A beginner's guide to Disney Lorcana

Disney Lorcana launched in 2023 and did something unusual: it brought a large number of people into trading card games who had never played one before. The Disney artwork got them through the door, and the game turned out to be good enough to keep them.

If you are looking at it and wondering where to start, this is the guide.

What the game actually is

Lorcana is a two-player card game where you play as an Illumineer, building a board of Disney characters and racing your opponent to collect twenty lore. Characters "quest" to gain lore, or stay back to challenge your opponent's characters.

The core tension is simple and good: every character can either earn you lore or defend, but not both in the same turn. Most of the decisions in a game come out of that one constraint, which is why it is easy to teach and still interesting to play.

What to buy first

If you want to play: two starter decks

Lorcana starter decks are genuinely playable out of the box — no deck-building, no missing pieces. Two of them means you can sit down with someone and play immediately, which is by some distance the best way to find out whether you like the game.

If you want to open packs: a booster display

A booster display is a full sealed box of packs from one set, and it is the best value per pack. It will not, on its own, give you a playable deck — booster packs are for collecting and for topping up a deck you already have.

If you want both: an Illumineer's Trove

The Trove is Lorcana's premium product: boosters plus a storage box, deck boxes and a play surface. It costs more than the packs alone are worth, and the kit is the reason to buy it.

The card treatments

Lorcana's rarity structure runs through commons, uncommons, rares, super rares and legendaries, with enchanted cards sitting above all of them — full-art alternate treatments that are the chase card of every set. Enchanted pull rates are low, which is exactly what makes opening the sets interesting.

How the sets fit together

Lorcana releases in numbered sets, each one drawing on a different mix of Disney films and continuing an ongoing story. Sets are designed to be mixed — you are not locked to one set to build a deck, and older sets stay useful.

The most recent release is Attack of the Vine, which closes out the Vine storyline and draws on Monsters Inc., Up and Turning Red.

Playing with children

Lorcana is one of the better first card games for younger players. The rules fit on a card, games run short, and the artwork does a lot of the work in holding attention. If you are introducing a child to card games, two starter decks and half an hour is a genuinely good afternoon.

Browse the full Disney Lorcana range, or start with starter decks.