Everything a New Player Needs to Know about Disney Lorcana

The new Disney TCG Lorcana promises to offer compelling gameplay for hardcore trading card game players and Disney superfans alike.

Disney is entering the trading card game landscape in partnership with Ravensburger Games with the launch of Disney Lorcana in North America on August 18th, and worldwide on September 1st. Disney Lorcana promises to be a strategy card game that is easy to pick up for entry-level players, but still with enough depth and deck-building mechanics to keep the attention of experienced card game players. Cards will feature characters from Disney shows, movies, and lore depicted in classic images and all new artistic interpretations. Some of the franchises included in the first set of cards are The Lion King, Moana, Lilo and Stitch, Mickey Mouse, and Frozen, among many others.

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According to John Balen, Vice President of Product Design at Disney, “The breadth and scope of Disney characters represented in this game will be unprecedented, and it will contain more original Disney artwork than any other single product ever created.” There is also a companion app that allows players to track their card collections and build a virtual deck to then copy with their real cards. Fans and collectors will have a lot to look forward to as there will not only be the cards, being released in sets with the first due out very soon, but accompanying deck boxes, card sleeves, binders, and play mats too.

Disney Lorcana is a strategy card game where players can build a deck with cards prior to each game. There are preset decks available to buy, but players can also add to those base decks with new cards or completely customize their deck from scratch. The game is set in the wondrous, magical world of Lorcana, a combination of the words "lore" and "arcana", where players take on the role of powerful sorcerers called Illumineers. Illumineers wield magic ink that allows them to summon characters and items called Glimmers from across the Disney universe.

The aim of Lorcana is to venture out on quests searching for hidden Lore and challenging opponents. The first player to acquire 20 Lore wins the game. While the game is originally designed for two players, it can accommodate three, four, or more players. The rules of the game are streamlined so that new players can pick it up quickly, but the cards will have nuances that allow for deeper strategic elements, especially in the building of decks, that give the game more depth for advanced players.

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Lorcana cards will be released in sets called chapters, with four sets released each year. The first set, Disney Lorcana: The First Chapter will feature over 200 game cards that will be released in the form of three starter decks, booster packs, a gift set, and the "Illumineers Trove." There will be standard cards, foil cards, and the cards themselves will also have different levels of rarity including rare, super rare, and legendary. Starter decks give players a balanced deck of 60 cards from two ink types that are ready to use right out of the box.

Booster packs contain 12 cards including a foil card and two cards of random rarity levels. The gift set will feature Mulan - Imperial Soldier and Hades - King of Olympus along with two foil game cards, two oversized foil collectible cards, four boosters, and game tokens. The Illumineers Trove pack is the ultimate starter kit that will come with two deck boxes, eight booster packs, and a guide, all in a collectible storage box. At Disney Expo 2023 there will be a special Collector's Set of cards released that will only be available at the expo. The set will include Stitch, Elsa, Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, Robin Hood, and Captain Hook, and there will also be a special Mickey Mouse promo card.

Like other trading card games, each Lorcana card has a fair amount going on from the card's actions to the artwork. Disney Lorcana cards feature beautiful artwork of Disney characters in both classic styles and re-imagined forms. Each card has a rarity key on the bottom that denotes its level of rarity from Common to Legendary. Cards are themed with one of six ink keys: Amber, Amethyst, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, and Steel. Each is a different color with a different emblem that appears in the middle of the card along with the name of the character and their class.

Also in that strip of color, though only on character cards, are the card's Strength - how much damage the character deals - and Willpower - how much damage it takes to banish the card from play. Underneath that, filling the bottom third of the card is the description of the card and the actions it can perform. To the right is the Lore value, which is how much Lore the player gains when the character quests. There are different versions of character cards that have different effects, values, and ink types, so players can fill a deck with multiple versions of their favorite characters.

Lorcana players craft their decks with at least 60 cards across three different types: Characters, Items, and Actions. Each card has an ink cost to play it, an ink type, a classification, and of course, instructions and actions on how to use it. When building a deck, players can not have more than four copies of any single card. However, there are different versions of characters and each counts as a different card. For example, the Simba - Future King card is different from the Simba - Returned King card, so a player could have four of each card in their deck. Players must also only have cards from one or two ink colors

At the beginning of the game, players draw seven cards into their hands and place the rest of the deck face down. They will also have an inkwell card pile, into which cards are placed to accumulate ink. Ink is used to play cards. During gameplay, players will take turns and each turn has an order of steps that must be completed. There are two phases for each turn: The Beginning Phase and the Main Phase. During the Beginning phase, players ready their cards, any effects in play that begin at the start of a turn take effect, and players draw a card from their deck. During the main Phase, players can place a card into their inkwell, counting as one ink drop as long as it has an inkwell icon in the top corner.

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Players then go through any of the following actions any number of times until they cannot perform any more actions, or choose to end their turn: Play a card, Use a character ability, Use an Item, Quest, and/or Challenge an opponent's exerted character. Cards are exerted by turning them sideways. They are not useable again until they are readied again through an action or game rule, and are vulnerable to being challenged. All cards that are exerted are returned to their ready state at the beginning of the player's turn. Turns continue, alternating between players, until the end of the game.

There are two ways for a game of Lorcana to end. One way is that the first player to collect 20 or more Lore wins the game. The other is if a player runs out of cards in their deck. If a player's deck is used up, the game ends the next time they need to draw a card, and they lose the game.

Disney Lorcana also features a companion app that is downloadable on Apple and Android devices. The app itself doesn't have any game components, so players cannot play Lorcana on it. Instead, the app functions as a card library. It features a complete card catalog that will update as newer Chapters are released. From this catalog, players can tick off the cards they already own and add cards they want to a wishlist. There is also a Deck Builder feature in the app that allows players to create decks based on the cards they own or the cards they want.

Players can see what a deck may look like with specific cards and if it will work out for their personal strategies. Then they can go out, grab some booster packs, and build that deck with real cards. The app also features how-to guides and videos, a lore points counter tool for gameplay, and news and updates regarding Disney Lorcana. The app is available to download now from the Apple App and Google Play stores as well as from disneylorcana.com.

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Chris is a Freelance Writer with CBR. He has a Professional Writing Degree and has published two books: "The Shakespeare Folio" and "Cottage Country: A Haiku Collection". He worked as a PlayStation rep for six years, has been an avid gamer across all platforms for over twenty years and loves to delve into manga, new anime series and the occasional comic book run.