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Disney’s Lorcana is a very impressive TCG (Trading Card Game) that originally released in August 2023 to quite a bit of hype. Disney plus TCG just seemed like such a strange mash up to me that I have only recently decided to try it out. I came across the Disney Lorcana Gateway solely by accident while browsing on Zatu and thought I’d give it a go. Ordered and it landed this week on my doorstep looking all nice and shiny.
My first impressions of the box were actually really good. The artwork on the front is very colourful, with some pretty cool looking characters on the front. The box is a good size which gave me hope that there would be plenty of goodies within.
So What’s In The Box?
· 2 starter decks of 30 cards in each deck. This is half the minimum 60 card requirement for a Lorcana deck.
· 4 Reward packs – You get to open these as you progress on the ‘campaign’ mode included in the box.
· A mix of 30 damage counters total.
· 2 double sided character boards – Elsa/Mickey Mouse and Maleficent/Stitch.
· 2-character bases.
· A game board.
· A rulebook.
· A guidebook with how to play links on QR codes.
· 2 helpful tip guides.
Gameplay Up Next
The Disney and Ravensburger team up have actually brought a really good TCG to the market with such great potential.
Sadly, the more that I have played Lorcana, the more I have come across a few issues that I felt were such an overlook that it’s a bit maddening.
First off, the Character range is good and all, but the sheer madness is having Characters such as Maleficent and Winnie the Pooh rocking in the same deck just really doesn't feel right at all.
Other TCG games follow the reasonable route of sets of cards having a similar theme, allowing for a good way of telling each kind of card from the other. Take into account MTG and Yu-Gi-Oh having set types of cards that all follow a similar theme. The nature cards in MTG or the Machine types of Yu-Gi-Oh keeping things in a clear and sensible order.
With Lorcana, this common theme is completely thrown out of the window which at first seemed really cool. But 5 games in and this lack of a theme just feels so backwards.
Having several of the same characters out on the board at a time looks messy, a bit odd but at the end of the day just doesn't sit well with how I felt the game should be.
Another grumble I have is that the 2-sided character boards are so big and chunky that they just take up so much room on the game board. They just seem way too big for the size of the board. Their bases are so big that you can’t even cut them down.
Now The Good Side Of The Game
The cards have a really good depth of colour and the art is impressive. Below is my favourite card in the Disney Lorcana Gateway box set.
Winnie The Pooh the Hunny Wizard!
He just looks so cool and happy that you really can’t help but love the little guy. Yes there are definitely better cards in the box and also in general, Pooh Bear is just too amazing to not get the best card vote.
The ease of learning how to play the game is also a great reason to get the Disney Lorcana Gateway box set. It will hold your hand the whole way though the learning steps and allow you to exit out the other side as a decent player of Lorcana. For any new TCG players that want a fairly simple and easy to learn game, this is most definitely the best starting game for them for sure.
Final Thoughts
Overall there is a very good potential in the whole Lorcana series, but I wouldn’t say that it’s overly exciting. If you are an experienced TCG player I feel that the simplicity of Lorcana really may not appeal to them.
Complexity rating?
Complexity overall I will give a 1 out of 5. It is a very simple and easy game to pickup, from how to play all the way to winning games.
Is it exciting?
After 5 games in I am fairly happy to not continue playing Lorcana. Unless there is a big overhaul of the game system, I don’t see myself spending a lot of time continuing to play it. I’m being generous with this, but I’ll give Disney Lorcana Gateway a 2 out of 5 for excitement.
Replayability? The Disney Lorcana Gateway box set has plenty of replayability for new players. For existing players not so much. The cards are all reprints so no new cards have been added to the series.
I will give it a 4 out of 5 for replayability.
Artwork?
Hands down the artwork is the best part of this boxset. The quality of the character designs is very clear and looks amazing. Each card is a work of beauty, really saves the set for me.
I will give the artwork a 5 out of 5, it’s really that good looking.
Component Quality Another great part about the Disney Lorcana Gateway set is the quality feel of everything in the box set. Even the box is nice and thick which is great. From the cards, board and even the damage counters, they all feel good quality.
I will give this a 4 out of 5 for the overall quality of this set.
Drumroll please!!!
Now for the final score our of 100. I will give the Disney Lorcana Gateway box set a 50 out of 100.
The artwork is all that saves this for me, solely due to the simplicity of the game that seems very basic and I feel it doesn't take it’s self seriously as a contender for a really good TCG.
A quick overview of the pros and cons:
Pros:
· The simplicity for new players to get into the game and continue playing.
· The Artwork which is the best part of Lorcana.
Cons:
· The huge Character boards just ruin the look and feel while playing. They are just way too big!
· The simplicity makes me not want to come back to the game anytime soon.
· The lack of clear Character themes throughout the game.
