History VideoGame / CardShark

* 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 protagonist, knowing Gabriel will pin her death on him, ends up traveling with the Comte and getting drawn into the investigation over the "Twelve Bottles of Milk."

* DeletionAsPunishment: [[spoiler: If you die and allow Death to win, 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 Colonel MacGregor to declare the protagonist legally dead, at which point he and the Comte will disappear with enough cash to be set for life. Except MacGregor really ''does'' try and kill the protagonist, who is saved by Julie at the last moment. The Comte is later seen as a casino 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.]]

* FriendlyRival: Voltaire and Jean-Baptiste are both fully aware that Comte and his mute friend are swindlers, but enjoy Comte's company enough to be happy to give the two whatever they manage to take.

* DeletionAsPunishment: [[spoiler: If you die and allow Death to win, 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.]]

* 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.]]

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

* NoFairCheating: Other characters don't take kindly to you if they do realize you're cheating.

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

* RoguishRomani: While they are portrayed in a uniformly positive light, the Romani in the game are nonetheless all experts at slight-of-hand, card tricks, and scams.

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

''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, Saint Germain 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...

* 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 Mrs. Porterhouse. The protagonist, knowing Gabriel will pin her death on him, ends up traveling with the Comte and getting drawn into the investigation over the "Twelve Bottles of Milk."

* HeroicMime: The protagonist is a mute who communicates through facial gestures.

* NoodleIncident: The oft-mentioned "Twelve Bottles of Milk" incident.

* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The protagonis starts and ends the game by performing the start and end of the same card trick.]]

''Card Shark'' is an indie action adventure game published by ''Creator/DevolverDigital'' and released on June 2, 2022 for UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.

''Card Shark'' takes a unique approach to the whole "card game" business by being about ''cheating'' at cards instead of playing them. Over the course of the game, the player learns 28 unique strategies for scamming targets of increasing complexity, starting with simply peeking at your opponents cards while pouring them some wine, to stacking the deck against them, and even marking cards. These scams take the form of unique timed minigames, with players being tasked to memorize each strategy and execute them accordingly. With high stakes, complex scams and lots of money on the line, players need to pay close attention to the proceedings of the game if they wish to escape with a full wallet.

!Tropes:

* 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 Voltaire, appear as well.

* TimedMission: The patience/wariness of your marks makes for a timer that ticks down whenever you're in the middle of stacking things in your favor.

* RoguishRomani: While they are portrayed in a uniformly positive light, the Romani in the game are nonetheless all experts at slight-of-hand, card tricks, and scams.

''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 [=McGregor=]. The scam goes poorly, and [=McGregor=] ends up framing you for an AccidentalMurder he committed. Feeling guilty for your situation, Saint Germain 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...

''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 McGregor. The scam goes poorly, and McGregor ends up framing you for an AccidentalMurder he committed. Feeling guilty for your situation, Saint Germain 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...

''Card Shark'' takes place in late 18th century France. You take on the role of a card shark that wants to work his way to the top of the class, and soon learns that he has a better chance of playing his opponents than playing cards. As you soon learn, everyone no matter where you go does not take kindly to cheaters.

* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: The main idea of the game is to cheat at various card games and not get caught.

* 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 Mrs. P. The protagonist, knowing Gabriel will pin her death on him, ends up traveling with the Comte and getting drawn into the investigation over the "Twelve Bottles of Milk."

* NotCheatingIfYoureNotCaught: The main idea of the game is to cheat at various card games and not get caught.