It’s hard to believe that it’s only been 3 years since Disney Lorcana was released. I still remember the chaos this new TCG caused at Gen Con 2023. Lines were massive, people lined up for hours ahead of time, and some people were even trampled. Needless to say, it was a hugely anticipated release.
Since its release, Ravensburger has thoroughly supported the game with 10 expansions so far, the latest of which is Attack of the Vine. However, we are not here to talk about the new set today. Instead, we are going to dive into the new Illumineer’s Quest, The Great Hunny Rescue.
Gameplay Overview:
If you are not familiar with Illumineer’s Quests, they are a fully cooperative (or solo) way to play Lorcana. The box comes with 2 pre-made decks, 3 booster packs, and a boss deck. Players are also free to use their own deck. In fact, it’s encouraged for the harder scenarios.
But the gameplay is mostly identical to core Locarna, for a player’s turn at least. The difference is that the boss starts the game by taking a turn. First, it activates any cards in its play area, usually questing for Lore. After which, it plays a number of cards based on its draw value. These will usually spawn more monsters, but they could also be action cards that attack the player’s characters.
Each scenario, of which there are 2 in the box (but with a hard and normal mode for each), requires you to work your way through 3 encounter cards. Each encounter creates special rules and is passed when all players reach a certain Lore threshold. Doing so completes the encounter, usually rescuing a character for the players, and activates the next encounter. After the 3rd encounter is revealed, the boss shows up, whom players must defeat to win.
Game Experience:
When we met with Ravensburger at Gen Con this year, we talked about a lot of their new releases. See quick reviews on Ravensburger games here for some of the early takes. But one of the more interesting things I found out was that there was a fully cooperative way to play Lorcana. I haven’t played it since 2023, so I was a bit out of the loop. Once I found out about The Great Hunny Rescue, I was eager to try it. I enjoy the gameplay in Lorcana, but don’t have a dedicated partner to play it with.
Enter the Illumineer’s Quest. Not only can I play this solo, but I can play cooperatively as well. My kids have been really interested in Lorcana, but are just outside the range where they can really do well in the game. So it’s hard for me to play against them and not just obliterate them (good life lesson for them, though). But with The Great Hunny Quest, we can play cooperatively, and I can help them with strategy and card play. It’s a win all around.
And let me tell you, the actual scenarios are not pushovers. I’ve lost both of them on normal mode. Yes, the card draws can make it a tad swingy, but it never feels unfair. The “Vine” is the main antagonist, and it can really churn out characters. This forces the player to divide their time between attacking its vinelings or questing for lore. And in some of the encounters, you are really going to want to quest as quickly as possible, because the penalty you suffer until it’s beat can really hurt.
For example, in Encounter 2 of The Search for Piglet, all of the Vine Tendril characters gain Evasive. We slowed down on questing the first time we played this one and soon got overrun by vines. We just didn’t have enough evasive characters to keep them in check, which eventually gave them too many and allowed them to generate a ton of Lore. The next time we played it, we focused exclusively on burning through the Lore to beat that encounter as quickly as possible, and things went much better for us.
I think to really have the most fun with The Great Hunny Rescue, you are going to want to create your own deck. The two starter decks included are fine, but not very strong. I have no doubt players can create their own decks to really put the hurt on the vinelings. Unfortunately, I don’t have a big enough Lorcana collection to really make a good custom deck, so I wasn’t able to test this theory.
My only real complaint with the box set is that there is no rulebook for core Lorcana, it either assumes you already know how to play, or you can just use the QR code for the digital rulebook. That, and the tracking of lore on the game board isn’t the best. The tokens are rather large and can easily get jostled. But other than that, the production quality was superb.
Final Thoughts:
I’m a big fan of the Illumineer’s Quest for Disney Lorcana. I didn’t know this cooperative mode existed before, but now I’m all for it. I want to dig up some of the previous Illumineer’s Quests and give them a try now. But regardless, this is a great new addition for Lorcana fans. And if you are like me and never got huge into the competitive scene for Lorcana, but did enjoy the gameplay, this could open up a new opportunity for you to play the game.
Final Score: 4 Stars – A new play mode for Disney Lorcana makes it more accessible to everyone, especially younger players.
Hits:
• Great way to play Lorcana cooperatively
• Bosses are challenging and offer two difficulty levels
• Comes with 2 premade decks, or use your own
• They even throw you a few booster packs
Misses:
• No core Lorcana rulebook included
• Lore tracking tokens aren’t the best
