How to play Disney LorcanaThe 2026 beginner's guide
Learn Disney Lorcana in ten hands-on chapters, read every part of a card, look up all 14 keywords and keep score at your first game night. Updated for Hyperia City.
Players race to 20 lore. You gain it mostly by questing with your characters.
Once a turn you may put a card into your inkwell. Each card there pays 1 ink a turn towards playing your cards.
Characters exert (turn sideways) to quest, challenge or sing, and ready again at the start of your turn.
To clear the way, challenge an exerted opposing character. Both deal damage equal to their Strength.
A deck is at least 60 cards from one or two of the six inks, with up to four copies of a card.
Learn to play
Ten chapters, one game night
Every chapter ends with something to try. Do it and the next chapter opens. Your place is kept while this tab stays open.
Chapter 1
Welcome, Illumineer
Disney Lorcana is a trading card game from Ravensburger for two or more players. You play an Illumineer: you use magical ink to bring Disney characters, items and locations into play as glimmers, then race your rivals to collect lore.
There is no life total to knock down. Every turn is a choice between scoring lore now and stopping your opponent scoring theirs. This tutorial teaches the same game as the official quick start, checked against the 2026 rules.
The Illumineer's oath
Tap to take the oath, then carry on.
Chapter 2
First to 20 lore wins
Most lore comes from questing: exert a character and gain lore equal to its lore value. Some locations give you lore at the start of your turn, and some cards give lore as an effect.
Practice quest
Tap the card to quest. Each quest scores its 3 lore. Reach 20 to open the next chapter.
Your lore0 / 20
Tap the card to quest.
Chapter 3
Setting up the table
Each player brings their own deck. You will also want something to track lore and damage: the starter sets include both. Tick off each step as you would at the table.
Before the first turn
Tick all four steps.
Chapter 4
Ready and exerted
To exert a card, turn it sideways: it has been used. To ready it, turn it upright again. Questing, challenging and singing exert characters, and paying ink exerts cards in your inkwell. At the start of your turn everything you control readies.
Try it
Tap the card to exert it, then tap again to ready it.
Ready (upright)
Chapter 5
Fill your inkwell
Your inkwell pays for everything. Once per turn you may take a card with the inkwell symbol (the ring around its cost) from your hand, show it, and put it facedown in your inkwell. Each card there is worth 1 ink whatever is on the front, and it stays for the rest of the game. To pay, exert that much ink.
Ink practice
Add ink (one a turn in a real game), then exert 3 of it to play a card that costs 3.
Ink: 0 ready
New in Hyperia City: ink drops. Some cards give you ink drops. Each drop pays for 1 ink once and is then used up, and drops you do not spend stay for later turns.
Chapter 6
How a turn flows
Your turn starts with a beginning phase that always runs in the same order, then a free main phase, then you end your turn and the next player begins.
Play a turn
Tap the steps in order.
Start with Ready.
Fresh characters are drying. A character played this turn cannot quest, challenge or exert to sing until your next turn. Items and locations work straight away.
Chapter 7
Questing and challenging
Quest: exert a ready, dry character and gain its lore. Challenge: exert a ready, dry character and choose an exerted opposing character, or a location. Both deal damage equal to their Strength at the same time. Damage stays put, and a card with damage equal to or more than its Willpower is banished to its owner's discard.
Quick check
Which of these can your character challenge?
Want to see the maths? The challenge calculator below lets you set up any fight.
Chapter 8
Card types and songs
Characters quest and challenge. Actions happen once, then go to your discard. Songs are actions you can pay for with ink, or sing for free by exerting a dry character whose cost is equal to or higher than the song's. Items stay in play and work straight away. Locations stay in play too: characters can move there by paying its move cost, and you gain its lore at the start of your turn.
Look out for Shift: pay a card's Shift cost to play it on top of your character with the same name. It keeps the damage and the ready or exerted state of the card beneath, so it can often act at once.
Song check
How can you play a song without paying its ink cost?
