How to Play Disney Lorcana: Learn the Rules in 5 Minutes

The essentials

Goal

The first player to 20 lore wins.

Ink

Put one card a turn into your inkwell to pay for cards.

Quest

Send characters questing to gain lore.

Challenge

Challenge exerted opposing characters to banish them.

Reading a character card

Take Tiana – Warm and Happy:

Tap a number on the card

CostThe ink you pay to play the card.
Inkable frameA cost with an ornate frame means the card can go into the inkwell.
NameThe character’s name and version. Up to 4 copies of the same name and version per deck.
StrengthThe damage it deals when challenging or challenged.
WillpowerDamage equal to this banishes it.
InkSix inks; a deck uses at most two.
ClassificationsSuch as Hero or Princess; some effects look for them.
AbilitiesKeywords (such as Support) or named abilities.
LoreThe lore it gains when questing (the ◆ symbols).

Setting up

Each player needs a deck: at least 60 cards, up to 4 copies of a card, at most two inks.
Use dice or counters for lore and damage.
Shuffle and draw 7. Each player may alter their hand once: put any number of cards on the bottom, draw that many, then shuffle.
Decide who goes first. The first player skips their draw on the first turn.

The turn

1

Beginning

ReadyReady all your exerted cards.
SetResolve “at the start of your turn” effects; locations give their lore.
DrawDraw a card.

2

Main phase

Ink a cardOnce a turn, put an inkable card into your inkwell.
Play cardsExert as many inkwell cards as the cost.
Quest, challenge, moveAnd use abilities, in any order.

3

End of turn

End effectsResolve “at the end of your turn” effects.
Opponent’s turnDamage on characters stays.

The inkwell and costs

Cards in your inkwell are your resources: each pays 1 ink, and they all ready at the start of your turn.

You can ink only one card a turn, so choose which cards to keep for playing and which to turn into ink.

New characters are “drying”

A character is drying the turn it’s played: it can’t quest, challenge or use abilities that exert it. It’s ready on your next turn. A character with Rush can challenge the turn it’s played.

Questing

Exert a dry character to gain lore equal to its lore value (◆).

+2 ◆

Challenging

Exert a dry character to challenge an exerted opposing character: each deals damage equal to its strength to the other. A character with damage equal to its willpower is banished (put into the discard).

Launchpad – Sky Patrol — **Your character**3 / 4takes 2 damageStays in play

⚔️

Locations can be challenged whether or not they’re exerted, and don’t deal damage back. Challenges banish characters; they don’t take lore from your opponent.

Try a challenge

Set each character’s strength and willpower, tap the opposing card to exert or ready it, then press “Challenge!”.

Your character

Opposing character

Five kinds of cards

Character

Your questers and challengers.

Action

Has its effect, then goes to the discard.

Song

A kind of action. Pay its ink, or exert a dry character with cost equal to or more than the song’s to sing it for free.

Item

Stays in play with a lasting or reusable effect.

Location

Characters can pay its move cost to move there; it gives lore at the start of your turn and can be challenged.

Common keywords

Common abilities, with their reminder text in brackets:

Bodyguard(This character may enter play exerted. An opposing character who challenges one of your characters must choose one with Bodyguard if able.)

Challenger+2 (While challenging, this character gets +2 Strength.)

Evasive(Only characters with Evasive can challenge this character.)

Reckless(This character can’t quest and must challenge each turn if able.)

Resist+1 (Damage dealt to this character is reduced by 1.)

Rush(This character can challenge the turn they’re played.)

Ward(Opponents can’t choose this character except to challenge.)

Support(Whenever this character quests, you may add their Strength to another chosen character’s Strength this turn.)

Singer6 (This character counts as cost 6 to sing songs.)

Sing Together6 (Any number of your or your teammates’ characters with total cost 6 or more may Exert to sing this song for free.)

Shift4 Ink (You may pay 4 Ink to play this on top of one of your characters with the name its Shift ability gives.)

Vanish(When an opponent chooses this character for an action, banish them.)

Alert(This character can challenge as if they had Evasive.)

Boost2 Ink (Once during your turn, you may pay 2 Ink to put the top card of your deck facedown under this character.)

Running out of cards

Running out of cards doesn’t lose you the game on the spot, but if your deck is still empty at the end of your own turn, you lose.

Multiplayer

Lorcana supports three or more players with the same rules as a 1v1 game: the first to 20 lore wins.
When a player’s turn ends, the player to their left takes the next turn.
When an effect has several players act at once, the player whose turn it is goes first, then clockwise.
As soon as any player reaches 20 lore the game ends and they win, even if it isn’t their turn.

Ready to play?

Deck Guide →

Pick a favourite character and get suggested inks and cards, then build the deck in one click.

Deck Builder →

Build a deck of at least 60 cards with the rules checked for you.

Core legal sets →

Which sets tournaments allow.

Quick quiz

How much do you remember?

1How do you win?

2How many cards can you ink each turn?

3Can a character without Rush quest the turn it’s played?

4Your 2-strength character challenges an exerted, undamaged character with 2 willpower. What happens?

5Can you challenge a character that isn’t exerted?

6What’s the smallest deck you can play?

FAQ

How do you win at Lorcana?

The first player to reach 20 lore wins. Lore comes mostly from questing characters.

How many cards can I ink each turn?

One, and only inkable cards can go into the inkwell.

Can a character quest or challenge the turn it’s played?

No. It’s drying and can quest or challenge on your next turn; a character with Rush can challenge the turn it’s played.

Can I challenge a character that isn’t exerted?

Normally no: the character you challenge must be exerted. Locations don’t need to be exerted.

Do I lose when my deck runs out?

Not immediately; but if your deck is still empty at the end of your turn, you lose.

What are the deck-building rules?

At least 60 cards, up to 4 copies of a card, at most two inks. The Core tournament format uses only the newest sets.