# Hoshikari: Star Hunter — Lock the swarm, loose light.

> Lock the swarm, loose light. (iPhone/iPad app by Kenji Kobayashi.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hoshikari-star-hunter/id6790068167 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Kenji Kobayashi](https://appshunter.io/developer/535002271)
- Category: Games, Action, Casual
- Price: Free
- Age rating: 9+
- Requires: iOS 16.0 · 217 MB
- Languages: American English, French (France), German (Germany), Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, European Portuguese, Russian and 2 more
- Released: 2026-07-22
- Data updated: 2026-07-27
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hoshikari-star-hunter/id6790068167/reviews.md

## What is Hoshikari?

Hoshikari is a first-person, on-rails space shooter with a Japanese ink-wash soul. You fly a craft of light through a painted sea of stars, lock the swarm that streams toward you, and loose a fan of homing light-arrows to hunt whole clusters in a single breath.

THE FEEL
No twin-stick, no auto-fire. You paint your lock-ons by dragging across the screen, then release to fire. The bigger the lock, the bigger the volley - and every chained hit climbs a half-step in pitch, so a good run sounds like a rising chord. Meteors break apart in strokes of ink. It is built to be the kind of shot you want to take again and again.

HOW IT PLAYS
- Drag your finger to paint lock-ons across the meteors and drones streaming toward you. Lock as many as you can before you fire.
- Release to loose a fan of homing light-arrows. They chain through every locked target at once.
- Dodge the debris you can't shoot - your craft weaves toward wherever you aim.
- Collect star-ore to spend on your craft, and grab shields to shrug off a hit.
- Ride the overdrive to surge faster. Clear each track before the star-sea swallows you.

A SEA OF STARS TO HUNT
- Fly through distinct sectors - launch, nebula, asteroid belt, comet field, aurora, and the deep - each with its own palette, hazards and rhythm.
- Short, punchy tracks bundled by constellation, with a rising difficulty curve.
- Chase your best on every track, and unlock an endless "meteor storm" run.

UPGRADE YOUR CRAFT
- Spend star-ore at the Dock on permanent upgrades: a wider lock range, more light-arrows, a longer shield, and a better overdrive economy.

MADE TO LOOK LIKE NOTHING ELSE
- A living ink-wash night sky lit by aurora - hand-tuned, not another neon starfield.
- Real-time first-person flight with a genuine sense of speed.

MORE TO ENJOY
- 12 languages supported
- Plays in portrait or landscape
- Sound and haptics on/off, anytime
- Plays offline after install
- Made by an independent studio (PixelRyu)

Free to play, supported by ads. Watch an optional ad to revive, double your star-ore, restock stars, or boost your next run.

Lock the swarm. Loose the light. Hunt the stars.


## Version history (last 1 release)

### 1.0.1 — 2026-07-22

No release notes.

## More apps by Kenji Kobayashi

- [CounterParts](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/counterparts/id535002008)
- [HOTARU: The Lost House](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hotaru-the-lost-house/id6770427114)
- [Mole Whack](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mole-whack/id6770864132)
- [ISSEN: Samurai Slash](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/issen-samurai-slash/id6772437281)
- [HAYATE: Katana Racer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hayate-katana-racer/id6775771603)
- [Bounce Cat: Free the Cat](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bounce-cat-free-the-cat/id6776876260)

All apps by Kenji Kobayashi: https://appshunter.io/developer/535002271

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-27.*