I Spent 5 Hours Playing Lorcana’s New Game Mode and It’s Ridiculously Fun
Lorcana from Disney in Ravensburger is quickly becoming one of the best Trading Card Game There. A healthy combination of strategy gameplay and Disney Art makes games of any age fun. I’ve been playing games since my first release in 2023 and recently joined a game group at my local game store, which makes playing even more fun. Usually, we play the full standard game, but this week I tried Lorcan’s new game mode, Pack Rush, which is the ideal way for anyone to start playing it.
Usually when you start playing a trading card game, you need some sort of Getting started. These usually include about 60 cards, a rule packet that will help you get started and some counters. However, they are a solo combination that feels like a huge commitment if you aren’t ready yet. To play the full game, you need two sets, totaling around $32. This can be tough for games you don’t even know about. Enter Pack Rush – a way to play with only two small booster packs.
The two players decided to pack the enamel pins as prizes.
If you’ve played trading card games like Magic: Gathering or Pokémon before, you’ll know that setting up the deck beforehand is the key. This allows you to plan your card and choose the right way to play for you. Pack Rush turns your deck to the head by making it brand new and random decks. Each time you play the game, you open two new booster packs and use cards inside to form a mini deck of 24 cards. You can also use the art cards in each package to start the ink nicely, bringing your total number of cards to 26.
Put these two ink cards in your ink from the beginning, which makes the game very fast. It allows you to pull out the triple card as early as possible and start getting birds to legend immediately. In standard games, the winning legend total is 20, but for Pack Rush it has been reduced to 15, so these early scored cards can be very helpful. Pack Rush also eliminates the rule of having only two ink types, resulting in unforeseen color synergy that is very interesting.
The rest of Pack Rush is almost like a standard game, except if someone runs out of the card, it won’t end. If this happens, you simply shuffle the discard deck and start playing again. Even with the new rules, Pack Rush games are faster and more chaotic than standard games. Because you don’t know what cards you might be pulling, the only strategy is the one you can put in with the first five cards.
Naseem found a super rare card in his Pack Rush Booster Pack. Luckily!
To easily try out new game modes, Ravensburger sent Pack Rush Demo Boxes to many local game stores. Mine-Call Crossroad desktop tavern In Old Manassas – enough to get about 20 people to play, and since we play Lorcana and Magic: the party on the same Tuesday night, there are a lot of experienced players and newbies who can come by their pace. Even the stubborn magicians participated in the act. With the help of our local Lorcana Guru Josh, they were happy to play in a hurry within minutes of opening their backpack. One of the magicians, Naseem, was even lucky enough to pick up an enchanted Sisu card worth about $150, around his backpack, which made his night unexpectedly enjoyable.
It turns out to be one of the best Lorcana events I have participated in so far. This is also one of the best ways I’ve seen to introduce new players – providing an engaging experience early on without having to make a lot of investment. The next Lorcana suit, Aquisia Islandcoming to the local game store on March 7, if you haven’t played in the game yet, playing Pack Rush with some new boosters might just be the motivation you need. I know I’ll be in my store, and for most of the launch day it will lead to the chaos generated by Disney.
