History VideoGame / CardShark

* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The protagonist starts and ends the game by performing the same card trick. Additionally, the first and last thing he can do is to pet the dog in the tavern.]]

** The real life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St._Germain Comte de Saint Germain]] plays a major role in the plot. Other historical characters from his era, such as Creator/{{Voltaire}}, appear as well.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The real life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St._Germain Comte de Saint Germain]] plays a major role in the plot. Other historical characters from his era, such as Creator/{{Voltaire}}, appear as well.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: When one of your targets starts catching onto what you're doing, the best option is to intentionally fail your sleight-of-hand and let them win a round.

* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The protagonist starts and ends the game by performing the same card trick.]]

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Quite a few pieces of music are from the game's time period, particularly a few from the real Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

* LovableRogue: The Comte de Saint Germain is a scoundrel and a cheat, but he also donates much of his winning to the widows and orphans among the Romani who taught him his skills. He also takes the main character under his wing after one of his schemes inadvertently gets his guardian killed and landed as WrongfullyAccused. He's also extremely patient with the proagonist, taking the time to allow him to practice new card tricks as many times as he likes, as well as teaching him how to write properly so as to work around his disability.

''Card Shark'' takes place in late 18th century France. You take on the role of a mute orphan employed in a countryside inn. After a chance encounter with the mysterious Comte de Saint-Germain, he enlists you in a card scam against the temperamental Colonel Gabriel. The scam goes poorly, and Gabriel ends up framing you for an AccidentalMurder he committed. Feeling guilty for your situation, the Comte takes you under his wing and decides to teach you the art of scamming. As you and your new mentor venture all over France to escape the law, the two of you soon key into the mystery of the Twelve Bottles of Milk, which seems to have ties to the very crown itself...

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The real life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St._Germain Comte de Saint-Germain]] plays a major role in the plot. Other historical characters from his era, such as Creator/{{Voltaire}}, appear as well.

* LovableRogue: The Comte de Saint-Germain is a scoundrel and a cheat, but he also donates much of his winning to the widows and orphans among the Romani who taught him his skills. He also takes the main character under his wing after one of his schemes inadvertently gets his guardian killed and landed as WrongfullyAccused. He's also extremely patient with the proagonist, taking the time to allow him to practice new card tricks as many times as he likes, as well as teaching him how to write properly so as to work around his disability.

''Card Shark'' takes place in late 18th century France. You take on the role of a mute orphan employed in a countryside inn. After a chance encounter with the mysterious Comte de Saint Germain, he enlists you in a card scam against the temperamental Colonel Gabriel. The scam goes poorly, and Gabriel ends up framing you for an AccidentalMurder he committed. Feeling guilty for your situation, the Comte takes you under his wing and decides to teach you the art of scamming. As you and your new mentor venture all over France to escape the law, the two of you soon key into the mystery of the Twelve Bottles of Milk, which seems to have ties to the very crown itself...

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: No matter what the player decides to do in the final game, it all ends the same- the King gets fed up with the cheating and orders the protagonists to leave, ultimately showing that despite all their trickery and attempts to get him empathize with others, the King is blind to the troubles of those beneath him. This antagonism towards the poor will eventually lead to the ''very'' bloody French Revolution, which happens only a few years after the game ends. Luckily, Eugene gets himself set up as the caretaker of the very inn he started the game in, allowing him to live a pleasant life in the countryside away from the imminent chaos of the cities. Erdnase and the Comte meet various ends, with Erdnase usually disappearing to parts unknown after getting his revenge and the Comte dying in a variety of ways.]]

* DeletionAsPunishment: [[spoiler:If you die and allow Death to win the card game, they will offer to either take your money and return you to the world above, or they will eat your soul. Choosing the latter option completely erases your save file. Also occurs if you die while playing on the "Con Artist" difficulty.]]

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The real life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St._Germain Comte de Saint Germain]] plays a major role in the plot. Other historical characters from his era, such as Creator/{{Voltaire}}, appear as well.

* LovableRogue: The Comte de Saint Germain is a scoundrel and a cheat, but he also donates much of his winning to the widows and orphans among the Romani who taught him his skills, and he takes the main character under his wing after one of his schemes inadvertently gets their guardian killed and them WrongfullyAccused. He's also extremely patient with the main character and takes the time to teach them how to write properly so as to work around their disability.

* BookEnds: [[spoiler:The protagonist starts and ends the game by performing the same card trick.]]

* AccidentalMurder: One such murder kickstarts the story. Colonel Gabriel, furious over being cheated in a card game, pulls a gun on the Comte but accidentally shoots and kills Ms. Porterhouse. The Comte, knowing Gabriel will pin her death on the protagonist, ends up taking him under his wing and getting drawn into the investigation over the "Twelve Bottles of Milk."

* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The protagonist starts and ends the game by performing the same card trick.]]

* DeletionAsPunishment: [[spoiler: If you die and allow Death to win the card game, they will offer to either take your money and return you to the world above, or they will eat your soul. Choosing the latter option completely erases your save file. Also occurs if you die while playing on the "Con Artist" difficulty.]]

* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler: The protagonist is backstabbed by the Comte in the climax. The Comte arranges a fake duel with [=MacGregor=] to declare the protagonist legally dead, at which point he and the Comte will disappear with enough cash and land to be set for life. Except [=MacGregor=] really ''does'' kill the protagonist, who is saved by Julie at the last moment. The Comte is later found gambling his fortune away and attempting to get a game at Versailles, and is confronted by the protagonist. He ''seems'' regretful of what happened, but S.W. Erdnase and the protagonist do not believe him.]]
* {{Gamebreaker}}: Invoked. The final scam you perform is undoubtedly the strongest, as it gives the dealer ''total control'' over the deck. [[spoiler: First, you riffle through the deck for four aces, placing them at the bottom of the draw. You then steal those four aces and hold them in a personal dealing pile, distributing them as you please. This gives you the ability to give four aces to any player at the table, which is the highest possible hand a player can have. Fittingly, its only used in a final game with Louis XV, though it is impossible to "win" this game at this point.]]

* MultipleEndings: A grand total of seven,[[spoiler: depending on to whom you deal the aces to, or if you get caught cheating in the final card game against King Louis XV.]]