Away From Keyboard - Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game
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This is why I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game (referred to as Lorcana from this point) into Australia, as Lorcana is a trading card game along the lines of Magic: The Gathering but with a Disney theme. So when we at Hooked Gamers were invited to a pre-release event for Lorcana, I grabbed the invitation and headed off to see what Lorcana was all about.
What is Lorcana?
Disney Lorcana is a trading card game (TCG) where you become an Illumineer, a magic user, in the world of Lorcana. This world is built around the concept of stories and lore, reflected in the name that combines "lore" and "arcana."
Players use magical ink to summon Disney characters, reimagined for this realm, to help you on your quest. These characters and other cards are called "glimmers." The goal is to be the first player to collect 20 points of "lore" scattered across Lorcana. As well as featuring all your favourite Disney characters which will certainly attract younger gamers to trading card games, Lorcana features mechanics that (at this stage anyway) are much easier for inexperienced gamers to learn.
Playing Lorcana
Players can either build a deck of 60 cards themselves, or purchase one of the pre-made decks. In a head-to-head duel, players take turns using cards and managing a resource called 'ink' to fuel their actions. Unlike trading card games such as Magic: The Gathering that require special mana cards to be played, in Lorcana, these 'ink' cards can be (almost) any card from your hand. Choosing which card to use as ink is the first part of the strategy in Lorcana.
Once a player has 'ink' in the inkwell, players can then use this 'ink' to draw a card onto the playing field. Like most TCG's, each card has a cost, depicted by a number inside a hexagon in the top left of the card, and this number will be the amount of 'ink' required to play it.
Once a character is in play, they can then be used in several ways. They can be used to quest, scoring players vital 'lore', which then exerts the character, opening them up to a challenge from your opponent. In Lorcana (unlike other TCG's), only characters that are exerted can be challenged, and this is where much of the strategy of Lorcana comes into play. Do you risk placing your characters in danger for the chance to increase your lore count?
Players can also use their characters to challenge their opponent's characters, in the hope of preventing them from scoring lore of their own. There's strategic depth in deciding how to use your 'ink', characters, and other cards to outmanoeuvre your opponent and secure victory. Each character card has an attack and defence value (known as Strength and Willpower), with a challenge reducing the Willpower of each of the characters in the challenge. If a character's Willpower reduces to zero, the character moves to the player's discard pile.
Art Design
Of course, one of the most important aspects of Lorcana for Disney fans is the art. And fans will not be disappointed. Being Disney, the cards are bright and colourful, and feature all of your favourite characters, set in some wonderful backgrounds. Indeed, some of the cards even feature some wonderful Easter eggs - such as collecting all the dwarves will enable them to be placed in such a way that all the backgrounds line up so that they appear in one complete scene. Whilst at the event, we were also lucky enough to chat with Matt Chapman, one of the artists for the set who is based in Melbourne. It is clear from speaking to him that creating the art for the cards has been a rewarding experience.
For those looking at beginning their Lorcana collection, booster packs and starter decks of the first four Disney Lorcana sets will be released in the coming weeks
● The First Chapter (June 1st - now available)
● Rise of the Floodborn (June 15th)
● Into the Inklands (June 29th)
● Ursula's Return (July 13th)
The full range of Disney Lorcana products will be available from August 9th with the debut of the TCG's fifth set
If you're a fan of Disney and enjoy strategic card games, Lorcana offers a unique blend of familiar characters and fresh, but somewhat basic, mechanics. Disney Lorcana products will be available at Australian and New Zealand retail stores including EB Games, Kmart, and other local toy and hobby stores.
We at Hooked Gamers would again like to thank Disney, Ravensburger and the team at PowerUp PR for the invitation to the event hosted at Ginny's Lounge.
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