Card Shark Review (PC)

I think I understand how to actually reveal the card that someone else chooses out of a deck of cards. Not in the real world, of course, where emotions would get the better of me and my hands would tremble and lead to failure. But in Card Shark, I can now do it reliably, after having quite a few issues with it on the first try. The game showed me how to perform it, gave my character the space to practice, and does not take into account my fat fingers.

So, I move around locations in France, trying to part people from their money by performing card tricks that I would never dream of in the real world. But as the difficulty and stakes increase, I find that nerves can ruin even a virtual hand when trying to cheat with the big boys.

Card Shark is developed by Nerial, with publishing in the hands of Devolver Digital. The game is available on the PC via Steam, where I played it, and on the Nintendo Switch. As the name implies the title focuses on showing players a range of card cheating techniques and giving them the space to try and perfect their use.

The protagonist is a young mute with a knack for learning how to cheat at cards. He becomes a protege of the Comte de Saint-Germain, who relies on him to win card games against the French upper class in the XVII century. Secrets (and Voltaire) soon come up and there are hints of a deeper narrative, centered on the King and his own high-betting table. The game’s world is not aiming for historical accuracy, but the writing does a good job of communicating the stakes, although Saint-Germain can become a little annoying, especially when the game uses his conversations to critique the social system.

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At first, Card Shark seems simple in terms of mechanics. Pour wine, read an opponent's cards, and use motions to signal the Comte what you have learned. Three Card Monte is next, a little more challenging, with a trick built around rhythm. Then the complexity ramps up significantly.

The player has to keep in mind the cards he sees on opponents, the way to signal, and how to cut a deck to deal a good hand to his benefactor. And this is just the fourth trick out of 28 that are featured. There’s a lot of space to rehearse moves and get them down but, when attempting to make progress, players will have to execute with an attached time pressure (showing the suspicion of other players).

When the pair of protagonists are not working with cards directly, the game offers a few other limited mechanics. Some strategies require moving between points of interest. Players will go to explore places in France, each inhabited by suspicious but obsessive card players. There are dialogues to click through. Fail and you’ll have to go back to places where the cheating is easier to restore your gold reserves. Fail there and death might become a possibility (although it seems that there are special terms for good card cheats).

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Card Shark works hard to disguise the fact that actually performing tricks, especially the high-end ones, is a chore. Some familiar historical figures appear and talk about the era and its mores. There’s a juicy plot that might be important to the Comte and the king's fate. These are all designed to keep the player engaged while he swipes, counts, places, and cuts cards in increasingly familiar but complex ways. But I never felt like the higher-level cheating, with its many steps and required memorization was worth investing in.

Card Shark cleverly uses its look to attract players that might be a little afraid of the complexity of its gameplay. Everything looks like a modern, satirical, comic book-influenced take on courtly painting from the XVIII century. It’s funny and immersive, contrasting with the complexity of the card action. The music is well paired with the setting, but it can actually sometimes distract the player from completing the required cheating, which is why I turned it down.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion