Ravensburger has stretched and shaped Disney Lorcana since the trading card game’s first release in August. With the most recent set, Ursula’s Return, the gaming company released a standalone game that brings a whole new way to engage with Lorcana. Ravensburger sent Nerdist a copy of Illumineer’s Quest Deep Trouble for review. After putting in time trying to defeat Ursula, we collected our thoughts. Overall, Deep Trouble is a challenging battle and an excellent way for single players to access Lorcana.
What We Like About Illumineer’s Quest Deep Trouble
We love seeing a spin on the way players engage with Lorcana. Deep Trouble features all the same gameplay mechanics you’re used to from regular play, but the twist with Ursula makes it feel different and fresh. Ursula is a powerful villain, and the story and her deck reflects this. The dark nature of her deck adds a cool selection of beautifully creepy art to the game, too. This separate game enriches the lore of Lorcana, which we always enjoy seeing.
I appreciate how Deep Trouble allows for a single-player match or cooperative play with others. Having both options is helpful for those who may not play in a Lorcana league but still want to collect and play. The game’s set up is simple and quick to learn. Assuming you know how to play Lorcana, you’ll be up and running in less than 10 minutes.
Deep Trouble is a challenging game, as I guess it should be since you’re fighting Ursula. It’s a thing worth noting so you can set expectations. I was convinced I was doing something wrong because I lost so badly. Out of three solo games, I won against Ursula only once with the provided Amethyst and Steel deck. In the other two games and in another one with two players, Ursula won by hilariously large margins. I played all the games on the easiest mode. If you advance to more challenging modes, you’ll need your own custom decks to stand a chance—the rules for Deep Trouble even suggest this.
What We Don’t Like About Illumineer’s Quest Deep Trouble
My quibbles are largely related to design and packaging. Deep Trouble replaces the gift set for the Ursula’s Return release, so the packaging is similar to that of a gift set. However, this is its own game. Once you open the box, there’s nothing to contain the pieces in. You can use your own deck boxes and storage, of course, but I wish this came in a dedicated game box to hold the playmat, Ursula’s deck, the two player decks, and the encounter cards.
The playmat has only a single row to track lore. So basically, you can track Ursula’s lore. If you try to stack up the lore trackers for two players in that same row, you run out of space. Yes, there’s a place to track lore for Deep Trouble in the app, but I don’t want to default needing to have my phone out.
Illumineer’s Quest Deep Trouble is available wherever you buy Disney Lorcana.