Lorcana features many common design choices in its cards but also has a few unique choices in the type of cards available. Here we’ll run down the type of cards you can play and give you an easy-to-understand overview of how they work.
What Card Types Are In Lorcana?
There are three unique types of cards in Lorcana: Characters, Items, and Actions. There is also a really cool variation of Actions called Songs.
Some cards feature characters, scenes, items, or songs straight from the scenes of the Disney classics we know and love. However, some cards take those and add an entirely new twist using with the magic of the Great Illuminary…
Characters have a name and a “version” of the character describing them. In the text under the name, they will either be Storyborn, Dreamborn, Floodborn – as well as some other “classifications” which tell us more about the character.
If a card is an Item, Action, Song (or both) they will have that word under their name. Lorcana card types are fairly easy to spot if you know how.
Rafiki is a character, this version is Mysterious Sage with the Dreamborn classification. You might see other Rafiki characters with a different version.
Magic Mirror is an Item and Fire The Cannons is an Action. You can tell because of the classification under the card name. Let It Go is both an Action and a Song!
What Is A Glimmer?
A glimmer is the name for a Character or Item that is summoned to the board. The name is a story-based way of saying cards that stay on the board when played. Actions and Songs don’t seem to be glimmers. From Lorcana’s story so far:
“With the power of your inkcaster, the image rises off the page. This is a glimmer, a new version of the character that only exists in this world. As an Illumineer, you can create glimmers of characters and items to add to the lore of Lorcana“.
Characters
Characters are the most common card, and they come in lots of variants. Because this game is based in the Great Illuminary, you will see many different versions of the same character. For instance, there are already six different Mickeys in The First Chapter – one for each ink color.
Characters are played by the ink cost in the top right of the card. They are played to your board but can’t quest or challenge on their first turn. They are the bread and butter cards of your deck as they are the ones that will take down your opponent’s characters and gain the lore you’ll need to win.
Look at every Lorcana character card here
What Do Storyborn, Dreamborn + Floodborn Mean In Lorcana?
Each character card has one of these three classifications, which tell us the origin of the character. Though we don’t know much of the story yet, how this came to be will be told in upcoming sets.
Storyborn
Storyborn cards are classic Disney characters that come straight from a Disney original animation or franchise. They can be from specific scenes or animated shorts, and the art is very true to the original.
Dreamborn
Dreamborn cards are alternate versions of Disney characters who are created by the imaginations of the Illumineers (you!). There are some “what if” Dreamborn characters who are more powerful or who have gone down a different path presented than their original story.
Floodborn
Floodborn is the most interesting – and the most unknown – of the types. Floodborn characters are much more powerful versions of characters, affected by a flood of ink in some way.
It seems like the character may have been caught up in an “ink flood” which has granted them this extra power. Every Floodborn character revealed so far has the Shift ability, with a high ink cost and an extra ability.
They also have a black “inked” strip across the middle of their cards where the ink color would normally go. We’re looking forward to seeing more of these cards and learning how they got this way.
Items
Items in Lorcana are taken straight from a Disney original film. They are played to your board using their ink cost. They then stay there and can use the abilities written on the card, as long as you can pay their cost.
Some items have passive abilities that always work – like Coconut Basket. Some need to be 
exerted, or have an 
ink cost to activate. Once exerted, they can’t be used again that turn.
Some also need to be banished by being put in your discard pile for them to work. Playing an item early on means you might get to use it a few times, making it very valuable.
Actions
Actions in Lorcana are one time use cards with powerful abilities. They can be played on your turn for their ink cost, and often represent scenes from Disney classics. Once used, they go in the discard pile.
Items can be very powerful when used at the right time. But holding on to an action too long can mean a wasted opportunity! Some cost quite a bit of ink to cast but have a sneaky way of being used cheaper…
Songs
Lorcana features famous Song cards featuring some of the world’s most well-known Disney songs. The songs we’ve seen so far are also Action cards. They are also used once, then put in the discard pile.
That means these cards with two types can either be used by paying the full ink cost in the top left – or having a character sing it. Any cards with Action • Song in their classifications both under the name can be played as an action or as a song.
Each song card states that a character with the right ink cost can sing the card by exerting that character. So a character card with an ink cost of 5 or more can sing Let It Go for free by exerting, without having to pay the Action cost of 5 ink.
Important: Note that a character can’t sing on the first turn the character is played.
Abilities, Keywords, Classifications + More
Know you know all of the different Lorcana card types. Let us know in the comments below if you have any questions or spot any mistakes.
You can use the card list to look at all of the different cards shown or teased so far for Lorcana. You can even filter cards by their type to see the different versions, or find a card that will fit into your deck.
There are still more rules and things to know about your Lorcana cards so you can start playing with all the right info. We’ll be putting out lots of easy-to-follow guides soon, so come back for more!
