Right-click the zip → Extract All into a normal folder like Documents\Games\StarPlatinum. Don't run it from inside the zip, and avoid Program Files. The game saves next to itself and needs a folder it can write to.
Double-click “Play Star Platinum”
The launcher turns on Windows XP mode and 16-bit colour for you. 🎀
Blue “Windows protected your PC” box?
Totally normal for small hobby programs. Click More info, then Run anyway. (You only see it the first time.)
Wait a few seconds…
A window called “StarPlatinum ENGLISH!” opens with the title screen. Pick Story mode! 🌟
📦 What's in the folder
💖 Play Star Platinum.exe
double-click me!
🎮 SP_en_ascii_v2b.exe
the game itself
🧩 DDraw.dll
graphics helper (dgVoodoo2), keep it beside the game
📝 WINMODE.TXT
tiny file the game looks for. It can be empty, but it has to be there
📁 everything else
the game's own files. Keep them all together
💾 STARPLAT.SAV
appears after you win a round. That's your progress!
🛠️ The manual way
If the launcher ever gets blocked, switch the same two settings on by hand. You only do it once.
Tick “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and pick Windows XP (Service Pack 2).
16-bit colour
Tick “Reduced colour mode” and pick 16-bit (65536) colour.
Press OK
Then start the game as usual. 🎉
Steps 2 and 3 in the Compatibility tab ♡
🧰 Got a file named Set compatibility once.bat in the folder? Double-click it once and it ticks both boxes for you.
🧸 Oops! Something's off
Nothing happens, or the window flashes and closes
Make sure DDraw.dll and WINMODE.TXT are in the same folder as the game. Make sure you extracted the zip instead of running it from inside. Try the manual way.
My antivirus deleted or blocked the launcher
Tiny unsigned launchers sometimes trigger false alarms. Restore it from quarantine and allow the folder, or use the manual way and skip the launcher.
The colours look a bit reduced
That's the 16-bit colour mode keeping this old game happy on a modern PC. 💕 For the prettiest pictures, set H-image mode to High color in the game's Options.
The game gets weird when I switch windows
Old games don't love being swapped away from. Stay inside the game while you play. If it gets confused, quit with F12 and start again.
My progress wasn't saved
The game saves by itself when you win a round (there's no manual save). It writes STARPLAT.SAV into its own folder, so keep the game in a normal folder, not inside the zip and not in Program Files.
How do I quit?
Pick Quit game in the main menu, or press F12 to leave instantly.
🎮 Controls cheat sheet
Almost everything is done with the mouse.
🖱️Left-clickPick menu items and cards.
🖱️Right-click in the main menuStarts the card tutorial.
🖱️Right-click during a gameOpens the in-game menu.
💬Right-click during story talkSkips the dialogue.
⌨️F5Shows or hides the frame rate.
🚪F12Exits the game right away.
📋 Main menu decoder
You'll see
Original name
What it does
Story mode
Story mode
The main adventure vs. 7 rivals.
Zubeko-chan, play!
Instant action
A quick duel, everything unlocked.
Options
Options
Sound, music, picture quality…
Gallery
CG mode
Music, pictures and endings you've unlocked.
Opening
Story intro
The opening story demo.
Help
Explanation intro
The card tutorial.
Quit game
Exit
Asks you to confirm.
🎴 The board & your turn
Rival's collected symbol cards
Rival's hand (face-down)
Rival's collected dust cards
The centre pile, face-up
Both scores (e.g. 1200 vs 1200)
Your collected dust cards
Your hand
Your collected symbol cards
1 · Rival symbols
2 · Rival hand
3 · Rival dust
4 · Centre pile
5 · Scores 1200 vs 1200
6 · Your dust
7 · Your hand
8 · Your symbols
🔁 How a turn works
Setup
You and your rival each get 8 cards, and 8 cards go face-up in the centre. Whoever won the last round starts (you, in the first round!).
Match
Click a card in your hand that matches a centre card (same zodiac sign). Both cards move to your collection. 🎉
No match?
The card you picked goes onto the centre pile.
Lucky draw
A card is flipped from the deck onto the centre pile. If it matches one already there, you win both!
Rival's turn
Repeat until someone's score hits zero.
🃏 Meet the cards
There are 48 cards, and every card belongs to one of the 12 zodiac signs:
✨
Dust cards · 24
Just a zodiac sign. Simple and plentiful.
💍
Ring cards · 10
A sign with a ring. Some rings have gems, some are silver.
🐏
Symbol cards · 9
Grey animals or objects. Three have a ram.
👑
Royal cards · 5
Golden pictures of people. Rarest and most valuable!
Who has what?
Sign
Dust
Ring
Plat.
Jewel.
Symb.
Tri.
Royal
♈ Aries
2
1
·
·
·
1
·
♉ Taurus
2
·
1
·
·
1
·
♊ Gemini
2
·
·
1
·
·
1
♋ Cancer
2
1
·
·
1
·
·
♌ Leo
2
1
·
·
1
·
·
♍ Virgo
2
·
·
1
·
·
1
♎ Libra
2
·
1
·
1
·
·
♏ Scorpio
2
·
·
1
1
·
·
♐ Sagittarius
1
1
·
·
1
·
1
♑ Capricorn
2
·
1
·
·
1
·
♒ Aquarius
2
·
·
·
·
·
1
♓ Pisces
2
·
·
·
1
·
1
Plat. = Platinum, Jewel. = Jewelry, Symb. = Symbol, Tri. = Trihorn. Platinum and Jewelry are ring cards; Trihorn is a symbol card. The Libra symbol card also counts as a Dust card.
