The 2023 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Tabletop Game

It’s almost the end of the year, which means it’s time for ComicBook.com’s annual Golden Issue Awards, a look back at some of our favorite movies, TV shows, games, and comics. The tabletop game industry is growing exponentially, with more and more gamers across the world discovering the joys of sitting around a table and playing with friends. Whether its card games, board games, or tabletop RPGs, the tabletop game industry is continuing to innovate with more games, more types of play, and more fun for everyone. 

And the winner for the 2023 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Tabletop Game is…

Disney Lorcana! 

Traditionally, trading card games have been defined by the “Big Three” – Magic: The Gathering, The Pokemon Trading Card Game, and Yu-Gi-Oh, all of which greatly outpace their competitors in terms of market reach and playerbase. This year saw the first real challenge to that decades-old dichotomy with the release of Disney Lorcana, a new Disney-themed trading card game published by Ravensburger. The new trading card game combines a beloved IP with innovative gameplay and top-notch cards to create a fun and exciting experience that can be enjoyed by both veteran card game players and newcomers. 

Disney Lorcana is set in a world where Illumineers can summon “glimmers” of popular Disney characters using magical ink. A Disney Lorcana match focuses on a race to collect 20 “Lore,” victory points that can be collected in several different fashions but mainly by summoning characters and then having them quest to collect the amount of Lore on their cards. Players summon these characters by spending Ink, a resource generated by placing cards from a player’s hand into their inkwell, removing them from play. On every turn, players have at least two choices to make – what card they should move from their hand from their inkwell to generate Ink and what cards should they put into play?

The appeal for Disney Lorcana comes in how the game incorporates and depicts countless classic Disney characters in both the lore of the game and card mechanics. Many cards have some kind of mechanic that ties into their character arc, ranging from Mufasa’s banishment allowing players to randomly play a new character from the top of their deck (symbolizing Mufasa’s death leading to Simba’s rise as leader) to Ariel having “Singer” abilities that allow her to sing certain action cards as if she were a higher cost card. Plus, the artwork is fantastic to look at, especially in how the game depicts Dreamborn and Floodborn characters, which are versions of Disney characters unique to the game.

Demand for Disney Lorcana has been high since the game was first released in August, with many players lining up overnight to be among the first to get their hands on cards. Until the last couple of weeks, cards have been hard to come by both at game stores and retailers, but a long-awaited restock and reprint has led to cards appearing more consistently in stores. Between the fun gameplay and card art that is fantastic to look at, it’s no wonder that Disney Lorcana has become a favorite around the ComicBook.com office. It’s why the game easily ran away with this year’s Golden Issue Award for Best Tabletop Game. 

The nominees for this year’s Best Tabletop Game was: 

• Disney Lorcana — WINNER

• Freelancers

• Frosthaven

• Sky Team

• Ticket to Ride: Legacy