Chapter 9
Six inks, one deck
Build at least 60 cards from one or two inks, with no more than 4 copies of any card. Copies count by full name, so two versions of the same character are different cards. Most decks pair two inks. Pick a pair to see how they play.
Choose your pair
Pick 2 inks.
20
Chapter 10
Ready for your first game
You know the race to 20, the Ready, Set, Draw rhythm, inking, questing, challenging and songs. One more rule: when a card's text disagrees with these basics, the card wins.
Tap a number to see what it does. Real cards arrange these a little differently, but every character card shows the same ten things.
4
Steel
34
Practice GlimmerInk Academy Graduate
Storyborn · Hero · Ally
Support(Whenever this character quests, you may add its Strength to another chosen character's Strength this turn.)
FIRST LESSON When you play this character, you may draw a card.
Illus. Lockett Labs12/204 · EN · 14
Try it
Challenge calculator
Set up a fight and see who survives. Damage is dealt at the same time, and damage already on a card counts.
VS
Theirs is banished, yours survives
Yours deals 3 damage. Theirs now has 3 of 3 Willpower: banished.
Theirs deals 2 back. Yours now has 2 of 4 Willpower: it survives.
What's new in 2026
The latest sets and rules
What has changed this year, newest first. Checked on 17 October 2026.
23 Oct2026
Out on 23 October
Hyperia City, set 14
Prerelease events started on 16 October, and the set reaches shops on 23 October. It brings characters from Coco, including Miguel and Héctor, and from Big Hero 6, including Go Go Tomago and Wasabi.
It also adds ink drops, a new resource: each drop pays for 1 ink once, then it is used up, and drops you do not spend carry over to later turns.
Characters from Up, Monsters, Inc. and Turning Red, and new twists on Shift. The headline is Team characters: one card showing two characters, which can Shift onto either of them. Its Illumineer's Quest set is a co-op adventure against the Vine's own self-playing deck.
17 Jul2026
Core rotation
Shimmering Skies, Azurite Sea, Archazia's Island and Reign of Jafar left Core Constructed. Core is now Fabled through Attack of the Vine!, with Hyperia City joining on release. Every rotated card is still legal in Infinity.
Feb2026
Running out of cards
Since the Winterspell rules update, drawing from an empty deck no longer loses you the game on the spot. Instead, you lose if you end your turn with no cards left in your deck.
Glossary
Every keyword, in plain English
All 14 keywords in the current Comprehensive Rules. Cards print a short reminder in brackets; here is what each one means at the table.
14 keywords
Alert
This character can challenge as if it had Evasive.
So your Evasive characters are not safe from it.
Bodyguard
This character may enter play exerted. An opposing character who challenges one of your characters must choose one with Bodyguard if able.
Play it exerted to protect your questers straight away.
Boost X
Once during your turn, you may pay X ink to put the top card of your deck facedown under this character.
Many Boost characters get stronger while a card is under them.
Challenger +N
While challenging, this character gets +N Strength.
It only counts when this character starts the challenge, not when it is challenged.
Evasive
Only characters with Evasive can challenge this character.
Characters with Alert can challenge it too.
Reckless
This character cannot quest and must challenge each turn if able.
Great for pressure, but it will never score lore by questing.
Resist +N
Damage dealt to this character is reduced by N.
It applies every time damage is dealt, in challenges and from effects.
Rush
This character can challenge the turn it is played.
It still cannot quest until your next turn.
Shift X
You may pay X ink to play this on top of one of your characters with the same name.
It keeps the damage and the ready or exerted state of the card beneath.
Singer N
This character counts as cost N when singing songs.
A cheap Singer can sing a big song early.
Sing Together N
Any number of your or your teammates' characters with a total cost of N or more may exert to sing this song for free.
Two small characters can share one big song.
Support
Whenever this character quests, you may add its Strength to another chosen character's Strength this turn.
Quest with it first, then challenge with the boosted character.
Vanish
When an opponent chooses this character for an action, banish it.
Only actions set it off, not challenges.
Ward
Opponents cannot choose this character except to challenge.
Effects that hit every character still reach it.
No keyword matches that. Try "ink" or "challenge".
Formats
Which cards can you play?
