Aces high! I can safely say that I rarely see games as expertly crafted as Card Shark, by developer Nerial and publisher Devolver Digital. It is filled with passion and detail not only in its gameplay, but the developers’ knowledge of history. Set in the background of 18th century France, and the political turmoil that went with it, the game tasks you with deceiving the highest and lowest of society in poker, everyone’s favorite betting game. What sounds like a simple premise, instead houses a carefully layered story of political intrigue, which will reward the players’ investment into the game, and is there ever a lot to invest oneself into!
One of my favorite things about experiencing the game is, without a doubt, its art style. It moves at an almost stop motion pace, but is simultaneously smoothly animated with great amounts of detail on the characters, backgrounds, and surrounding items in the environment. While it looks great as a screenshot, the player will truly begin to appreciate how much attention went into it as they play. It helps to build the atmosphere, as while there are areas that are more refined, reflecting the wealth or nobility of their inhabitants, versus the more impoverished sections of cities or the gypsy camps, it makes everything feel just ever so offsetting, which perfectly reflects the tone of the storyline and the historical undertones of the 17th century France and its revolutions.
If you ever wanted to learn card magic/illusion tricks and/or cheat people at cards, do I have the game for you! Card Shark is exactly as its name implies – you will be cheating and scamming your way through a variety of environments, story missions, and a wealth of characters as you and your benevolent mentor seek to unravel a mystery and get rich while doing so (do not worry, you will be enticed to donate some of your ill-gotten gains to help with truly charitable causes – those orphans need to eat, too!). Almost every new mission brings either a new cheating tactic, a new layer to a previously learned one, or a combination of both, to add to your gaming repertoire. Some of these will be more complex than others, but the game is generous with both its unlimited chances to practice these techniques, as well as generous save points. Carefully though! It is autosave, so you can’t save scum your way through everything!
In addition, for the truly gifted grifters among us, the game offers a hard mode where a loss (and usually a bullet to the chest) means a permanent game over and a restart. Your slight of hand better be well practiced before attempting this, as the game truly pushes your skill by asking you to cheat effectively, efficiently, and all while pushing your luck to the extremes. I cannot think of a better simulator of these ideas at the moment, and as mentioned, it does so with the incredible setting and story attached to it. No matter what way you put it, if card games, intriguing storylines, and bluffing your way to victory sounds like your idea of an evening romp, I would definitely recommend checking out Card Shark when it releases today, June 2nd, 2022. You will not find a finer blend of mental calculation, historical fiction, mystery and drama, and good old fashioned French humor in a well cut and dealt deck cut by the card magicians over at Nerial!
Score:
Art and Music: 9/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Story: 10/10
Newfound Ability to Cheat Your friends at Poker: Varies on whether or not you are caught!
Overall: 9.5/10
Card Shark is available beginning today for PC via Steam.
Related: Reviews by Matthew O’Toole
Your local neighborhood nutjob, gamer, and teacher! I'm an avid fan of many genres such as platformers, shooters, horror, etc. I am also an avid tabletop gamer - hugely into the worlds of Warhammer and all of their spinoffs. I'm a big believer in being objective - even if something is not my cup of tea, I want to talk about it on the objective level - is it well made, crafted with love, and with care for the fans? If so, that's a good game in my book for someone and well worth their hard earned dollarydoos!
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