REVIEW : Card Shark (PC)
A card game called Card Shark is all about playing cards—more particularly, about cheating at cards. In my preview, I claimed that I was quite skilled at cheating, but after playing the entire build, I can say that I’m also not very good at that. The worst thing about Card Shark, in my opinion, is that it doesn’t make failure enjoyable.
You take on the role of a young mute boy on a wild journey, escaping prison, defrauding French nobility of their money, and taking place in the early 17th century under Louis XV’s reign. Your life is permanently changed when Comte de Saint-Germain, your future tutor, walks into the inn where you are employed. You find yourself suddenly on the run because the King’s lackeys want to kill you and your partner. As the Comte’s apprentice, it is your responsibility to help him cheat and learn your own survival strategies. The Comte is a very skilled con artist.
You don’t need to figure out how to play cards in order to play Card Shark. The Comte de Saint Germain, an opportunistic knave and cool old lad, swiftly determines that you are a skilled card cheat when you (a mute French country child) meet him. He teaches you a variety of strategies to extort money from gamblers, each one a little mini-game to help the Comte’s hand.
Card Shark’s primary gameplay hook is adopting numerous strategies to cheat in a card game. For money and knowledge that will eventually get you a game at King Louis XIV’s table, you and the Comte will constantly be working together to secure a win, generally for him. These methods begin simply, like peeping over a player’s shoulder as they pour their drink, but they become more difficult as you learn fake riffle shuffles and intricate signalling techniques. Although the procedures themselves are conceptually challenging, how it all works out is rather simple.
In the beginning, you serve wine while examining an opponent’s highest card and learning cunning codes to denote suit and worth. The Baby Shuffle, The Honeyed Flip Flop, and other noticeably cheesy names aside, each technique eventually involves numerous phases that involve card counting, memorization, and a distinct set of control inputs. Your task is to complete each of these procedures accurately while moving rapidly enough to prevent your target from becoming suspicious.
A different card approach is necessary for each confrontation. These are simple at first but get harder and harder to recall as time goes on. You pick up sleight-of-hand moves, fencing strategies, and shuffling skills. Although you don’t really have much of an impact on the plot.
This is a very skillful balancing act. When you do it correctly, you feel like the smartest person in the room while slowly collecting more and more cash from the idiot nobleman across from you. A few of the tricks you learn include how to win a swordfight and how to flick a card on purpose to frame someone else. The sort of naturally rushing atmosphere for Card Shark enhances everything. You see, the Scarlet Pimpernel is literally right around the corner from where we are located in 18th-century France, and it turns out that winning money is really only a minor part of the objective. Your goal is to unearth a plot involving King Louis’s secret marriage, and with each victory you make, you move up the leaderboard.
I think the style of Card Shark is what I like it best. The 2D, illustrated style of art truly shines in this incredibly gorgeous game, which plays out like a cat strutting down the runway during Paris Fashion Week. Despite being drawn in very wide strokes, the small characters on screen are incredibly expressive, and even when they are cursing at or stabbing one other in the dark, they make me think of my favourite children’s stories.
The game that comes closest to simulating character actions with a gamepad is Card Shark. It’s best played with a controller; using a keyboard would actually make it more difficult. On a controller, it’s wonderful because every trick you discover matches your actions. It takes just the proper degree of force and precise thumbstick positioning to toss cards. Additionally, mastering these manoeuvres requires quick, accurate movements in the appropriate order. Just as you would if you were performing these sleight-of-hand manoeuvres with a real deck of cards, you get better and more fluid with practise. It’s a clever system, and each trick is unique.
Through a variety of minigames, you’ll use your tricks and methods to manipulate the cards. These games come in a wide range, and many of them naturally build on previously taught strategies, giving the game a smooth flow. whereas most are variations on memories games. Card count and deck building are blended in with timing- and rhythm-based sequences, typically in the form of the speedier or more covert tricks, to keep the experience interesting throughout. The difficulty lies in constantly maintaining the present and keeping your attention on your tricks’ objectives because most of these techniques are modifications of previously acquired techniques or build upon one another. This results in an intriguing dynamic that lends the game a feeling of skill.
The game’s visual aesthetic, which appears to have been highly influenced by the Madeline books and is in keeping with the setting of 18th-century France, enhances the mood of the game. The symphonic score is likewise flawless, with the card game’s theme taking centre stage. Beautiful illustrations depict each action, with segments at the table emphasising the dynamic nature of the different card tricks you execute. The basic but captivating plot of Card Shark is really easy to get into thanks to the flawless presentation.
If you pass away, Card Shark also offers unlimited second chances, and if you run out of money, a communal bank. You can also pull up a very rudimentary list of the procedures you need to take for a specific technique if all of your cheaty lessons are erased from your internal blackboard, but it is not very sophisticated.
The fact that you can’t play Card Shark for a long period of time before returning is a minor drawback. It’s challenging to remember the specifics of a trick while under constant time constraints. Outside of the first time you learn any technique, there isn’t much room for practise. The game restricts your selections to just three techniques each time, although there are places to earn a little money in-between the main tale that let you test out strategies you’ve already mastered. You have to juggle your own thoughts to get things properly when there are 28 tricks to learn. You’ll have a far better experience if you play it all right away.There are many things about Card Shark that are admirable. I want more games like this, games that find beauty in unexpected places and tell tales in fresh ways. It’s challenging to play Card Shark in the manner of a real person, with breaks and other things to do. Card Shark will probably have you completely mogadored if you are unable of counting cards and find it tough to pat your head while massaging your belly at the same time. The game “Card Shark” is fun.