At the kitchen table, play whatever you both agree on. For events there are two constructed formats.
Core Constructed
The rotating format and the main one for official events. Right now: Fabled to Attack of the Vine!, with Hyperia City joining on 23 October 2026. Older sets rotate out in groups of four.
Infinity Constructed
Every card ever printed is legal, with its own banned list. The place for your favourite older cards.
1The First ChapterReleased 18 Aug 2023Left Core Sep 2025
2Rise of the FloodbornReleased 17 Nov 2023Left Core Sep 2025
3Into the InklandsReleased 23 Feb 2024Left Core Sep 2025
4Ursula's ReturnReleased 17 May 2024Left Core Sep 2025
5Shimmering SkiesReleased 9 Aug 2024Left Core Jul 2026
6Azurite SeaReleased 15 Nov 2024Left Core Jul 2026
7Archazia's IslandReleased 7 Mar 2025Left Core Jul 2026
8Reign of JafarReleased 30 May 2025Left Core Jul 2026
9FabledReleased 5 Sep 2025Core legal
10Whispers in the WellReleased 14 Nov 2025Core legal
11WinterspellReleased 20 Feb 2026Core legal
12Wilds UnknownReleased 15 May 2026Core legal
13Attack of the Vine!Released 24 Jul 2026Core legal
14Hyperia CityReleased 23 Oct 2026Core legal
What to buy first
Pick the right first box
Live prices and stock from our shelves. Tell us who is playing and we will point you to the right box.
Be the first player to reach 20 lore. Most lore comes from questing with your characters, and some locations and cards give lore too. Under the current rules you also lose if you end your turn with no cards left in your deck.
How many cards are in a Disney Lorcana deck?
At least 60, with no more than four copies of any card with the same full name, using cards from one or two inks. Most players build exactly 60.
What does it mean to exert a card?
Exerting means turning a card sideways to show it has been used. Questing, challenging and singing exert characters, and paying ink exerts cards in your inkwell. Everything you control readies again at the start of your turn.
Can a character quest or challenge the turn it is played?
No. A character played this turn is still drying, so it cannot quest, challenge or exert to sing until your next turn. Rush lets a character challenge straight away, and a character shifted onto one that was already dry can act at once.
How does challenging work?
Exert one of your ready, dry characters and choose an exerted opposing character or a location. Both characters deal damage equal to their Strength to each other at the same time, and a location takes damage without dealing any back. A card with damage equal to or more than its Willpower is banished.
How do songs work in Disney Lorcana?
Songs are actions. You can pay their ink cost, or sing them for free by exerting one of your dry characters with a cost equal to or higher than the song's cost. Singer and Sing Together let more characters join in.
What is Shift?
Shift lets you pay a card's Shift cost instead of its normal cost to play it on top of one of your characters with the same name. The new card keeps the damage and the ready or exerted state of the card underneath, and it can act straight away if that card could.
What is the difference between Core and Infinity?
Core Constructed is the rotating format: right now it is Fabled through Attack of the Vine!, with Hyperia City added from its release on 23 October 2026. Infinity Constructed lets you play every card ever printed, with its own banned list.
What is new in Hyperia City?
Hyperia City is set 14. Prereleases started on 16 October 2026 and it releases on 23 October 2026. It brings characters from Coco and Big Hero 6, and a new resource called ink drops: each one pays for 1 ink once, and drops you do not spend stay for later turns.
Which Disney Lorcana product should a beginner buy first?
For two complete beginners, Disney Lorcana Gateway is built to teach the game as you play. If you want proper 60-card decks, a 2-Player Starter Set gives you two ready-to-play decks in one box. For solo or co-op play, try an Illumineer's Quest set.
Do Disney Lorcana cards fit standard sleeves?
Yes. Disney Lorcana cards are standard size, the same as Pokémon and Magic cards, so standard sleeves fit. Use one sleeve per card and keep your deck in a deck box.
How many ink colours are there?
Six: Amber, Amethyst, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire and Steel. A deck can use one or two of them, and most decks pair two.
Lockett Labs
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