UPG-002 · R
ALPHA CARINAE · EN
© 2026 Hollowstar

Why frames have them

A frame is built for a way of fighting, and that is fixed at the yard. A Hotwire is an Assault and Maneuver frame. A Juggernaut is Assault and Disruption. Choosing a frame is choosing how you are going to fight.

Cards with no discipline

Some cards carry no discipline at all. They fit any frame, so every deck has room for a surprise, and no frame is locked out of the basics.

Colors in play

Colors are mainly a deckbuilding restriction. Your five action points have no color, so a card costs the same to play on any frame that can carry it. Some cards do care about the colors of other cards, so the mix still matters at the table.

The collection

Building a collection

Every pilot starts with three starter decks. Win challenges on the board and play online to earn packs and build out the collection, and you may find foil and borderless versions along the way.

Foil covers the whole face and follows the pointer.

Vanguard 500

Medium Ship — Lancer—

The third time each round you deal damage to the enemy ship, draw 1.

26HP

26 HP. Disciplines: Intel and Endurance.

Thumper

Light Weapon System · Blaster

:Attack. You may add 1 heat counter to this weapon. If you do, its Critical chance + until the next Refresh.

Critical : +2

Void the Warranty

Tactic

Add two +1 counters to a weapon you control. Draw 1.

Null Signature

Program

The host has Cloak.

"Sable sells the coating. Nobody sells the paperwork that says you can fly it."

Solo and online play

Two ways to fly

Take contracts against the computer on the Freeporter board, or play another pilot online. Both pay in cards.

Open Contracts

The Freeporter board posts contracts against the computer. Some name the ship you fly. Others let you bring your own. The first time you clear one it pays in packs, clearing a whole ladder raises your standing, and a new challenge goes up each day.

Your callsignHotwire · Interceptor

Hotwire

Light Ship — Interceptor—

Once each round, after you discard 1 or more cards to empower a weapon, if you have 2 or fewer cards in hand, draw 1.

24HP

24 HP. Disciplines: Assault and Maneuver.

Severin ColeKH-3 Juggernaut · Bastion

KH-3 Juggernaut

Heavy Ship — Bastion—

The first enemy weapon system you shut down each round is disconnected until the next Refresh.

29HP

29 HP. Disciplines: Disruption and Assault.

Rewards for victoryEarn new avatars and packs of cards for completing missions and defeating opponents online. Packs contain 6 cards, with a chance for foils and alternate art.

Quick Play

A game against another pilot, with your own loadout and your own versions of the cards. Online play has a ranking of its own, separate from the board, with rewards for climbing it.

Your recordYour callsignBonded on the Freeporter board

Unlisted
Listed
Bonded
Chartered

The setting

Tau Averni

A galaxy run by the corporations that build its ships, and flown by the Freeporters, pilots for hire who each own one ship and answer to nobody.

In Alpha Carinae, something nobody can explain has pulled a field of wreckage the size of a moon into reach. Every Freeporter in range has come running to claim it first, and the corporations pay well for whatever comes back. Salvage law says the wreck goes to whoever is still flying.

The universe

Understar

Medium Ship — Lancer—

Revealed enemy systems cost 1 more to play.

24HP

24 HP. Disciplines: Disruption and Intel.

Akushi’s “Gift”

Tactic

Shut down target enemy system.

Free to play

No download required

Pick a frame, fly the Proving Runs against the computer, then take the loadout online.

Play free How to play

A round structure of its own

The same budget every round

Systems start hidden

Actions alternate

Your custom starship hotrod

Hotwire

Thumper

Cinder Sparker

Driftworks Queuejumper

Slipstream Screen

Knock Knock

Jink

Longshot 4.1

Weight, then class

Thumper

Light weight weapons

Prototype Particle Lance

Medium weight weapons

Siege Driver

Heavy weight weapons

Interceptor

Flying these machines takes discipline

Pressure and firepower

Thumper

Void the Warranty

Siege Protocol

Why frames have them

Cards with no discipline

Colors in play

Building a collection

Vanguard 500

Thumper

Void the Warranty

Null Signature

Two ways to fly

Hotwire

KH-3 Juggernaut

Tau Averni

Understar

Akushi’s “Gift”

No download required