Disney’s Lorcana from Ravensburger is fast becoming one of the best trading card games out there. The healthy mix of strategic gameplay and Disney art makes for a fun game for any age group. I’ve been playing since it was first released in 2023 and have recently joined a gaming group at my local game store, making playing even more fun. Normally, we play the full standard game, but this week, I tried Lorcan’s new game mode, Pack Rush, and it’s the perfect way for anyone to start playing it.
Normally, when you start playing a trading card game, you need some kind of starter box. These typically include about 60 cards, a rule packet to help you get started and some counters. However, they’re a one-player set and can feel like a big commitment if you’re not ready. To play a full game, you need two sets, totaling around $32. That might feel daunting for a game you don’t even know. Enter Pack Rush — a way to play using just two small booster packs each.
These two players decided to play Pack Rush with an enamel pin as the prize.
If you’ve played trading card games like Magic: The Gathering or Pokémon before, you know that setting up your deck beforehand is key. This lets you plan your cards and choose a gameplay style that suits you. Pack Rush turns that on its head by making your deck completely new and random. Each time you play, you open up two new booster packs and use the cards inside to form a mini deck of 24 cards. You also get to use the art card from each pack to start your ink well, bringing your total card count up to 26.
Having those two ink cards in your inkwell from the beginning makes the game fast paced. It lets you pull out a three-ink cost card early on and start getting lore on the bird immediately. In a standard game, the lore total to win is 20, but for Pack Rush, it’s reduced to 15, so those early-scoring cards can be very helpful. Pack Rush also eliminates the rule of only having two ink types, leading to unforeseen color synergies that were a lot of fun to experience.
The rest of Pack Rush is played almost like the standard game, except it doesn’t end if someone runs out of cards. If that happens, you simply shuffle your discard deck and start playing them again. Even with that new rule, Pack Rush games are considerably faster and more chaotic than standard games. Because you have no idea what cards you might pull, the only strategy is the one you can throw together with the first five cards.
Naseem found an ultra-rare card in his Pack Rush booster pack. Lucky him!
To make it easy to try the new game mode, Ravensburger sent out Pack Rush demo boxes to a lot of local game stores. Mine — called Crossroads Tabletop Tavern in old Manassas — got enough for about 20 people to play, and because we play Lorcana and Magic: the Gathering on the same Tuesday night, there were plenty of experienced players and newcomers alike to put it through its paces. Even the diehard Magic players went in on the act. With help from our local Lorcana guru Josh, they were happily playing Rush within a few minutes of opening up the packs. One of the Magic players, Naseem, was even lucky enough to pull an enchanted Sisu card, valued at around $150, in his pack, making his night unexpectedly delightful.
This turned out to be one of the best Lorcana events I’ve participated in so far. It’s also one of the best ways I’ve seen to introduce new players — offering an engaging experience early on without requiring a big investment. The next Lorcana set, Archazia’s Island, is coming to local game stores on March 7, and if you haven’t gotten on board with the game yet, playing Pack Rush with a few of the new boosters might just be the impetus you need. I know I’ll be at my store, causing Disney-generated chaos for most of launch day.