Disney wants in on the trading card game market, and Lorcana is their answer to Magic the Gathering and Pokemon TCG.
What has been described as a “more laid-back” Magic the Gathering trading card game, Lorcana will be officially released in Fall 2023. However, Disney fans (and also, I guess, even TCG fans) won't have to wait long before the cards for Lorcana get revealed. While Disney left us with a cliffhanger of an announcement, the TCG's first cards will be revealed on September 9 during the Disney fan event D23 expo in Anaheim, California.
In this new trading card game, players are thrown into The Great Illuminary, a “treasury of all the Disney songs and stories ever made — all the characters — and it’s where they’re kind of recorded.” Lorcana Brand Manager Ryan Miller, himself a Wizards of the Coast veteran and former employee, says about how the players are involved in the game's lore. “The players take on this role of an Illumineer — this powerful sorcerer that has the ability to bring these characters to life off the page. Illumineers will be bringing a band of their favorite Disney characters together in the world.”
Article Continues BelowThe card game will include a “modern storybook” art style, says Lorcana North America Head of Games Cassidy Werner. Whatever that means, we're excited to see what that would look like. Lorcana Global Games Creative Director Shane Hartley expounds on this art direction: “[Lorcana] was inspired by the storybook openings of classic Disney films and features visible line work and vibrant color washes” and “mixes both traditional hand-drawn qualities seen in fairy-tale storybooks with new digital techniques.”
The card game is being developed by Ravensburger, a German game and toy company that has worked with Disney before in bringing to life its Disney Villainous series. Knowing that the card game will be made by such creative and veteran people, we're excited to see how Lorcana will pit against Magic the Gathering and Pokemon TCG.