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◆ ABOUT

A deckbuilder where your cards are your character

There is no class selection screen. You become what you play. Earn class XP through your cards, unlock new abilities, build your deck, and watch your dominant class shape who you are.

THE LOOPExplore, encounter, battle, earn class XP, improve the deck, explore further, face a boss, escape — then the world map.
SESSIONOne escape takes 60–90 minutes. The loop reads in the first fifteen. Saves are cloud-backed, so a closed tab is not a lost run.
WHERE IT RUNSIn the browser first, in English, Russian or Serbian. Wider distribution is a later growth lever, not a launch requirement.
POSITIONING

One line, not a feature list

Your cards are your character. There is no class selection screen. You become what you play. Earn class XP through your cards, unlock new abilities, build your deck, and watch your dominant class shape who you are.

Two supporting beats carry the rest: pick a side to escape Hollowfort, because loyalty rewrites who helps you at the gate; and health is your deck — explore and fight with the same hand.

Realistic good outcome: a cult favourite among deckbuilder fans — a loyal audience and strong demo conversion, then content expansion. Not a mainstream launch, and we are not pretending otherwise.

NEIGHBOURS

Where it sits on the shelf

Slay the SpireThe default deckbuilder benchmark players measure everything against.
BalatroProof a card loop can explode when the hook is fresh.
InscryptionDark narrative wrapped around cards; adjacent atmosphere.
Monster TrainDeep deckbuilding with a strong identity of its own.
GriftlandsStory runs where conversation and cards share a system.
Darkest DungeonA mood neighbour: stress, party, and unkind places.

Closest mechanical neighbours are Spire-likes with map exploration; closest mood neighbours are a prison uprising told with Inscryption and Darkest Dungeon atmosphere.

QUESTIONS

Straight answers

Is there any health bar at all?No. Your cards are your health — deck plus hand plus combo. Enemies work the same way, counting only their deck.
Do I pick a class?Never explicitly. Playing a card grants XP to its class; levels unlock improved cards, and the dominant deck sets your portrait.
What carries between the map and a fight?Hand, deck, discard, shield and mana. Winning a location battle restores shield and mana to their caps.
Can I see all three faction endings in one run?No. Committing to a branch seals the others, so a second loyalty means a second run. You can also spare the Inquisitor and seal the ritual — the quiet ending where you decline all three foundations.
How long is a run?Around 60–90 minutes to the first escape, with the core loop readable in the first fifteen minutes.
Is this the full game?No. Hollowfort is the first region and the beta version. Later regions come after the beta version proves its identity.
PLAYTESTING

What we want from you

01Play the beta versionStart a run in the browser and go as far as you can in one sitting.
02Tell us where you quitThe room, the fight, the moment it stopped being fun. That is the most useful sentence you can write.
03Come back for another sideA second run on a different loyalty tells us whether the branches are worth their cost.
Hollowfort is playable in the browserEscape once. Then pick another side.
DEVELOPERPLAY