A player places a card face up on the table, then turns a series of cards sideways to activate those cards' abilities. The opposing player is challenged. Actions are taken, points are awarded out, and when the turn is over the challenged card has been defeated and is banished to the discard pile.
Sure, this sounds like it could be describing Magic: The Gathering or the Pokémon Trading Card Game. But there's a new strategy-based card game on the scene: Disney Lorcana, which incorporates characters, items and even songs familiar to Disney fans into a collectible card game.
Disney Lorcana will appeal to a wide variety of people: there are those who love to collect cards, appreciate the art and search for rare pulls; there are Disney fans who collect anything related to the House of Mouse; and there are the strategy-card-game aficionados who will love seeing how a familiar game engine can be applied to a different card set.
Read on to find out more about Disney Lorcana, including where to buy it, how to play it, and what Good Housekeeping Institute testers thought after getting the chance to play the game.
What is the Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game?
Created by Ravensburger — which also made the popular Disney Villainous line of board games and expansion sets — Disney Lorcana is a collectible trading card game that draws from the wealth of characters and environments from the Disney animated universe.
The premise of the game is this: Players are "illumineers" who use a magical tool call an "inkcaster" to create in-game versions of their favorite characters, called "glimmers." They then must use their wits, along with their characters' abilities, magical objects and songs to earn points called "lore." The first player to 20 lore wins.
Disney Lorcana, which is suggested for players ages 8+, was first introduced at the 2022 D23 Expo, where lucky guests may have gotten their hands on promo cards of seven different characters, like Mickey Mouse at the Brave Little Tailor or Elsa as the Snow Queen. (Uh, don't go looking up those Mickey Mouse and Elsa cards on eBay.)
Since then, the sets have become more and more available. The first set of 200 cards, dubbed "The First Chapter," went on-sale in mid-August 2023 at game shops and Disney parks. Then even more retailers had them starting September 1, 2023. In addition, Ravensburger plans on releasing new card sets about four times a year.
How do you play Disney Lorcana?
While it would take pages and pages to go through all the rules — though you can look at Ravensburger's handy quick-start guide to get an idea — the actual game mechanics will be familiar to anyone who has played collectible, strategy playing-card games before.
Players need to collect "inks," which they can use to activate other cards, including characters and items. There are also action cards that help bend the rules and do things like heal damage, banish an opposing player's character card or let you peek through your deck for helpful items. The goal is to have enough inks to go "questing" with your glimmers to earn 20 lore.
That sounds like a bunch of higgledy-piggledy, as Merlin would say (and yes, he's in one of The First Chapter). To really iron out how it all works, there's a series of videos on the Disney Lorcana site that go through all of the different game mechanics. Even then, feedback from the Good Housekeeping Institute testers said players weren't sure they were playing correctly, even after watching all the videos and reading the guides. So don't take questing lightly: This isn't one of those quick-to-learn, quick-to-play card games, and it does take some time investment.
If you are familiar with trading-card games — and this might make no sense to someone who is not — you might be pleased with one twist on the game mechanic. "Inks," which are used to power the cards, aren't their own set of cards, the way mana is in Magic: The Gathering or energy is in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Lots of different cards can be turned face-down and used as inks, including characters, items or actions. Sure, turning your favorite characters into inks means you can't use their cool or special abilities, but anyone who's been stuck turn after turn waiting to draw a mana or energy card will appreciate it!
Where is Disney Lorcana sold?
Finally, since September 1, Disney Lorcana has been available at many major retailers — it's no longer just for specialty shops and Disney parks. (Whether or not they're sold out at said retailers, well, that's another story.)
To play, each person needs a starter deck of 60 cards. There are three pre-made decks available ($17): Amber & Ameythst (said to contain characters that are both empathetic and loyal and magical and mysterious), Ruby & Emerald (with characters that are bold, brave and maybe a little deceptive), and Sapphire & Steel (for those who are strategic and straightforward).
After the starter deck is set, then you can supplement with booster packs ($6). Bonus: Each booster pack comes with two rare, super rare or legendary cards, so you know there's going to be something exciting in each one.
Or, if you already know this is something your family will enjoy and you want to go all-in, there are a couple of big gift sets you can buy. There's the Gift Set ($30), which comes with two oversized foil cards, two foil game cards, and four, 12-card booster packs. (You still need a deck to play.) Then the biggest gift of all, called the "Illumineer’s Trove" ($50), comes with two decks, two deck boxes, eight booster packs and player's guide.
Because it's so new, these are all selling out fast online — or the prices have shot way up. If you want to go on a quest of your own, you can also look for them in specialty retailers that sell collectible trading cards. (I even spied some booster packs in a Newbury Comics over the Labor Day weekend.)
Here's what Good Housekeeping testers said about the game.
Some lucky Good Housekeeping Institute toy testers were able to get their hands on a complete copy of the game — and it was a hit! "My son loves this more than his Pokémon cards, which I did not think was possible!" one parent tester said. "We have been playing nonstop since it arrived."
All of the testers were impressed with the look of the cards, too. "[My son] loves the artwork, and the character details on the cards." Even though the characters may be familiar, the cards present the "glimmer" of them in new, adventurous ways.
And other testers appreciated that there's an app where you can keep track of your cards digitally. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices.
If there was one thing the testers got caught up on, it was figuring out the rules. It's definitely easier to learn from someone else who knows how to play, if you can find one, than trying to teach yourself.
But even if you don't want to play the game at all, just collecting the cards and appreciating the art seems fun in and of itself!
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Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
