I have a confession to make. Even though I was at GenCon for Disney Lorcana’s big debut last year, observed the first-ever starter deck challenge at the event, and have hundreds of cards across each of the sets released so far, I am absolutely atrocious at actually playing the game. That’s why I was excited when Ravensburger announced a new learn-to-play game called Disney Lorcana TCG Gateway. Now, having had the chance to check out this new Gateway offering, I can say that I now have a much better understanding of the TCG.
Please note: Ravensburger provided me with Disney Lorcana TCG Gateway for the purposes of review. The opinions are my own.
Disney Lorcana TCG Gateway is a standalone set meant for two players. In the box, you’ll find a cardboard playboard, two 30-card initial decks, 4 packs of additional cards (which we’ll talk about in a moment), a supply of damage counters, two player tokens, and materials that explain the game in detail. On that note, to get started, you’ll want to read through the rules book to get an overview of Lorcana’s mechanics, terms, and more. Now’s also a good time to mention that you’ll find several QR codes that you can scan to access helpful video tutorials.
Once you’ve gained a basic knowledge of Disney Lorcana, it’s time to face off for your first game. To help ensure that you don’t end up with an untenable hand, Gateway dictates the first seven cards each player should have in their hand. What’s more, one of the aforementioned videos will show you a dummy game demonstrating some possible gameplay scenarios using these specific cards. Just like with regular Lorcana, you and your opponent will compete to see who can reach 20 Lore first.
With your first game under your belt, it’s time to move onto the other included booklet. Here, you’ll find a series of goals you’ll want to check off in order to unlock more cards and learn more about the game. Basically, achieving these goals will expose you to different gameplay competents and give you experience with them. By the way, while the matches continue to be competitive, the goals can be achieved by the players together.
The first three additional packs of cards introduce three different card concepts: Songs, Items, and Floordborn Shift, respectively. As for the fourth pack, it will just bring your deck up to 66 cards but won’t introduce any new card types.
Speaking of cards, let me give you a few more details about what’s included (without giving everything away, of course). First, one Gateway player will command a deck made up of Amber and Amethyst cards while the other will play with Ruby and Sapphire. Next, these decks are comprised of cards from the first four chapters of Disney Lorcana. I was very happy to find it even includes some cards I’ve long wanted but didn’t yet have — namely Winnie the Pooh – Hunny Wizard. However, I did notice that the set does not include any Locations cards despite this game element being introduced in Into the Inklands (the third release).
Turning to my thoughts on the Disney Lorcana TCG Gateway, I thought that concept was well executed and that the idea of having new cards introduced upon achieving goals was quite clever. I also thought that the instructions were clearly written, making it much easier to understand overall. Unfortunately, despite all of that, we did still come across a few cards that had us scratching our heads and wondering exactly how it was meant to be played. In these cases, we found that answers we seeked were often found on Reddit — although, in other cases, we did our best to try to arrive at an interpretation we could agree on… even if it may have been wrong.
With that said, between the supporting materials and gameplay reps you get while trying to mark off goals, we really started to get the hang of the game as we went on. In particular, you can truly see how many different ways a game can go — with some ending quite quickly and others getting dragged out for various reasons. On the topic of things being dragged out, though, I will warn players that reaching all the goals can take quite a few plays as getting to those new cards as your deck grows isn’t so easy.
Finally, the most impressive part of Disney Lorcana TCG Gateway may be the price. Retailing for $24.99, the game is kind of a steal. When all is said and done, players will have two playable decks — which, when compared to the cost of two starter decks, is a $9 savings. Granted, unlike those starter decks, this game doesn’t include additional booster packs or any foil cards. Still, it strikes me as a pretty good deal. I’m also kind of shocked by how much more affordable Gateway is than the other recent Lorcana standalone release Illumineer’s Quest: Deep Trouble (which fetches more than twice as much at retail).
All in all, I really enjoyed Disney Lorcana TCG Gateway and honestly feel as though I learned a lot along the way. Moreover, not only is the gameplay accessible but the price for this solo release is as well. For those reasons, if you’ve been meaning to get into Disney Lorcana but either haven’t had the chance or couldn’t get up to speed, I’d definitely recommend checking out Gateway.
Disney Lorcana TCG Gateway is now available exclusively at Target and will be available at local game stores as well as mass retailers on August 9th.