Lorcana is an up-and-coming tabletop-based card game, also known as a TCG, produced by Disney and infused with various Disney elements. While being a Disney product promises high quality, it also means higher prices, as Disney tends to maintain premium pricing for their quality merchandise. However, to counter the expected high prices, players of other tabletop games who are interested in Lorcana have devised a strategy of ordering and playing with proxies, allowing them to engage in deckbuilding at a minimal cost.
The game showcases popular and historical Disney characters, items, songs, and actions, and even provides multiple cards for mainstream characters. Lorcana introduces a unique winning condition, unlike any other popular tabletop card game, where players must accumulate twenty lore points to secure victory (refer to the ‘How to Play Lorcana’ article for further understanding).
Given its Disney roots, Lorcana offers a pacifist route to victory. While it is possible to win without harming another player’s board state, achieving this feat requires significant effort. Similar to most TCGs, players can inflict damage to their opponent’s characters but not directly to the opponents themselves. Therefore, combat damage is not a viable winning option in this game, disappointing Gruul players who favor aggressive strategies.
For players familiar with the popular tabletop card game Magic: The Gathering, Lorcana will feel comfortably familiar as it shares many rules and regulations, such as a sixty-card deck, seven cards in hand, and the concept of tapping cards to activate effects. Consequently, Magic players and enthusiasts of similar tabletop card games are likely to embrace Lorcana.
Lorcana serves as an excellent entryway game for newcomers to tabletop card games. It strikes a balance between relative simplicity and sufficient mechanics and rules to provide an engaging challenge. Moreover, due to its similarities to other popular tabletop card games and the enduring appeal of Disney, Lorcana holds potential as an educational tool in schools, fostering strategic thinking among students.
While the official rarity chances are yet to be revealed, it has been disclosed that Lorcana card packs will consist of six common cards, three uncommon cards, a foil card of any rarity, and two cards of any rarity between rare, super rare, and legendary. Speculatively, the rarity system in Lorcana may align with that of Magic: The Gathering, with common and uncommon cards corresponding to their counterparts in rarity. Rare cards would match with rare, and legendary cards would match with mythic rare, positioning super rare cards in Lorcana between rare and mythic rare in the MTG system.
With only 81 days remaining until the game’s release, Lorcana’s prices appear to be on par with those of larger, well-established tabletop card games. Individual packs are expected to retail for an average of $5.99, while booster boxes are anticipated to sell for prices ranging between $139.99 and $149.99. Starter decks are projected to be priced between $16.99 and $24.99, and the gift bundle will have a fixed price of $29.99.
Although currently available for pre-order, Lorcana is likely to make its way to game stores and major retailers relatively quickly, courtesy of Disney’s production and sponsorship. It is poised to occupy a prominent place on store shelves and is expected to sell out rapidly.
All in all, Disney’s Lorcana is positioning itself to become a widely recognized and enthusiastically played tabletop card game, potentially competing with popular titles like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! in stores. It may even approach the level of popularity associated with Magic: The Gathering.