CARD Shark is not a game of cards. It’s about how the sharks use their tactics to win at cards.
I went into this game with no knowledge of this game, only lacking in skills of the majority of card games out there. That’s what made Card Shark, developed by Nerial and published by Devolver Digital for PC and Nintendo Switch (reviewed) so intriguing.
Welcome to the world of Pre-Revolutionary France, as a lowly drink servant at the local tavern who is unable to speak due to being born without a tongue. It is here where you will meet a charming, yet devilish Card Shark known as the Comte de Saint-Germain who takes you under his wing for his latest scam.
The game then sets off with its many tutorials of scamming skills you will need to learn if you are going to earn your coin in this world. The first job is simple: remember the motions of cleaning the table to let the Comte know what the majority of cards his opponents are holding. Clockwise, counter-clockwise, up-down, left-right all signify the corresponding suits of each card. Simple. It is from this moment, where you start helping the Comte that the cards of fate are dealt and you must leave and seek your fortune.
Or so you think.
After stopping for refuge at a campsite, where a friend of the Comte’s is located and you start to learn more card tricks then no sooner does the map open up and the con is on. Before each tavern, Inn or even manor you visit, you are given instructions of how each trick will work and how things will need to be changed up ever so slightly to avoid suspicion in each area. As the game progressed, these tutorials became almost too much for me. Each new cheat added to the complexity of what seemed to be a basic trick when it first started out. So make sure you are paying attention to each of these cheats. Otherwise an exercise of frustration will haunt you throughout the game.
But also take the time to practise these parlour tricks because when you master them and are able to perfect them, you will walk away with a certain level of satisfaction knowing that you have just pulled off a card trick, a combination and quick time event all in succession. By the end of the game, my mind was fried from all the tricks I had learnt.
Soon after starting your first job, you will start to notice that the people you are playing against will start to get suspicious in a few different ways while playing cards with them. So, to maximise your winnings, you really need to be confident, sneaky and fast at doing what you are doing. Whether you are pouring a drink to peek at the cards or shuffling, the more time you take, the quicker the suspicion meter will rise and your time to earn money will deplete.
There are 28 tricks in total to learn, some are variations of basic tricks you will learn at the start, then progressing to 2-3 different styles of tricks. The further you play on, the easier these get and settle with your memory. Others will be magic tricks that you can fall back on if you’re out of luck and coin. As I commented earlier, don’t feel ashamed to use the hints as these games get more complex as time goes on.
I must however admit, there was a mission that really tried my patience where we were trying to buy time from some bounty hunters which resulted in a game over screen multiple times and the game didn’t exactly tell me what I was doing wrong. However after around five times, it offered to let me pass this to progress the story. A nice touch as the story was just starting to kick off.
While progressing throughout the game you start to realise that it was perhaps not fate that brought yourself and the Comte together and that there is an overall story here – one to rival a story from Shakespeare himself, one of intrigue, deception and scandal, with some secrets taking them to the grave. While speaking of graves…. If you find that you have met an early demise throughout your adventures, fear not. There are a few ways you can cheat ‘death’ with the skills you have acquired during your time with the game.
The water painted art style of this game is one to really impress as it is rather quite beautiful and really suits the time period. Also, while there are no voice actors in this game, it is fairly simple to read, but I really felt not being able to associate a voice with a character throughout the game hurt the title in some instances, as there are many characters to remember.
Real world figure Comte de Saint-Germain is your main companion throughout the game. You will also play and elude many others including the law, Counts, Inn owners, all the way to playing against the King himself.
Concluding.While there are moments in the game that are worth your time as I did find the game’s story to be interesting. Once you think you have it worked out, there is another twist to be added to completely change your mind. But with so many tutorials and the 28 tricks to remember. This game is recommended towards fans of a Rubix Cube. You don’t need to be a card’s fan to enjoy the gameplay, but you really do need the patience to learn and remember all of these tricks which become more complex towards the end.
This was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch
