Hands on with Card Shark - Preview
Comte de Saint-Germain a card cheat and a man of surprising connection has offered you the opportunity to make a better living for yourself and punish the rich and give to the poor.
Card Shark is a gorgeously designed game designed around cheating at cards, and delving into the depths of a secret known as the “Twelve Bottles of Milk”. Taking place at the top of the 18th-centry you will deceive your way through the high French society and slowly uncover the secrets of King Louis XV and what that means for the secret that is the Twelve Bottles of Milk.
Card Shark is like looking at a constantly in motion renaissance painting. The entire game looks like it is drawn and painted onto a canvas and it truly illuminates the beauty of the world that you are stepping into. The details themselves are deep and intricate, and everything stands out without over staying its welcome. Every character is different to the previous, so far as down to the detail of their individual hands and nails. If for no other reason but to appreciate the art of the game, Card Shark is one that truly brings itself into the light and really is a unique piece.
Better yet, the game itself is incredibly fun to play and even hard to put down once you start. You’re given new ways of swindling people out of their money with each step of the story, and as you get further in you’ll build upon already created cheats to develop them even further. Some are as simple as swapping out a second deck and giving favourable hands, to holding a dealt card over a reflective surface to alert the Comte to what the opponents cards are. Some are far more in depth, requiring you to count your opponents cards, remember the suit and then how to wipe the table to relay this to the Comte.
The game does a good job of explaining these card tricks to you, and gives you amble opportunity to practice them over and over, until you feel comfortable. For some of these it took me quite a few tries before I understood exactly what I had to do to make the trick work, whereas others were far more straight forward and after just one or two, I was ready to swindle people out of their money. The game keeps you on your toes however.
The more you win, the more suspicious people become of you. The bigger you bet, the more suspicious people become of you. If people get too suspicious a few things can happen. You lose all your money and get run out of town. You lose all your money and get locked up. Or you lose all your money and then you lose your life to the barrel of a flintlock pistol. The game gives you the ability to play risky and win more, but at the risk of death.
There is a few difficulty options available in the game depending how confident you are in playing. The two lowest have a death save mechanic and you are never in too much danger of losing completely. However the highest difficulty, Con-artist, features perma-death as its core mechanic. You fail? You lose. That’s it, game over, good luck. The hardcore fans and those who believe themselves reasonably good cheats will thrive under this pressure and it adds an extra element of danger to the game. On lower difficulties, death is not the end. Not completely. You will sit yourself down across from an image of death itself, and you will play a game of cards for your soul. Hopefully you’re better a performing under stress, because a win here will take you back in time, and give you a second chance at life.
Card Shark is a marvellous piece of art and gameplay. A haptic feedback option leads me to believe that rifling through decks of cards will feel almost completely real whilst playing on PS5 or with a haptic feedback compatible controller. Whilst I played on PC, just the vibration in the controller gave me enough of a feeling to feel like I really was flicking through cards, or shuffling them through.
Card Shark is something of an enigma. A unique style of game with a unique idea. It’s beautifully crafted and the chosen aesthetic works perfectly for it. The idea of unravelling a secret being held by the royal family, and experience people’s deaths and extreme reactions as you poke and prod will leave you want to experience more and more. By the three hour mark you’ll have experienced some deep story beats, but still be rather lost in it all. There is a world of intrigue to be found and only by being the best Card Shark you can, can you hope to unravel it. Card Shark is easily going to be one of the biggest games of 2022, and one to keep your eye on. An absolute diamond of a game.
Card Shark is launching early next month for both PC and Switch, details here, so be sure to keep an eye our for our review, before the game is released.
