Disney Lorcana: Gateway Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Disney Lorcana Gateway, a game that steps you into playing the Lorcana TCG published by Ravensburger. If you've never played a TCG before, this may be for you.

Disney Lorcana’s (original review here) first year weathered intense highs and lows. Huge hype around the trading card game of Disney movie magic turned its 2023 GenCon release into mayhem. Sky high demand created shortages in the first few months that had fans paying several times over retail just for a chance to try it out and soured some players’ opinions against it for good. But midway through the release schedule, Ravensburger evened the keel in time to foster a healthy community for the game. Now it’s thriving at local game shops and bringing in new players every day. You can walk into most major retailers and buy cards today, and the game has a whole line of products and accessories to support fan fervor.

But for those who waited for this leveling out before getting into it, what’s the best way to enter the game a year in? Lorcana’s answer to this is the Gateway box, a starter set that gives new players exactly what they need to jump in. Of all the products out there, is this the right one for you?

Disney Lorcana: Gateway has everything that new players need to get initiated into the trading card game, tucked together in one convenient box. There are two 30-card beginner decks with matching manuals that have brief tips and tricks, a game board with turn instructions printed directly onto it, cardboard damage counters, double-sided character standees, a rulebook, a guidebook, and four sealed “gate” packs to be opened up as you play.

Each person gets a beginner deck, presorted for the first game. The rulebook leads players through a simplified version of the card game, and after the first playthrough, the players are instructed to proceed to the guidebook. Through repeated game matches, there are four ‘gates’ to be unlocked by achieving certain goals, like playing specific card types or