💥 Scoring combos
Combo
Points
What you need
Stardust
100
10 Dust cards. Every extra Dust card adds another 100. (The Libra symbol card counts as Dust too!)
Ring
100
5 Ring cards. Any ring cards will do.
Jewelry
600
The three rings that have a gem on them.
Platinum
600
The three silver-looking rings.
Chart
100
5 Symbol cards. Every extra Symbol card adds another 100.
Trihorn
600
The three Symbol cards with a ram on them.
Trine
600
Any 3 Royal cards (the Sagittarius archer doesn't count here).
SemiSquare
800
A Trine plus the Sagittarius card.
Square
1000
All 4 Royal cards except Sagittarius.
Quintile
1500
All 5 Royal cards. The jackpot! 👑
Most combos stack: Jewelry + Platinum use six ring cards, which also earns a Ring combo on top. The one exception is the Royal combos. Collecting every Royal doesn't also pay out a Trine.
⚔️ Attack or 🔋 Charge?
Every time you make or extend a set, the game asks:
⚔️ Attack
Take that set's points off your rival's score right now.
🔋 Charge
Keep going to extend the set or build another for a bigger hit.
⚠️ Charging is a gamble! If you run out of cards before another set, you do no damage at all. And if your rival completes a set first, they win the round.
🧠 Tactics & tips
🛡️
Block your rival
If they're one card from a Trine and the missing card sits in the centre, grab it first!
🌱
Start small
With a weak hand, or when your rival is nearly out of points, a humble 100-point Stardust is a great goal.
🌑
Dimmed cards
In Story mode some cards are dimmed and can't be used in sets. Don't chase them, and play them first when you have no matches.
👯
Play doubles
No match? Play a card you have two of. It'll probably still be in the centre next turn to pair with your spare.
👀
Watch their collection
Peek at your rival's collected cards and play something that won't help their sets.
⏱️
Cash in big sets early
Got a juicy set like Trihorn in hand? Play it soon, or the matching cards may leave the centre.
🕵️ Pro move: if you think your rival's last Trine card is in the pile, hold the Dust card that matches it so you can snatch it away first.
📚 Story mode
You'll face 7 rivals. Each takes three rounds to beat, except the last.
Lose a round? You can retry it. Win one and your progress saves automatically.
Quit mid-round and you restart from round 1 against that rival.
Some cards are dimmed early on. The further you go, the fewer there are, so bigger combos open up.
After a chapter you can continue or go back to the main menu.
Beat the final rival for the Happy ending and credits. Lose and decline the retry, and you'll see the Bad ending.
The seven chapters
#
Title
Rival
Where
Stage points
Ch1
Lucky mix-up at the pool!?
Ami
Swimming pool
100 · 200 · 300
Ch2
Odd girl in a white castle!?
Yuki
Hospital
200 · 400 · 600
Ch3
A lamb on the night street!?
Sana
Back alley
300 · 600 · 900
Ch4
God, please come home!?
Asuka
Temple
400 · 800 · 1200
Ch5
An invincible lady calls?
Nadia
Mansion
500 · 1000 · 1500
Ch6
A fight that gets too hot!?
Hada & Ane
The twins
600 · 1200 · 1800
Ch7
Fate on a starry night
Ryucy
The fairy
3500 (one round)
Rivals follow the chapter order. Older guides call them Pisces, Spica, Capria, Sagittaris, Tarosia, Jemmy & Emminy and Ryucy.
✅ Your progress
Tick them off as you go. (This page remembers your ticks on this device.)
Story menu
New Game: start from the very beginning. Cont Play and From Save: carry on, or jump to a chapter you've reached (progress lives in STARPLAT.SAV).
⚡ Instant action, options & saves
⚡ Instant action
Pick Zubeko-chan, play!. You both start with 2500 points.
Winnings are added to your own score, so a full game can take a loooong time.
All cards are enabled, so every combo is possible.
Win to see an end demo with all the zodiac signs. Finishing this and Story mode unlocks the second gallery.
💾 Saves & the Gallery
Your progress lives in STARPLAT.SAV in the game folder and updates by itself when you win. In the Gallery you'll find Music mode, CG gallery / CG gallery 2 (move the mouse up/down or left/right to look around a big picture) and Ending.
💡 Back up your own STARPLAT.SAV any time you like. Just copy it somewhere safe while the game is closed.
⚙️ Options
Option
What it does
Sound / Music
Sound effects and music on or off.
Card move
On or off, for the card movement.
Verbose mode
On or off. (Even the old guides couldn't spot the difference!)
H-image mode
High color or 16col. High color looks best.
Show frame rate
Speed counter. You can also press F5.
Reset save data
⚠️ Wipes your progress. Choose Cancel if you pressed it by accident!
Right-click during a game for the in-game menu: Keep playing, back to the title screen, and switches for card move, music, sound and verbose.
