Written by Liam Bosecke
For decades the trading card world has been dominated by 'The Big Three'. Pokemon, Magic The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! Hundreds, if not thousands of card games have been born and died during this time. On average, a card game will last no more than two to three years. This may be due to a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being that The Big Three have already monopolized the space, leaving no room for competitors.
All of this may be about to change. Disney have partnered with Ravensburger to launch it's own TCG (Trading Card Game) Lorcana.
The game has officially debuted at the D23 expo in California to celebrate 100 years of Disney. D23 Expo promotional collector sets are currently available at the expo at the time of writing this for $49.99 USD with a Mickey - Brave Little Tailor being handed out with every set sold.
TCG collectors are already jumping at the opportunity to own the first cards for Lorcana with sets selling out within an hour of the event opening with 300 units of the collector set selling each day of the convention. The total number of Mickey Mouse cards is still unknown and all rumours have been debunked thus far by Ravensburger Games Team staff.
Ebay has seen sales of the collectors sets selling for upwards of $3,000 USD and Mickey Mouse promo selling for $400 USD at the time of writing this article. Collectors have instilled confidence in Lorcana given the names that are backing the game. How The Big Three will react to this still remains to be seen, as this is currently the single biggest potential disruption to the TCG space in many years.
All eyes are currently on Ravensburger; seeing how they will handle the Disney brand in this space and whether they can produce a game that captures the attention of the masses in the same way that other TCG's have. After inspecting the cards initially, it appears that this game has well tailored mechanics that are easy to learn, but difficult to master. A perfect way to capture audiences of both the younger and older generations. Pokemon currently has captured the zeitgeist of the younger generation as children focus on collecting their favorite pokemon, with very few actually playing the game.
Can the 139 year old company Ravensburger design a game simple enough for children to actually want to play? Will this in any way affect the purchasing habits of current Yu-Gi-Oh! or Magic the Gathering players with gameplay that is complex enough for players to actually want to play? Only time will tell.
We can expect to find out more about Lorcana later in the year, keep an eye on their social media accounts to get updated.
