Gen Con 2026: "Disney Lorcana" Previews a New Quest and An All-New Format for Fans

As hard as it may be for me to believe, this week marks my fourth Gen Con. By complete happenstance (sarcasm), it's Disney Lorcana's fourth Gen Con too, as the game launched here three years ago. And while, compared to last year, this event was a bit lighter on major announcements due to D23 coming up, Ravensburger did take this opportunity to introduce players to a couple of new things — including a brand new format that's now in beta.

First, let's start with the new product that's having an exclusive preview launch here in Indianapolis: The Great Hunny Rescue. This is the third Illumineer's Quest set, following Deep Trouble and Reign of Jafar. Unlike those titles, which were themed to villains, this one features Winnie the Pooh and friends as they take on the ever-growing Vine (like the one in the title of the latest Lorcana chapter, Attack of the Vine!).

Although I didn't play this one myself, I did have a chance to watch some more experienced Illumineers take on the challenge... and succeed! I will say, though, they were very close to defeat before pulling out a last-second win. As for me, I just loved seeing all the art in the game, which builds upon what the Winnie the Pooh - Hunny Wizard card delivered all those years ago now.

For those not at the convention this weekend to get their hands on one of the limited early copies, Illumineer's Quest: The Great Hunny Rescue will hit stores this October.

Moving on to what is probably the bigger news at GenCon, Disney Lorcana is currently testing a new play format! Codenamed "Format Coconut," this cooperative, multiplayer format has some big changes from the main format. For one, as you may have noticed, I said the words "cooperative" and "multiplayer." On top of that, a Coconut deck is assembled differently, as it can contain up to three different ink types (versus two normally) but can only have one copy of each card. The exception to this is the Coconut card, which you can have up to four copies of. You'll still need at least 60 cards in your deck for this format.

Currently, there are 18 Coconut cards that are part of this beta — all of which can be found in the Disney Lorcana app. Just go to the Lore counter section, swipe over to Format Coconut, select the number of players, and assign a Coconut card to each player. Since these cards are based on ones that are already part of the game, you can have those physical versions in your deck but then refer to the app for the adjusted abilities.

Of course, if you happen to be at GenCon, Ravensburger is offering a number of events to play test this format and gather feedback. In fact, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a beta Coconut card.

By the way, if it wasn't obvious, Format Coconut will not be the final name. Instead, the codename was inspired by Moana. As director of communications Greg Tito explained to me, Ravensburger wants players to "consider the coconut."

As I mentioned, we're expecting plenty of Disney Lorcana announcements at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. But, in the meantime, it's clear that the team at Ravensburger is excited about the possibilities of this new format and what the Lorcana community will do with it. Moreover, three years in, the future of the game looks bright as new characters, franchises, stories, and more join the world. So, happy birthday to Disney Lorcana — and I look forward to much, much more.