The best part is that players won't need a pre-existing knowledge of card games to play Card Shark. Along the course of your adventure, you'll slowly be taught techniques needed to get the best of the other players at the table looking to take your money. It's easy to lose yourself as the challenge ramps up, the classical music kicks in, and the chatter of nearby patrons is drowned out by the pounding of your heart as you try to apply your skills of deception and sleight-of-hand without getting caught. Even though the time you spend with these characters is short-lived, the game's paced perfectly when it comes to keeping players engaged before they lose interest. All the characters in Card Shark are beautifully animated, in visual flair and personality. This deception game presents a bright, colorful, intriguing world that will sooner eat you alive than see you succeed. Will you ascend the ranks and learn the truth, becoming a master manipulator and card shark that would even surprise the mentor that took you under his wing? Or will you yourself become trapped in the very same massive web of deception and lies you've decided to use for your own means? Show more Twenty-eight ways to deceive your opponents, yet no time to sit and rest as important people want you dead. But, of course, to even be humored by those who might know a little something more than they let on, coin must be involved. Soon, the young man learns of the Twelve Bottles of Milk from the Comte - a royal conspiracy that is said to go further up France's hierarchy than anyone would ever think possible.

The Comte whisks the young man away, throwing him headfirst into a world of cards, cads, and con artists. A gun is drawn, a struggle ensures, a shot rings out, and the protagonist's life is changed forever. One day, an enigmatic gentleman known as the Comte de Saint-Germain finds his way into the tavern and swindles someone he really shouldn't have. In CARD SHARK, the nameless protagonist is tending to the tavern he's known for his entire life, never venturing much further into the world beyond.

Though the game offers many tutorials and practice rounds to introduce the many sleight-of-hand maneuvers players will take advantage of, the game can be a little unforgiving when it comes to even the slightest of errors when it matters the most. A character gets poisoned later in the game, and some characters will also get shot at, sometimes dying in the aftermath. The unique graphical style allows for some of the more violent moments to be much less severe than they would've been otherwise, but players will witness a character take their own life by stabbing themselves with a sword, as well as be a part of swordfights that might result in the end of someone's life. If characters aren't seated around a table dealing cards and using whatever tricks they can to get ahead, they're using one another to get what they want. At the core of the game is gambling, lying, and cheating, and though the pitfalls of embodying a deceptive thief are mildly touched upon, the game seems to somewhat glorify the lifestyle. In the wake of a tragic shooting after a card game gone wrong, players will take on the nameless protagonist who's whisked away by the mysterious Comte de Saint-Germain into a decadent world of gambling, lies, and deception. Parents need to know that Card Shark is a downloadable single player adventure game available for Nintendo Switch, Windows, and Mac.

Card shark release date