Card Shark

 Switch
Card Shark Image
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 10 Ratings

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  • Summary: Card Shark is an adventure game full of cunning, intrigue, and delectable deceit. "Our adversaries tonight? An unscrupulous group of scoundrels and rogues, rumoured to possess an unlimited fund between them. If we stick to the strategies you’ve learnt, this will be a walkover."
    - Comte de    Card Shark is an adventure game full of cunning, intrigue, and delectable deceit. "Our adversaries tonight? An unscrupulous group of scoundrels and rogues, rumoured to possess an unlimited fund between them. If we stick to the strategies you’ve learnt, this will be a walkover."
    - Comte de Saint-Germain

    LEARN AND MASTER NEW TRICKS
    Cheat your way to the top of 18th-century French society. Master deceptions using card marking, false shuffles, deck switching, false deals, and more! Use your ill-gotten gains to buy your way into the closed world of high-stakes tables.

    UNCOVER A CONSPIRACY
    ... as you climb from local card parlors to the King's table.
    A word of advice: Don't get caught. Your fellow gamblers do not take kindly to cheats…

    TRAVEL THROUGH 18TH CENTURY FRANCE
    Discover small towns, remote mansions, and luxurious lounges imagined by Nerial team (Reigns), game creator Arnaud De Bock (Pikuniku). Immerse yourself in the ornate visual artwork of Nicolai Troshinsky. Have your every move accompanied by an original score from Andrea Boccadoro as interpreted by an orchestra.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 29
  3. Negative: 1 out of 29
  1. Movies Games and Tech
    Jun 22, 2022
    100
    Besides how I feel, no one has to be a perfect card player to play this game or know how to play it. It’s mostly how to cheat and that is all taught to the player right before the real card games begin. Of course speed, accuracy, and memorizing are also key points to winning each game. So then when you do win you can move forward to even higher stake tables. Lastly, the game will provide plenty of challenges, build some great skills, and is a bunch of fun when you’re able to cheat your way to the top!
  2. TheSixthAxis
    Jun 2, 2022
    90
    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.
  3. GameOver.gr
    Jun 25, 2022
    90
    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.
  4. Vandal
    Jun 2, 2022
    82
    Card Shark is incredibly original and, even if sometimes that originality backfires, overall it’s a remarkable game full of good ideas.
  5. Siliconera
    Jun 7, 2022
    80
    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.
  6. Jeuxvideo.com
    Jun 2, 2022
    80
    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.
  7. Slant Magazine
    Jun 2, 2022
    40
    When you’re not performing exactly as instructed, the game’s narrow and inconsistent margin of error is just frustrating.

See all 30 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 2 out of 5
  1. gamingprincess
    Jun 17, 2022
    9
    Card Shark is an innovative card game with a twist. The storytelling is beautiful and exciting. You don't really understand how the gamblingCard Shark is an innovative card game with a twist. The storytelling is beautiful and exciting. You don't really understand how the gambling fits into the story until you're about halfway in, so give it some time. I promise it will pay off! I am a musicologist, and I love how this game creates the atmosphere of 18th century France through engagement with historical figures, music, and art. The gameplay on switch can be a bit clunky at times, but the overall concept is super fun and makes sense after grinding it out a bit.… Expand
  2. Ewas228
    Jun 4, 2022
    9
    In my opinion, the game is a masterpiece with an interesting plot, a variety of gameplay and perfect graphics.
  4. stephanrewind
    Jun 13, 2022
    3
    I had high hopes for this game but it came out as a huge disappointment. There’s undeniable appeal to the theme and the art direction. HoweverI had high hopes for this game but it came out as a huge disappointment. There’s undeniable appeal to the theme and the art direction. However under the hood it’s nothing more that a succession of very frustrating QuickTime events: mini games in which you must remember a suggestion of button presses or joypad input with very unforgiving precision. If you think that you’re going to actually play card hands, or be engaged in interesting card battles against an ai opponent, this is not it at all. You’re taught to press certain buttons in a certain order, remember how many cards of a certain color came out, or rotate the pad in a circular motion when a certain card is drawn, among other very basic and annoying gimmicks. And if you fail at any point during the sequence, you start over. That’s it. There’s nothing else.

    The game makes a very poor job at explaining the tricks. which become increasingly annoying. The game becomes very quickly a chore, and the developers knew this, since they allow you to simply skip the gameplay after a while, and move on with the story.

    Which brings be to another issue: there’s no connection between the gameplay and the story. Your successes or failures don’t impact the plot in any way, which makes the game feel even more disjointed. You never get to develop better skills either, as you only encounter a trick once anyway, so there’s no point in even trying to get better at them, is that was possible.

    The bottom line is that I can’t recommend Card Shark. I am even more upset by the fact that the developers and the published presented this game as a truly unique, original innovative gameplay, which couldn’t be more untrue. It’s nothing more than another take on the tired formula of linear story punctuated by useless QTE. I wish I has known there was a demo available because as it is I come out of this with the sense of being tricked out of my money.    … Expand
  5. guioiticica
    Jun 12, 2022
    0
    this game is so awful with a big lack of content. The soundtrack is very annoying

See all 5 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Best Switch Game of 2022
30
#30 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2022

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