Card Shark

Card Shark blends its ingredients together with a confidence that befits the Comte de Saint Germain himself. Its story has satirical bite, while its colours exude artistry and gross flamboyance. The card games, meanwhile, are exciting, humorous and highly varied, with a level of pressure that ensures you can’t drop your focus. A full house.

Card Shark is unlike any game you’ve played before. As a card game where you don’t actually play cards, learning and executing various methods of cheating is a ton of fun. The historical setting contributes to the conspiracy central to the story, while adding its own colorful cast of enjoyable characters in the gorgeous setting of 18th century France.

Card Shark is an indie triumph. A game so original and unique as an idea, and at the same time, so well orchestrated in all the small parts that make a good game, great.

It’s hard to say if any given individual will find Card Shark to their tastes, as it really is its own thing in just about every way. While its mechanics are simple on their face, they can also be very challenging and deep. Perhaps best of all, they make you feel like you’re pulling things off like an expert con artist. When these sequences are woven together with an entertaining narrative and a distinct look, it’s hard for to call this anything but a winning hand. If you’re open to something off the beaten path, feel free to ante up.

No tricks, no cons, Card Shark is a real ace. A truly unique and satisfying concept, accompanied by a story that’s intriguing and witty all wrapped in a strikingly beautiful presentation results in one of the year’s best surprises and an experience not soon forgotten.

A tale of high stakes con artistry in the early 1700s, Card Shark never lets up as it teaches you card trick after card trick, has you run con after con while immersing you in a conspiracy that'd make a royal blush.

There’s not another game even remotely like Card Shark, and as long as you have the patience to learn its tricks you’ll be delighted by its charm.

Card Shark is the kind of game that at first blush seems like it just won’t work. Lots of dialogue bookended by brief, simplistic minigame sequences seems like it would make for an experience that would lose its luster quickly, yet we couldn’t put it down. Witty writing, high-stakes gameplay, and a gorgeous art style all come together here to make for a game that’s well-executed and unique in its appeal. If you’re looking to try something awesome that notably bucks most modern gaming trends, Card Shark is absolutely something we’d recommend, well worth your time and money.

Overall, Card Shark is a unique title with an interesting animation style and equally interesting cheating concept; all set far from today’s modern world. These elements combine to create a fun and engaging game that will leave a lasting impression.

Devolver Digital offers a new card game after the huge success that Inscryption was in 2021. With Dark Shark, they deliver fresh ideas and refined execution once again.

Card Shark succeeds at establishing wild stakes within its wonderfully weird take on 18th century France. It serves up a memorable cast, a story that rewrites history in a fantastical way, all the while arming the player with tricks of the trade that’d make Penn and Teller blush. For a game that’s more about playing your opponent than your cards, Card Shark is a memorable adventure.

Not only does Card Shark explore a topic rarely seen in the medium but it does so with such authenticity that you can’t help but fall in love with the ruse before you. The stunning art direction and clever mechanics successfully put you in the shoes of a swindler. With a dodgy deck in hand, be prepared to get hooked on the hustle.

This won't get nominated to a Game of the Year award, but don't let it fool you like one of the card sharks in this game: This is one of the best, and most innovative games of 2022. It's a game that really reminds me why I love video games.

Devolver has another winner on their hands with Card Shark. Using memorization gameplay to perform real world card tricks is a unique spin to the indie genre. The characters are fun and inviting with just a hint of devilish mischief up their sleeves, including the speechless protagonist. There’s a richness to the storytelling in both form and execution and that’s definitely a highlight in a more uncommon narrative mechanic. Cards on the table: This game is great.

Card Shark is incredibly original and, even if sometimes that originality backfires, overall it’s a remarkable game full of good ideas.

Card Shark is an intriguing title that tells an engaging story while hitting you with a constant barrage of mechanics. This can start to feel overwhelming, but persevere and you’ll be sucked into a truly wondrous world.

Card Shark might not always play a winning hand, but it is an enjoyable game of cards. A story that pulls you in, an art style that is a delight, all the whilst making card games fun. You don’t even have to be into card games to get the most out of it, I’m definitely no wiser about playing poker. Card Shark is worth placing a bet on.

Card Shark is a game that made me feel daring, and I was glued to my Switch trying to outsmart my opponents. Yes, every once in a while I’d come across a con I didn’t enjoy as much as the others. But considering the assortment of tricks you learn and the way the challenge grows, it still can feel very satisfying. Especially since the story that happens while taking advantage of marks is so compelling.

There’s almost no replay value to Card Shark, but that’s not a complaint. It’s a nice, compact and creative little experience that respects your time while also offering a complete experience. There is a cohesion between the art, setting, and period of history that it’s set that is compelling. Furthermore, the behaviour of the deeply corrupt nobility of the time that it depicts is surprisingly detailed. Backed by genuinely interesting minigames and a good – if stiff – challenge, publishing Card Shark has been another major win for Devolver Digital.

With its unique hook, surprisingly in-depth gameplay, and fascinating mystery, Card Shark is an absolute delight.

We were waiting for Card Shark with some impatience and as much to say that we were not disappointed. At the same time clever, original, exhilarating, effective, the game from the Nerial studio offers a unique adventure.

A wonderfully unique historical adventure whose seemingly simple gameplay is made wonderfully tense by artful presentation and a sharp script.

Card Shark est vraiment magnifique, transforming the regimented style of the digital card games into something truly magical. Quirky, daring, and beautifully crafted, Nerial has created a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that would draw the ire of the Mona Lisa herself. While we likely won’t see it in The Louvre anytime soon, this game is an absolute steal and is perfect for whiling away the hours in true period drama style – just don’t get too cocky, after all — history taught us how that’ll end.

Card Shark is an interesting concept with an imaginative story, great visuals and great music, but it was a little on the short side, and the cons with a lot of moving parts got repetitive. If Aviary Attorney whetted your appetite for games set in historic France, follow it up with this one! [Issue #62 – November/December 2022, p. 26]

Obviously, if you’re okay with WarioWare-style minigames, then that may be a bonus for you. And if I could ignore my dislike of them, then there’s plenty about Card Shark to make it worth recommending – and even with those minigames, I’d still say it’s better than average. But unless you’re really fond of wiggling your thumbsticks around every few minutes, you may find the whole experience to not be as good as it could have been.

Card Shark is quite entertaining, it makes you learn lots of card tricks. The most interesting thing is how competitive it can be even for a game like this.

Card Shark feels fascinating and fresh, the story is solid and learning the tricks is fun—but there are some annoying issues with freezes and crashes.

While its length is relatively short the game features a captivating plot set in the hallways of 18th century France as players make their way towards the royal court, deceiving others with a panoply of card tricks. With a gorgeous art style inspired by Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées and plenty of interesting characters to meet, Card Shark is definitely a game that deserves a good look.

Cheating in Card Shark is fun. It's a pity that the traditional control is too complicated and that does not go beyond being a collection of increasingly difficult mini-games.

Card Shark doesn’t quite live up to the full promise of its concept, but it has a few good tricks up its sleeve.

Card Shark features an attractive art style, subtle writing, and a promising premise. But I couldn’t get past my dislike of the core gameplay encounters and the endless teaching segments. I applaud the effort to pull together a unique concept, but the accompanying frustrations mean I have to discourage a sit-down at this particular table.