We’re quickly approaching the August 18 release date for Disney Lorcana, a new collectible Trading Card Game featuring characters from the world of Disney animation, but there’s still so much we don’t know. Tabletop giant Ravensburger has been teasing us with a trickle of new card reveals and has even shown the product line that makes up Lorcana’s introductory set, The First Chapter, but has remained tight-lipped on the story and gameplay mechanics - leaving those of us eagerly awaiting the game to speculate based on the tidbits of information conveyed on each of the 25 cards that have been revealed so far.
Smarter, more experienced TCG players than I have been hard at work trying to crack the code to Lorcana’s rules on Twitter and in the Disney Lorcana HQ Discord server, but as a certified Disney Adult (five-year Disneyland annual pass holder and Disney Cruise expert, thank you very much) I’ve been much more focused on the story. After all, Disney’s characters are iconic, but the reason they persist and resonate with so many people is because of how powerful their stories are. There’s a wide range of narrative depth among TCGs, but for Lorcana, there’s an expectation that narrative world building will be front and center.
I recently speculated on the lore of Disney Lorcana, based on a series of categorical typings listed on the cards. Alongside terms like Hero, Queen, Dragon, and Pirate, which describe the kind of character depicted on each card, are another set of descriptors that are more mysterious. I suggested that these typings – Storyborn, Dreamborn, and Floodborn – were closely related to the art style of the characters - and may even tell us something about their origins. This theory got the attention of Samantha McFerrin, Lorcana's narrative lead, who reached out to share some exclusive story details about the world of Lorcana, how the narrative will develop, and what to expect from the game's first four sets.
To understand Lorcana and the role we play in it, there's some terminology we first need to define. Lorcana's website has just been updated with a story synopsis that sheds some light on what Lorcana is and what role we're meant to play there. We are Illumineers, called to this magical realm to become its protectors because of our powerful imaginations.
We first find ourselves in the Great Illuminary, a place at the center of the realm that houses tools we need to create glimmers - versions of Disney characters and items that only exist in Lorcana. Using the Great Illuminary's lorebook and a tool called the inkcaster, we combine magical ink with story stars containing fragments of Disney stories to summon glimmers that add to the lore or Lorcana. Together, our job is to adventure across Lorcana seeking out this valuable resource called lore to preserve and protect it from all threats.
This is an exciting framing device for the game because it creates space for creative reimaginings of classic characters and plenty of room for original Disney storytelling, but it also leaves us with a lot of questions. What is the realm of Lorcana like outside of the Great Illuminary? What is lore, and what or who are we protecting it from? Taking a step back from the specific details, how will the story of Lorcana even be told?
There's a lot of different approaches to narrative design in TCGs out there. Magic: The Gathering is known for its complex story and ever-expanding world that grows with each new expansion, while the sets in the Pokemon TCG are only vaguely connected by simple themes or locations. From what McFerrin shared, it sounds like Lorcana will fall somewhere in between.
"The story will be woven throughout the cards, social media, and other materials," McFerrin says. For example, the player's guide included in The First Chapter's Illumineer's Trove will reveal info about who created Lorcana and the Great Illuminary. "We will continue to sprinkle story magic across various platforms as we unveil more." McFerrin doesn't allude to any specific supplemental story material, like Magic's novels, comics, and short stories, but it's clear that Lorcana will have some kind of ongoing narrative that evolves over time. For now, McFerrin is only willing to divulge a few key details.
She describes Lorcana as a “realm of imagination” with lots to explore outside the Great Illuminary. What exactly is out there remains a mystery for now, but one interesting detail McFerrin shared is that everything we see and experience in the game exists within the world of Lorcana.
In other words, when the card art shows a character in a particular environment - such as Hades sitting on the golden throne of Olympus or Rock Star Stitch performing on stage at a concert - those are all places that exist in Lorcana, rather than a reflection of some kind of alternate universe these glimmers come from. It seems like we won’t just be creating copies of characters with the inkcaster and story stars, but the entire worlds those characters inhabit too, all within the realm of Lorcana. Maybe this will open the way for location-themed cards later down the line, such as Arendelle or Toontown?
As for the categories each glimmer falls into - Storyborn, Dreamborn, and Floodborn, I was pleased to discover my theory has some merit. McFerrin says Storyborn glimmers are “based on Disney characters and items,” while Dreamborn glimmers are “versions created by the imaginations of the Illumineers.” Since we are the Illumineers, I wonder if that means sometime down the line Ravensburger might be open to player-submitted concepts for Dreamborn glimmers, like how both the Pokemon and Digimon TCGs have hosted illustration competitions to put fans’ art on the cards themselves.
As for Floodborn, McFerrin is remaining tight-lipped for now. “We’ll learn more about Floodborn glimmers in upcoming sets,” she says, which indicates that the nature of the Floodborn is tied to Lorcana’s unfolding narrative.
Given what we now know about the glimmers, the inkcaster, and story stars, my best guess is that the mechanism that combines those materials to fill the lorebook with glimmers either malfunctions or gets corrupted, giving birth to these chaotic, totally reimagined versions of Disney characters. I maintain that they will be born from a flood of magic ink, however that might occur. She says the origin of Floodborn, where they come from, how they came to be in Lorcana, and why they all share the Shift mechanic on their cards, will be explored in later sets.
McFerrin is also unforthcoming about the purpose of lore and the forces that threaten Lorcana, but she does say that each piece of lore is a “fragment of a larger story,” and that while much of it is kept safe in the Halls of Lorcana, others have been “scattered throughout the Inklands.” Keep these locations and terms in mind as the story unfolds.
Speaking of the unfolding narrative, McFerrin says that each set continues the story forward. The first storyline, which begins in The First Chapter this August, will continue its overarching storyline across the first four sets. Ravensburger has confirmed a quarterly release scheduled for Lorcana, meaning the introductory storyline should cover Lorcana’s first year.
A few extra details from our interview: when asked if Lorcana would feature any original characters, McFerrin said that characters, items, and actions are all based on existing Disney properties. Though, as we’ve already seen with Dreamborn and Floodborn glimmers, the designers have plenty of leeway to experiment with Disney characters and divert drastically from the source material.
McFerrin also mentioned that Action cards, like the recently revealed Dragon Fire, represent actions taken by the glimmers themselves - but they can also be actions taken by us, the Illumineers. That should get the gears turning about what future Actions might look like.
Finally, McFerrin says that the Disney characters and items “each have a role to play in the overarching story of Lorcana.” Many questions remain about what direction that will go, but knowing there’s a long-term narrative plan for Lorcana tells me Ravensburger understands how important that story is to Disney fans, and we’ll definitely be finding out a lot more about who is threatening the realm of Lorcana when the game launches this August.
An earlier version of this story listed 31 cards revealed, but this included the six promo cards. There have officially been 25 cards revealed.