Disney Lorcana

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Disney Lorcana
Lorcana Card Back.png
Backside of a Lorcana Trading Card Game card.
Disney Lorcana Logo.png
Designers Ryan Miller and Steve Warner
Publisher Ravensburger
Release dateAugust 18, 2023;14 months ago (2023-08-18)
Type Trading card game
Players2 or more
Age range8+
CardsMinimum 60
Playing time30-45 minutes
Website www.disneylorcana.com
Two players duel game. Disney Lorcana card game Poznan 2024.jpg
Two players duel game.

Disney Lorcana is a collectible card game released by Ravensburger in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company in August 2023. [1] [2] [3] It is Ravensburger's first trading card game [4] and features characters from throughout Disney contents, which current expansion sets include characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios films and The Disney Afternoon series. Ravensburger North America CEO Filip Francke described Lorcana as "probably the largest investment that we have ever done into any type of project and initiative". [5]

Contents

During the 2022 D23 Expo event, booth attendees received a promotional card and pin of Mickey Mouse - Brave Little Tailor, while a collector set of 6 cards featuring Stitch, Elsa, Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, Robin Hood, and Captain Hook were sold on site at US$50 each. A total of 900 sets were sold. [6]

The premier set, "The First Chapter", was released to board game stores on August 18, 2023 and major retailers on September 1, 2023. [7] [8]

Development and release

In June 2023, shortly before the game's release, Ravensburger and game co-designer Ryan Miller were sued by the latter's former employer, Upper Deck Company. The suit alleged that Disney Lorcana used game design elements from an unreleased trading card game, originally named Shell Beach and then renamed Rush of Ikorr, which Miller worked on while at Upper Deck. [9] [10] [11] [12] Ravensburger had filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. [13]

At an early release event at Gen Con tabletop game convention, customers waited in hours-long lines to purchase starter decks and booster packs. [14] Cards with particularly high rarity quickly resold for hundreds of dollars prior to the game's initial release, [15] while the promotional cards from the 2022 D23 Expo resold for prices between $1,000 and $3,000. [16]

As of October 2023, Lorcana features characters in part from Fantasia, Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Planet, and Sleeping Beauty. [17]

Story

Disney Lorcana is set in an alternate world, where there are people called "Illumineers". Illumineers are able to use magical ink to summon "Glimmers", which are beings that resemble Disney characters. The world has regions called "Inklands". At its center is the "Great Illuminary". Its purpose is to be a repository to keep track of every story ever told. These stories are archived in the "Halls of Lorcana".

One day, the Ilumineers disappear and the Great Illuminary calls upon players to be Illumineers themselves. There is a book of stories, a "lorebook", and a tool called an "inkcaster" that allows Illumineers to take the magical ink to create glimmers from the lorebook. [18]

Three types of glimmers exist:

Players are tasked to summon glimmers and retrieve "lore". Lore are fragments of a larger story that are kept in the Great Illuminary. But it is still unknown as to who or what the lore is being kept safe from. [19]

Gameplay

With decks made up of at least 60 cards, [20] players produce "ink", a resource that allows cards representing characters, items, and song lyrics from Disney media to be summoned. [21] Turns follow a sequence of generating ink, playing cards, using actions from cards, and challenging opposing opponents' character cards. While interacting with each other's cards, players attempt to accrue twenty points (known in game as "lore") before their opponent. [14] [22]

Ink Types

Players summon Disney characters using different types of "ink". There are six ink types in the game: [23]

Rarities

Cards come in different rarities that are located at the bottom center of the card. [24] The rarities listed in increasing rarity are:

  1. Common (gray circle)
  2. Uncommon (white book)
  3. Rare (bronze triangle)
  4. Super Rare (silver diamond)
  5. Legendary (gold pentagon)
  6. Enchanted (rainbow hexagon)

Shift mechanics

Shift is the ability to upgrade character cards in play with different character card with the same name. This is accomplished by paying an ink cost.

Introduced in the Ursula's Return expansion in May 2024, the shift mechanic gained alternative ways of being activated beyond paying an ink cost. For example, players can discard a song card in order to play shift on top of another character. [25]

Expansions

List of expansions
Set numberSet nameLocal game store releaseRetail releaseNotesReferences
1The First ChapterAugust 18, 2023September 1, 2023 [26]
2Rise of the FloodbornNovember 17, 2023December 1, 2023Introduced "Resist" game mechanic [26]
3Into the InklandsFebruary 23, 2024March 8, 2024Introduced "Locations" card type [26]
4 Ursula's ReturnMay 17, 2024May 31, 2024Introduced “Alternate shift” mechanic and "Sing together" mechanic [26] [27]
5Shimmering SkiesAugust 9, 2024August 23, 2024 [26] [28]
6Azurite SeaNovember 15, 2024November 29, 2024 [26]

The first expansion, "Rise of the Floodborn," was released on November 17, 2023. [29] This 204-card expansion added characters from Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, The Great Mouse Detective , and other properties, and introduced a "Resist" game mechanic. [30] The second expansion, "Into the Inklands," was officially announced on December 6, 2023. [31] This expansion, also 204 cards, introduces characters from DuckTales , TaleSpin , Atlantis: The Lost Empire , and Treasure Planet ; it also introduces a brand new card type, "Locations." Locations are well-known spots from Disney movies and television shows, [32] and add a new mechanic and more strategy options into gameplay. [33] "Into the Inklands" debuted in hobby stores on February 23, 2024, and was released on March 8, 2024. [31] The third expansion, "Ursula's Return" was officially announced in February 2024 and introduces characters from Encanto . "Ursula's Return" [34] was made available to mass markets on May 31, 2024. "Shimmering Skies" will include characters from Wreck-It Ralph . [35]

Disney Lorcana Challenge

Starting May 2024, the Disney Lorcana Challenge is an event circuit of tournaments and competitions for players of the game. [36]

Competitions in North America
DatesHeld inWinner
May 25-26, 2024 Atlanta, Georgia, United StatesJoshua Paultre [37]
June 8-9, 2024 Chicago, Illinois, United StatesBrian Courtade [38]
July 20-21, 2024 Fort Worth, Texas, United StatesEdmond Chiu [39]
August 24-25, 2024 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaDiego Saz [40]
September 21-22, 2024 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
October 26-27, 2024 Seattle, Washington, United States
Competitions in Europe
DatesHeld inWinner
May 25-26, 2024 Lille, France Frank Karsten [41]
July 6-7, 2024 Bochum, Germany Théotime Buchot [42]
August 3-4, 2024 Bologna, Italy Elie Vepierre [ citation needed ]
September 21-22, 2024 Birmingham, UK

Reception

Lorcana has been received well, having a score of 7.3 on BoardGameGeek, [43] a Recommended from Polygon, [44] and winning Best Ongoing Card Game at the 2023 Tabletop Awards. [45]

Ravensburger North America’s CEO Stephane Madi claims hearing a "number of players who have told us that Disney Lorcana TCG has given them a chance to share their love of the hobby with their families, or how it’s brought a number of new faces to organized play events" and they "believe (and have heard from our partners and players) that Disney Lorcana TCG has grown the size of the TCG pie, as opposed to taking a piece of it". [46]

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