Reign of Jafar review — the battle for Lorcana

The Reign of Jafar is the eighth chapter of Lorcana, and as with all sets, it is more than just cards. In this review, I am going to focus on the unique aspects of Chapter 8 and take a look at the various add-ons and things that support the game, as well as the Chapter 8 cards themselves. I won’t be covering how to play the game. If you want to learn about the game itself, jump over to read our full Lorcana review.

The first thing I noticed about Chapter 8 is that the theme comes through very strongly in the art. Each chapter has had a certain feel to it, and the theme gets reflected in the artwork, but for Chapter 8, they really went all in. Every card you pick up has elements of sand or pieces of the Sultan’s palace. Desert scarabs, stone buildings, treasure, and illusions cover the set in gorgeous artwork. Lorcana has always been a pretty game, but Chapter 8 amps it up to 11. A true feast for the eyes.

Moving from the card art to the supporting products, let’s look at the card sleeves. Released alongside this set, we get two sets of sleeves with throwback art to earlier chapters. Giant Tinkerbell has always been my favorite card in the game, and I am thrilled to see sleeves featuring that artwork. My pirate deck is right at home now. The other sleeve pack features Sorcerer Mickey and would be perfect for any Amethyst deck. While both sets are beautiful, I’ve mentioned in previous reviews that the art sleeves have some slight edge curling that makes shuffling harder than an alternative like Dragonsleeves. They aren’t unusable by any means, but I’m not getting the silky shuffle I get with other, more mainstream options. 

Alongside the sleeves are deck boxes featuring the same artwork. These are decent hard cases for keeping a deck safe in your bag, but don’t account for any additional storage for tokens or dice like some pricier options. If you just want to keep your deck safe and looking great at the same time, these will certainly do the job. 

The Chapter 8 Trove is the same as the last few chapters in terms of what it is and does. A nice to look at storage box that comes with eight boosters, dice, card dividers, and a lore dial is a great deal as always. The dice in this chapter look like magical sand, which is thematic and pretty, but don’t have as nice a contrast between the dice body and numbers as I’d like. 

For playmats, this time we have a stunning Hades mat and a very nostalgic and fun Rescue Rangers mat. The darker tone of the Hades mat is great to make your cards really stand out and not draw too much attention. The Rescue Rangers mat is a little busier in terms of potentially distracting artwork, but I vividly remember watching the cartoon as a kid, and any opportunity to relive those moments during a game is welcome, so I find myself grabbing this one often. 

Chapter 8 is also significant because it features an Illumineer’s Quest. The Illumineer’s Quests are cooperative battles against a big boss and work as a standalone game, but you can also bring in custom decks. We did a full review of the Palace Heist box, but in short, it is amazing. As a non-competitive player who enjoys the game mostly with friends and family, it’s a fantastic way to play the game. 

There really is no bad Lorcana product. While you certainly don’t need the sleeves, boxes, and mats to play the game, they are fun to have and add to the experience. Huge shoutout to the artists who make Lorcana so much fun to look at and pour so much hard work and love into creating the amazing art we get to play with. If you want to enhance your game, I’d have no problem recommending any of these products.

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